10 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
14 @documentencoding ISO-8859-1
18 @setchapternewpage odd
22 \documentclass[twoside,a4paper,openright,11pt]{book}
23 \usepackage[latin1]{inputenc}
24 \usepackage{pagestyle}
27 \input{gnusconfig.tex}
29 \ifx\pdfoutput\undefined
31 \usepackage[pdftex,bookmarks,colorlinks=true]{hyperref}
39 \newcommand{\gnusversionname}{Gnus v5.10.6}
40 \newcommand{\gnuschaptername}{}
41 \newcommand{\gnussectionname}{}
43 \newcommand{\gnusbackslash}{/}
45 \newcommand{\gnusref}[1]{``#1'' on page \pageref{#1}}
46 \ifx\pdfoutput\undefined
47 \newcommand{\gnusuref}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
49 \newcommand{\gnusuref}[1]{\href{#1}{\gnustt{#1}}}
51 \newcommand{\gnusxref}[1]{See ``#1'' on page \pageref{#1}}
52 \newcommand{\gnuspxref}[1]{see ``#1'' on page \pageref{#1}}
54 \newcommand{\gnuskindex}[1]{\index{#1}}
55 \newcommand{\gnusindex}[1]{\index{#1}}
57 \newcommand{\gnustt}[1]{{\gnusselectttfont{}#1}}
58 \newcommand{\gnuscode}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
59 \newcommand{\gnusasis}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
60 \newcommand{\gnusurl}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
61 \newcommand{\gnuscommand}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
62 \newcommand{\gnusenv}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
63 \newcommand{\gnussamp}[1]{``{\fontencoding{OT1}\gnusselectttfont{}#1}''}
64 \newcommand{\gnuslisp}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
65 \newcommand{\gnuskbd}[1]{`\gnustt{#1}'}
66 \newcommand{\gnuskey}[1]{`\gnustt{#1}'}
67 \newcommand{\gnusfile}[1]{`\gnustt{#1}'}
68 \newcommand{\gnusdfn}[1]{\textit{#1}}
69 \newcommand{\gnusi}[1]{\textit{#1}}
70 \newcommand{\gnusr}[1]{\textrm{#1}}
71 \newcommand{\gnusstrong}[1]{\textbf{#1}}
72 \newcommand{\gnusemph}[1]{\textit{#1}}
73 \newcommand{\gnusvar}[1]{{\fontsize{10pt}{10}\selectfont\textsl{\textsf{#1}}}}
74 \newcommand{\gnussc}[1]{\textsc{#1}}
75 \newcommand{\gnustitle}[1]{{\huge\textbf{#1}}}
76 \newcommand{\gnusversion}[1]{{\small\textit{#1}}}
77 \newcommand{\gnusauthor}[1]{{\large\textbf{#1}}}
78 \newcommand{\gnusresult}[1]{\gnustt{=> #1}}
79 \newcommand{\gnusacronym}[1]{\textsc{#1}}
80 \newcommand{\gnusemail}[1]{\textit{#1}}
82 \newcommand{\gnusbullet}{{${\bullet}$}}
83 \newcommand{\gnusdollar}{\$}
84 \newcommand{\gnusampersand}{\&}
85 \newcommand{\gnuspercent}{\%}
86 \newcommand{\gnushash}{\#}
87 \newcommand{\gnushat}{\symbol{"5E}}
88 \newcommand{\gnusunderline}{\symbol{"5F}}
89 \newcommand{\gnusnot}{$\neg$}
90 \newcommand{\gnustilde}{\symbol{"7E}}
91 \newcommand{\gnusless}{{$<$}}
92 \newcommand{\gnusgreater}{{$>$}}
93 \newcommand{\gnusbraceleft}{{$>$}}
94 \newcommand{\gnusbraceright}{{$>$}}
96 \newcommand{\gnushead}{\raisebox{-1cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-head,height=1cm}}}
97 \newcommand{\gnusinteresting}{
98 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\gnushead]{\gnushead}
101 \newcommand{\gnuscleardoublepage}{\ifodd\count0\mbox{}\clearpage\thispagestyle{empty}\mbox{}\clearpage\else\clearpage\fi}
103 \newcommand{\gnuspagechapter}[1]{
107 \newdimen{\gnusdimen}
110 \newcommand{\gnuschapter}[2]{
112 \ifdim \gnusdimen = 0pt\setcounter{page}{1}\pagestyle{gnus}\pagenumbering{arabic} \gnusdimen 1pt\fi
114 \renewcommand{\gnussectionname}{}
115 \renewcommand{\gnuschaptername}{#2}
116 \thispagestyle{empty}
118 \begin{picture}(500,500)(0,0)
119 \put(480,350){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{#1}}
120 \put(40,300){\makebox(500,50)[bl]{{\Huge\bf{#2}}}}
125 \newcommand{\gnusfigure}[3]{
127 \mbox{}\ifodd\count0\hspace*{-0.8cm}\else\hspace*{-3cm}\fi\begin{picture}(440,#2)
134 \newcommand{\gnusicon}[1]{
135 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\raisebox{-1.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/#1-up,height=1.5cm}}]{\raisebox{-1cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/#1-up,height=1cm}}}
138 \newcommand{\gnuspicon}[1]{
139 \margindex{\epsfig{figure=#1,width=2cm}}
142 \newcommand{\gnusxface}[2]{
143 \margindex{\epsfig{figure=#1,width=1cm}\epsfig{figure=#2,width=1cm}}
146 \newcommand{\gnussmiley}[2]{
147 \margindex{\makebox[2cm]{\hfill\epsfig{figure=#1,width=0.5cm}\hfill\epsfig{figure=#2,width=0.5cm}\hfill}}
150 \newcommand{\gnusitemx}[1]{\mbox{}\vspace*{-\itemsep}\vspace*{-\parsep}\item#1}
152 \newcommand{\gnussection}[1]{
153 \renewcommand{\gnussectionname}{#1}
157 \newenvironment{codelist}%
162 \newenvironment{asislist}%
167 \newenvironment{kbdlist}%
173 \newenvironment{dfnlist}%
178 \newenvironment{stronglist}%
183 \newenvironment{samplist}%
188 \newenvironment{varlist}%
193 \newenvironment{emphlist}%
198 \newlength\gnusheadtextwidth
199 \setlength{\gnusheadtextwidth}{\headtextwidth}
200 \addtolength{\gnusheadtextwidth}{1cm}
202 \newpagestyle{gnuspreamble}%
207 \hspace*{-0.23cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\mbox{}}\textbf{\hfill\roman{page}}}
211 \hspace*{-3.25cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\roman{page}\hfill\mbox{}}}
220 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo,height=1cm}}
222 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo,height=1cm}}
227 \newpagestyle{gnusindex}%
232 \hspace*{-0.23cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\gnuschaptername\hfill\arabic{page}}}}
236 \hspace*{-3.25cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\arabic{page}\hfill\gnuschaptername}}}
244 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo,height=1cm}}
246 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo,height=1cm}}
256 \makebox[12cm]{\hspace*{3.1cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\arabic{chapter}.\arabic{section}} \textbf{\gnussectionname\hfill\arabic{page}}}}}
260 \makebox[12cm]{\hspace*{-2.95cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\arabic{page}\hfill\gnuschaptername}}}}
268 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo,height=1cm}}
270 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo,height=1cm}}
275 \pagenumbering{roman}
276 \pagestyle{gnuspreamble}
286 %\addtolength{\oddsidemargin}{-5cm}
287 %\addtolength{\evensidemargin}{-5cm}
289 \addtolength{\textheight}{2cm}
291 \gnustitle{\gnustitlename}\hfill\gnusversion{\gnusversionname}\\
294 \hspace*{0cm}\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo,height=15cm}
297 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
304 \thispagestyle{empty}
306 Copyright \copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
308 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
311 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
312 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
313 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
314 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
315 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
316 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
317 License'' in the Emacs manual.
319 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
320 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
321 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
323 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
324 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
325 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
326 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
334 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
336 Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004
337 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
339 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
340 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
341 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
342 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
343 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
344 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
345 License'' in the Emacs manual.
347 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
348 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
349 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
351 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
352 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
353 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
354 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
362 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
365 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
366 Copyright @copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
368 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
370 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
371 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
372 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
373 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
374 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
375 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
376 License'' in the Emacs manual.
378 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
379 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
380 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
382 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
383 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
384 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
385 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
394 @top The Gnus Newsreader
398 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
399 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@acronym{NNTP}, local
400 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
403 This manual corresponds to Gnus v5.10.6.
414 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
415 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
417 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
418 being accused of plagiarism:
420 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
421 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
422 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
423 can even read news with it!
425 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
426 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
427 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
428 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
429 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
435 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
436 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
437 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
438 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
439 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
440 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
441 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
442 * Various:: General purpose settings.
443 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
444 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, @acronym{FAQ}, History, Internals.
445 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
446 * Key Index:: Key Index.
448 Other related manuals
450 * Message:(message). Composing messages.
451 * Emacs-MIME:(emacs-mime). Composing messages; @acronym{MIME}-specific parts.
452 * Sieve:(sieve). Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
453 * PGG:(pgg). @acronym{PGP/MIME} with Gnus.
454 * SASL:(sasl). @acronym{SASL} authentication in Emacs.
457 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
461 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
462 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
463 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
464 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
465 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
466 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
467 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
468 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
469 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
470 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
471 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
475 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
476 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
477 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
481 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
482 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
483 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
484 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
485 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
486 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
487 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
488 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
489 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
490 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
491 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
492 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
493 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
494 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
495 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
496 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
497 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
501 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
502 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
503 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
507 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
508 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
509 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
510 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
511 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
515 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
516 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
517 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
518 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
519 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
523 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
524 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
525 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
526 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
527 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
528 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
529 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
530 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
531 * Threading:: How threads are made.
532 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
533 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
534 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
535 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
536 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
537 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
538 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
539 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
540 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
541 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
542 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
543 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
544 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
545 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
546 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
547 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
548 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
549 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
550 or reselecting the current group.
551 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
552 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
553 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
554 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
556 Summary Buffer Format
558 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
559 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
560 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
561 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
565 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
566 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
568 Reply, Followup and Post
570 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
571 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
572 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
573 * Canceling and Superseding::
577 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
578 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
579 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
583 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
584 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
585 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
589 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
590 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
592 Customizing Threading
594 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
595 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
596 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
597 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
601 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
602 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
603 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
604 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
605 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
606 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
610 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
611 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
612 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
616 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
617 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
618 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
619 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
620 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
621 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
622 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
623 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
624 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
625 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
626 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
628 Alternative Approaches
630 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
631 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
633 Various Summary Stuff
635 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
636 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
637 * Summary Generation Commands::
638 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
642 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
643 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
644 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
645 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
646 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
650 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
651 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
652 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
653 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
654 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
655 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
656 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
657 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
661 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
662 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
663 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
664 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
665 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @acronym{IMAP} client.
666 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
667 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
668 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
672 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
673 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
674 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
675 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
676 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
677 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
678 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
682 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
683 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
687 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
688 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
689 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
693 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
694 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
695 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
696 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
697 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
698 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
699 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
700 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
701 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
702 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
703 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
704 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
705 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
709 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
710 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
711 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
713 Choosing a Mail Back End
715 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
716 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the Rmail Babyl format.
717 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
718 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
719 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
720 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
721 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
726 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
727 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
728 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
729 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
730 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
731 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
735 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
736 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
737 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
738 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
739 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use @acronym{IMAP} namespace in Gnus.
740 * Debugging IMAP:: What to do when things don't work.
744 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
745 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
746 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
747 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
748 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
752 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
756 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
757 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
758 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
762 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
763 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
767 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
768 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
769 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
770 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
771 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
772 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
773 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
774 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
775 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
776 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
777 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
778 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
779 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
783 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
784 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
785 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
789 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
790 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
791 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
795 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
796 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
797 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
798 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
799 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
800 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
801 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
802 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
803 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
804 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
805 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
806 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
807 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
808 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
809 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
810 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
814 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
815 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
816 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
820 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
821 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
822 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
823 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
824 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
825 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
826 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
827 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
828 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
829 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
830 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
831 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
832 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
833 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
834 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
835 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
836 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
837 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
838 * Other modes:: Interaction with other modes.
839 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
843 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
844 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
845 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
846 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
847 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
848 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
849 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
850 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
854 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
855 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
856 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
857 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
858 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
862 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
863 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
864 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
865 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
866 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
867 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
869 Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
871 * Spam ELisp Package Sequence of Events::
872 * Spam ELisp Package Filtering of Incoming Mail::
873 * Spam ELisp Package Global Variables::
874 * Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples::
875 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
877 * Gmane Spam Reporting::
878 * Anti-spam Hashcash Payments::
880 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
882 * ifile spam filtering::
883 * spam-stat spam filtering::
885 * Extending the Spam ELisp package::
887 Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
889 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
890 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
891 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
895 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
896 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
897 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
898 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
899 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
900 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
901 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
902 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
903 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
907 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
908 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
909 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
910 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
911 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
912 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
913 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
914 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
915 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
919 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
920 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
921 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
922 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
923 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
924 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10.
925 * No Gnus:: Lars, FIXME!
929 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
930 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
931 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
932 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
936 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
937 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
938 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
939 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
940 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
941 * Group Info:: The group info format.
942 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
943 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
944 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
948 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
949 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
950 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
951 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
952 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
953 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
957 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
958 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
962 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
963 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
969 @chapter Starting Gnus
974 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
975 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
978 @findex gnus-other-frame
979 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
980 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
981 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
983 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
984 variables in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file. This file is similar to
985 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when Gnus starts.
987 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
988 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
991 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
992 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
993 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
994 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
995 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
996 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
997 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
998 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
999 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
1000 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
1001 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
1005 @node Finding the News
1006 @section Finding the News
1007 @cindex finding news
1009 @vindex gnus-select-method
1011 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
1012 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
1013 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
1014 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
1017 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @acronym{NNTP} server is where
1018 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
1021 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
1024 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
1027 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
1030 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
1031 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
1032 server is running Leafnode; in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
1034 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
1036 @cindex @acronym{NNTP} server
1037 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
1038 @env{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
1039 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
1040 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter.
1041 If that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs
1042 as an @acronym{NNTP} server. That's a long shot, though.
1044 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1045 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
1046 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
1047 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
1049 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
1050 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1051 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
1052 @acronym{NNTP} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
1053 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
1054 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
1055 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
1056 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
1057 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
1060 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1062 However, if you use one @acronym{NNTP} server regularly and are just
1063 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1064 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1065 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1066 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1067 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1069 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1071 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1072 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1073 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1074 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1075 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1076 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1079 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1080 you would typically set this variable to
1083 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1087 @node The First Time
1088 @section The First Time
1089 @cindex first time usage
1091 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
1092 be subscribed by default.
1094 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1095 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
1096 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1097 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1100 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1101 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1102 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1104 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
1105 help you with most common problems.
1107 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
1108 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1112 @node The Server is Down
1113 @section The Server is Down
1114 @cindex server errors
1116 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
1117 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1118 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
1120 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1121 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1122 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1123 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1124 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1125 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1126 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1128 @findex gnus-no-server
1129 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1131 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1132 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1133 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
1134 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1135 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1136 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1137 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1141 @section Slave Gnusae
1144 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
1145 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1146 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
1147 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1149 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1150 @file{.newsrc} file.
1152 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
1153 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1154 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1155 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1156 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1157 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1158 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1161 Anyway, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1162 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
1163 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1164 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1165 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
1166 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1167 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1168 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1170 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1171 information in the normal (i.e., master) @file{.newsrc} file.
1173 If the @file{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
1174 slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
1175 file. If you answer ``yes'', the unsaved changes to the master will be
1176 incorporated into the slave. If you answer ``no'', the slave may see some
1177 messages as unread that have been read in the master.
1179 @node Fetching a Group
1180 @section Fetching a Group
1181 @cindex fetching a group
1183 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1184 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1185 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
1186 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1187 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1188 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1194 @cindex subscription
1196 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1197 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1198 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1199 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1200 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1201 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1202 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1203 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1204 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1207 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1208 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1209 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1213 @node Checking New Groups
1214 @subsection Checking New Groups
1216 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1217 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1218 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1219 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
1220 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1221 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1222 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1223 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1224 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1225 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1227 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1228 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1229 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1230 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1231 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1232 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
1233 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1234 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1235 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1236 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1237 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1239 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
1240 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1241 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1242 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1243 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1244 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1247 @node Subscription Methods
1248 @subsection Subscription Methods
1250 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1251 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1252 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1254 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1255 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1257 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1261 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1262 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1263 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1264 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1265 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1267 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1268 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1269 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1270 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1272 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1273 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1274 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1276 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1277 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1278 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1279 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1280 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1281 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1282 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1283 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1284 up. Or something like that.
1286 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1287 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1288 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
1289 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1290 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1292 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1293 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1294 Kill all new groups.
1296 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1297 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1298 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1299 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1300 topic parameter that looks like
1306 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1309 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1314 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1315 A closely related variable is
1316 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1317 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
1318 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1319 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1322 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1323 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1324 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1325 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1328 @node Filtering New Groups
1329 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1331 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1332 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1333 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1336 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1339 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1340 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1341 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1342 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1343 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1344 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1345 subscribing these groups.
1346 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1347 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1349 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1350 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1351 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1352 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1353 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1354 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1355 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1356 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1358 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1359 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1360 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1361 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous,
1362 but I thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is
1363 more meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is
1364 used more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new
1365 groups that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1366 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, and @code{nnmaildir})
1367 subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this variable to
1370 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1371 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1374 @node Changing Servers
1375 @section Changing Servers
1376 @cindex changing servers
1378 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another.
1379 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1380 very flaky and you want to use another.
1382 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1383 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1387 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1388 @acronym{NNTP} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1389 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1390 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1393 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1394 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1395 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1396 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1398 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1399 @findex gnus-change-server
1400 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1401 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1402 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1403 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1404 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1406 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1407 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1408 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1409 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1410 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1412 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1413 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1414 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1415 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1416 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1417 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1419 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
1420 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1421 Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
1422 list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1424 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1425 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1426 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1427 @code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
1428 to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
1429 can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
1430 cache for all groups).
1434 @section Startup Files
1435 @cindex startup files
1440 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1441 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1443 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1444 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1445 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1446 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1447 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1448 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1449 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1451 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1452 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1453 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1454 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1455 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1456 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1458 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1459 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1460 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1461 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1462 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
1463 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1464 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1465 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
1466 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1467 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1469 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1470 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1471 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1472 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1473 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1474 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1475 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1476 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1477 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1478 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1479 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1480 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1482 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1483 @vindex gnus-backup-startup-file
1484 @vindex version-control
1485 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1486 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1487 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1488 If you want version control for this file, set
1489 @code{gnus-backup-startup-file}. It respects the same values as the
1490 @code{version-control} variable.
1492 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1493 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1494 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1495 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1496 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1497 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1498 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1499 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1500 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1501 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1504 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1505 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1507 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1508 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1511 @vindex gnus-init-file
1512 @vindex gnus-site-init-file
1513 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1514 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1515 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1516 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1517 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1518 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1519 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1520 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1521 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1527 @cindex dribble file
1530 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
1531 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1532 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1533 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1534 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1537 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1538 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1541 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1542 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
1543 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1545 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1546 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1547 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
1548 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1549 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1550 file permissions as the @file{.newsrc} file.
1552 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1553 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1554 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1557 @node The Active File
1558 @section The Active File
1560 @cindex ignored groups
1562 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1563 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1564 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1566 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1567 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
1568 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1569 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
1570 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1571 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1572 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1575 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1576 @c if you set it to anything else.
1578 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1580 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1581 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
1582 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1584 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1585 you actually subscribe to.
1587 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1588 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1589 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1590 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1592 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1593 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1594 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1595 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1596 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1597 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1599 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1600 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1601 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1604 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1605 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1606 @acronym{NNTP} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1607 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1608 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1609 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1611 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1612 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1614 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1615 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1617 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1618 secondary select methods.
1621 @node Startup Variables
1622 @section Startup Variables
1626 @item gnus-load-hook
1627 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1628 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1629 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1630 times you start Gnus.
1632 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1633 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1634 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1636 @item gnus-startup-hook
1637 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1638 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1640 @item gnus-started-hook
1641 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1642 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1645 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1646 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1647 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1648 generating the group buffer.
1650 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1651 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1652 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1653 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1654 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1655 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1656 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1657 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1659 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1660 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1661 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1662 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1663 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1664 @file{~/.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @file{.emacs} instead.
1666 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1667 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1668 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1670 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1671 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1672 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1674 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1675 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1676 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1677 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1683 @chapter Group Buffer
1684 @cindex group buffer
1686 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1688 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1689 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1690 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1691 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1692 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1693 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1694 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1695 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1696 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1697 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1698 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1699 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1700 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1701 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1702 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1703 @c human rights at 9...
1706 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1707 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1708 long as Gnus is active.
1712 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1713 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1714 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1715 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1716 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1717 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1718 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1719 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1725 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1726 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1727 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1728 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1729 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1730 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1731 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1732 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1733 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1734 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1735 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1736 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1737 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1738 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1739 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1740 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1741 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1745 @node Group Buffer Format
1746 @section Group Buffer Format
1749 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1750 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
1751 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1755 @node Group Line Specification
1756 @subsection Group Line Specification
1757 @cindex group buffer format
1759 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1760 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1762 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1765 25: news.announce.newusers
1766 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1771 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1772 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1773 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1774 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1776 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1777 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1778 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1779 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1780 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1781 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1783 @samp{%M%S%5y:%B%(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1785 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1786 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1787 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1788 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1789 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1791 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1792 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1793 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1795 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1800 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1803 Whether the group is subscribed.
1806 Level of subscribedness.
1809 Number of unread articles.
1812 Number of dormant articles.
1815 Number of ticked articles.
1818 Number of read articles.
1821 Number of unseen articles.
1824 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1825 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1827 Gnus uses this estimation because the @acronym{NNTP} protocol provides
1828 efficient access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting
1829 the true unread message count is not possible efficiently. For
1830 hysterical raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of
1831 unread messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1832 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the back
1833 end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job. If you
1834 want to work on this, please contact the Gnus mailing list.
1837 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1840 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1849 Group comment (@pxref{Group Parameters}) or group name if there is no
1850 comment element in the group parameters.
1853 Newsgroup description. You need to read the group descriptions
1854 before these will appear, and to do that, you either have to set
1855 @code{gnus-read-active-file} or use the group buffer @kbd{M-d}
1859 @samp{m} if moderated.
1862 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1868 If the summary buffer for the group is open or not.
1874 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1878 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1881 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1882 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1883 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1884 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1885 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1888 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1890 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1894 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1897 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1901 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1902 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1903 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1904 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1905 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1906 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1911 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1912 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1913 group, or a bogus native group.
1916 @node Group Mode Line Specification
1917 @subsection Group Mode Line Specification
1918 @cindex group mode line
1920 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1921 The mode line can be changed by setting
1922 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1923 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1927 The native news server.
1929 The native select method.
1933 @node Group Highlighting
1934 @subsection Group Highlighting
1935 @cindex highlighting
1936 @cindex group highlighting
1938 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1939 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1940 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1941 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1942 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1944 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1948 (cond (window-system
1949 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1950 (defface my-group-face-1
1951 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1952 (defface my-group-face-2
1953 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t)))
1954 "Second group face")
1955 (defface my-group-face-3
1956 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1957 (defface my-group-face-4
1958 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1959 (defface my-group-face-5
1960 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1962 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1963 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1964 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1965 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1966 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1967 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1970 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1972 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1979 The number of unread articles in the group.
1983 Whether the group is a mail group.
1985 The level of the group.
1987 The score of the group.
1989 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1991 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather,
1992 @var{max-number} minus @var{min-number} plus one.
1994 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1995 topic being inserted.
1998 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1999 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
2000 functions for snarfing info on the group.
2002 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
2003 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
2004 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
2005 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
2006 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
2009 @node Group Maneuvering
2010 @section Group Maneuvering
2011 @cindex group movement
2013 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
2014 expected, hopefully.
2020 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
2021 Go to the next group that has unread articles
2022 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
2028 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
2029 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
2030 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
2034 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2035 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2039 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2040 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2044 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
2045 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
2046 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
2050 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
2051 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
2052 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
2055 Three commands for jumping to groups:
2061 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
2062 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
2063 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
2068 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
2069 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
2070 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
2074 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
2075 Jump to the first group with unread articles
2076 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
2079 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
2080 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
2081 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
2082 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
2086 @node Selecting a Group
2087 @section Selecting a Group
2088 @cindex group selection
2093 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2094 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2095 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2096 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2097 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2098 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2099 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{n}, @var{n}
2100 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{n} is
2101 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{n} newest articles, if @var{n} is
2102 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{n})} oldest articles.
2104 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2105 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2106 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2108 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2109 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2114 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2115 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2116 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2117 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2118 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2122 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2123 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2124 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2125 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2126 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2127 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2128 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2129 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2130 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2131 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2134 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2135 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2136 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2137 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2138 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2141 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2142 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2143 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2144 doing any processing of its contents
2145 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2146 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2147 manner will have no permanent effects.
2151 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2152 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should
2153 consider to be a big group. If it is @code{nil}, no groups are
2154 considered big. The default value is 200. If the group has more
2155 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
2156 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many
2157 articles should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a
2158 negative number (@var{-n}), the @var{n} oldest articles will be
2159 fetched. If it is positive, the @var{n} articles that have arrived
2160 most recently will be fetched.
2162 @vindex gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup
2163 @code{gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup} is the same as
2164 @code{gnus-large-newsgroup}, but is only used for ephemeral
2167 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2168 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2169 @vindex gnus-auto-select-subject
2170 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2171 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2172 Which article this is is controlled by the
2173 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2179 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2182 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2185 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2187 @item unseen-or-unread
2188 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article, and if
2189 there is no such article, place point on the subject line of the first
2193 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2197 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2198 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2200 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2201 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2202 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2203 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2207 @node Subscription Commands
2208 @section Subscription Commands
2209 @cindex subscription
2217 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2218 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2219 Toggle subscription to the current group
2220 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2226 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2227 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2228 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2229 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2235 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2236 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2237 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2243 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2244 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2247 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2248 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2249 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2250 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2251 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2257 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2258 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2262 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2263 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2266 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2267 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2268 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2269 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2270 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2271 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2272 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2273 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2274 @file{.newsrc} file.
2278 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2288 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2289 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2290 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2291 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2292 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2293 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2298 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2299 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2300 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2304 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2305 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2306 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2308 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2309 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2310 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2311 If you have switched from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another, all your marks
2312 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2313 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2320 @section Group Levels
2324 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2325 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2326 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2327 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2328 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2330 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2336 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2337 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2338 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2339 prompted for a level.
2342 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2343 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2344 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2345 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2346 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2347 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2348 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2349 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2350 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2351 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2352 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2353 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2354 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2355 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2356 reasons of efficiency.
2358 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2359 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2361 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2362 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2363 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2364 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2365 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2366 groups are hidden, in a way.
2368 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2369 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2370 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2371 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2372 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2373 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2375 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2376 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2377 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2378 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2379 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2380 list of killed groups.)
2382 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2383 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2384 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2386 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2387 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2388 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2389 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2390 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2391 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2392 relevant valid ranges.
2394 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2395 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2396 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2397 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2398 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2399 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2402 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2403 one with the best level.
2405 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2406 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2407 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2410 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2411 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2412 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2413 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2416 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2417 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2418 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2419 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2421 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2422 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2423 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2424 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2425 to 5. The default is 6.
2429 @section Group Score
2434 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2435 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2436 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2439 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2440 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2441 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2442 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2443 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2444 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2445 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2446 least significant part.))
2448 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2449 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2450 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2451 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2452 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2453 action after each summary exit, you can add
2454 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2455 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2456 slow things down somewhat.
2459 @node Marking Groups
2460 @section Marking Groups
2461 @cindex marking groups
2463 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2464 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2465 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2466 bidding on those groups.
2468 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2469 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2470 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2478 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2479 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2485 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2486 Remove the mark from the current group
2487 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2491 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2492 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2496 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2497 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2501 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2502 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2506 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2507 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2508 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2511 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2513 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2514 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2515 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2516 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2517 the command to be executed.
2520 @node Foreign Groups
2521 @section Foreign Groups
2522 @cindex foreign groups
2524 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2525 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2526 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2527 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2534 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2535 @cindex making groups
2536 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2537 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2538 to subscribe to @acronym{NNTP} groups (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
2542 @findex gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group
2543 Make an ephemeral group (@code{gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group}). Gnus
2544 will prompt you for a name, a method and an @dfn{address}.
2548 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2549 @cindex renaming groups
2550 Rename the current group to something else
2551 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2552 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2558 @findex gnus-group-customize
2559 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2563 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2564 @cindex renaming groups
2565 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2566 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2570 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2571 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2572 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2576 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2577 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2578 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2582 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2584 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2585 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2590 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2591 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2595 @cindex (ding) archive
2596 @cindex archive group
2597 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2598 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2599 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2600 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2601 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2602 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2603 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2607 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2609 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2610 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2611 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2612 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2616 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2618 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2619 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2620 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2624 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2625 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2627 Make a group based on some file or other
2628 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2629 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2630 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2631 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2632 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2633 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2634 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2635 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2636 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2640 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2641 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2642 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2643 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2647 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2651 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2652 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2653 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2654 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2655 include @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}.
2656 @xref{Web Searches}.
2658 If you use the @code{google} search engine, you can limit the search
2659 to a particular group by using a match string like
2660 @samp{shaving group:alt.sysadmin.recovery}.
2664 @findex gnus-group-make-rss-group
2665 Make a group based on an @acronym{RSS} feed
2666 (@code{gnus-group-make-rss-group}). You will be prompted for an URL.
2670 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2671 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2672 This function will delete the current group
2673 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2674 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2675 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2676 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2677 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} groups), though.
2681 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2682 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2683 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2687 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2688 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2689 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2692 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2695 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2696 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2697 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2698 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2699 groups from different @acronym{NNTP} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2700 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2704 @node Group Parameters
2705 @section Group Parameters
2706 @cindex group parameters
2708 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2709 Here's an example group parameter list:
2712 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2716 We see that each element consists of a ``dotted pair''---the thing before
2717 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2718 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2719 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2721 Some parameters have correspondent customizable variables, each of which
2722 is an alist of regexps and values.
2724 The following group parameters can be used:
2729 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2732 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2735 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2736 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2737 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2738 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2739 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2741 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2742 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2743 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2744 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2745 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2746 list address instead.
2748 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2752 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2755 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2758 It is totally ignored
2759 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2760 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2762 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2763 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2764 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2765 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2766 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2768 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2769 @cindex mail list groups
2770 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2771 entering summary buffer.
2773 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2778 @cindex Mail-Followup-To
2779 @findex gnus-find-subscribed-addresses
2780 If this parameter is set to @code{t}, Gnus will consider the
2781 to-address and to-list parameters for this group as addresses of
2782 mailing lists you are subscribed to. Giving Gnus this information is
2783 (only) a first step in getting it to generate correct Mail-Followup-To
2784 headers for your posts to these lists. The second step is to put the
2785 following in your @file{.gnus.el}
2788 (setq message-subscribed-address-functions
2789 '(gnus-find-subscribed-addresses))
2792 @xref{Mailing Lists, ,Mailing Lists, message, The Message Manual}, for
2793 a complete treatment of available MFT support.
2797 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2798 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2799 of whether it has any unread articles.
2801 @item broken-reply-to
2802 @cindex broken-reply-to
2803 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2804 headers in this group are to be ignored, and for the header to be hidden
2805 if @code{reply-to} is part of @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}. This
2806 can be useful if you're reading a mailing list group where the listserv
2807 has inserted @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv
2808 itself. That is broken behavior. So there!
2812 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2813 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2817 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2818 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2819 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2824 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2825 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2826 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2827 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2828 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2829 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2830 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2832 @strong{Caveat}: Adding @code{(gcc-self . t)} to the parameter list of
2833 @code{nntp} groups (or the like) isn't valid. An @code{nntp} server
2834 doesn't accept articles.
2838 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2839 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2840 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2842 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2845 @cindex total-expire
2846 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2847 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2848 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2849 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2852 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2856 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2857 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2858 @code{(expiry-wait . 10)}, this value will override any
2859 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function}
2860 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}) when expiring expirable messages. The value
2861 can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or the
2862 symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2865 @cindex expiry-target
2866 Where expired messages end up. This parameter overrides
2867 @code{nnmail-expiry-target}.
2870 @cindex score file group parameter
2871 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2872 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2873 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2876 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2877 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2878 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2879 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2882 @cindex admin-address
2883 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2884 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2885 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2886 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2890 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2891 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2895 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2898 Display the last @var{integer} articles in the group. This is the same as
2899 entering the group with @kbd{C-u @var{integer}}.
2902 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2906 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2908 Here are some examples:
2912 Display only unread articles.
2915 Display everything except expirable articles.
2917 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2918 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
2922 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
2923 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
2924 @code{unread}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
2925 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
2926 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{unseen} and @code{recent}.
2930 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
2931 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
2932 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
2936 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
2937 arbitrary comments on the group. You can display comments in the
2938 group line (@pxref{Group Line Specification}).
2942 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2943 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2944 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2946 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2948 @item ignored-charsets
2949 @cindex ignored-charset
2950 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
2951 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
2952 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
2954 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
2957 @cindex posting-style
2958 You can store additional posting style information for this group
2959 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2960 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2961 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2962 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2964 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2965 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2966 like this in the group parameters:
2971 ("X-My-Header" "Funky Value")
2972 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2977 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
2978 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
2982 An item like @code{(banner . @var{regexp})} causes any part of an article
2983 that matches the regular expression @var{regexp} to be stripped. Instead of
2984 @var{regexp}, you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
2985 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
2986 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
2990 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
2991 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
2992 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
2993 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
2995 For example, if the @samp{INBOX.list.sieve} group has the @code{(sieve
2996 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
2997 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
2998 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
3001 if address \"sender\" \"sieve-admin@@extundo.com\" @{
3002 fileinto \"INBOX.list.sieve\";
3006 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve,
3007 Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
3009 @item (agent parameters)
3010 If the agent has been enabled, you can set any of the its parameters
3011 to control the behavior of the agent in individual groups. See Agent
3012 Parameters in @ref{Category Syntax}. Most users will choose to set
3013 agent parameters in either an agent category or group topic to
3014 minimize the configuration effort.
3016 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
3017 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
3018 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
3019 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
3020 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
3021 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
3022 @code{eval}ed there.
3024 Note that this feature sets the variable locally to the summary buffer.
3025 But some variables are evaluated in the article buffer, or in the
3026 message buffer (of a reply or followup or otherwise newly created
3027 message). As a workaround, it might help to add the variable in
3028 question to @code{gnus-newsgroup-variables}. @xref{Various Summary
3029 Stuff}. So if you want to set @code{message-from-style} via the group
3030 parameters, then you may need the following statement elsewhere in your
3031 @file{~/.gnus} file:
3034 (add-to-list 'gnus-newsgroup-variables 'message-from-style)
3037 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
3038 A use for this feature is to remove a mailing list identifier tag in
3039 the subject fields of articles. E.g. if the news group
3042 nntp+news.gnus.org:gmane.text.docbook.apps
3045 has the tag @samp{DOC-BOOK-APPS:} in the subject of all articles, this
3046 tag can be removed from the article subjects in the summary buffer for
3047 the group by putting @code{(gnus-list-identifiers "DOCBOOK-APPS:")}
3048 into the group parameters for the group.
3050 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
3051 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
3052 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
3053 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
3054 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
3058 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
3059 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
3060 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
3061 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
3062 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
3064 @vindex gnus-parameters
3065 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
3066 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect. For
3070 (setq gnus-parameters
3072 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3073 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
3074 (gnus-summary-line-format
3075 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
3079 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
3083 (gnus-use-scoring t))
3087 (broken-reply-to . t))))
3090 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
3091 the @code{to-group} example shows.
3094 @node Listing Groups
3095 @section Listing Groups
3096 @cindex group listing
3098 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
3106 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
3107 List all groups that have unread articles
3108 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
3109 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
3110 only lists groups of level five (i.e.,
3111 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
3118 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
3119 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
3120 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
3121 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
3122 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
3123 unsubscribed groups).
3127 @findex gnus-group-list-level
3128 List all unread groups on a specific level
3129 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
3130 with no unread articles.
3134 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
3135 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
3136 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
3137 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
3142 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
3143 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
3147 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
3148 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
3149 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
3153 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
3154 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
3158 @findex gnus-group-list-active
3159 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
3160 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
3161 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
3162 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
3163 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
3164 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
3165 Take the output with some grains of salt.
3169 @findex gnus-group-apropos
3170 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
3171 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3175 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3176 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3177 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3181 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3182 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3186 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3187 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3191 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3192 List groups limited within the current selection
3193 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3197 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3198 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3202 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3203 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3207 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3208 @cindex visible group parameter
3209 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3210 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3211 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3212 get the same effect.
3214 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3215 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3216 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3217 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3218 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3221 @node Sorting Groups
3222 @section Sorting Groups
3223 @cindex sorting groups
3225 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3226 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3227 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3228 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3229 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3230 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3235 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3236 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3237 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3239 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3240 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3241 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3243 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3244 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3245 Sort by group level.
3247 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3248 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3249 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3251 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3252 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3253 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3254 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3256 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3257 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3258 Sort by number of unread articles.
3260 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3261 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3262 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3264 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3265 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3266 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3271 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3272 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3276 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3277 some sorting criteria:
3281 @kindex G S a (Group)
3282 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3283 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3284 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3287 @kindex G S u (Group)
3288 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3289 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3290 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3293 @kindex G S l (Group)
3294 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3295 Sort the group buffer by group level
3296 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3299 @kindex G S v (Group)
3300 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3301 Sort the group buffer by group score
3302 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3305 @kindex G S r (Group)
3306 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3307 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3308 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3311 @kindex G S m (Group)
3312 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3313 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name@*
3314 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3317 @kindex G S n (Group)
3318 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name
3319 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3320 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name}).
3324 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3325 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3327 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3328 commands will sort in reverse order.
3330 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3334 @kindex G P a (Group)
3335 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3336 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3337 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3340 @kindex G P u (Group)
3341 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3342 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3343 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3346 @kindex G P l (Group)
3347 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3348 Sort the groups by group level
3349 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3352 @kindex G P v (Group)
3353 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3354 Sort the groups by group score
3355 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3358 @kindex G P r (Group)
3359 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3360 Sort the groups by group rank
3361 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3364 @kindex G P m (Group)
3365 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3366 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name@*
3367 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3370 @kindex G P n (Group)
3371 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name
3372 Sort the groups alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3373 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name}).
3376 @kindex G P s (Group)
3377 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups
3378 Sort the groups according to @code{gnus-group-sort-function}.
3382 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3386 @node Group Maintenance
3387 @section Group Maintenance
3388 @cindex bogus groups
3393 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3394 Find bogus groups and delete them
3395 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3399 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3400 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3401 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3402 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3403 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3407 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3408 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3409 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3410 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3411 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3412 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3415 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3416 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3417 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3418 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3423 @node Browse Foreign Server
3424 @section Browse Foreign Server
3425 @cindex foreign servers
3426 @cindex browsing servers
3431 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3432 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3433 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3434 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3437 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3438 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3439 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3440 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3442 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3447 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3448 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3452 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3453 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3456 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3457 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3458 Enter the current group and display the first article
3459 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3462 @kindex RET (Browse)
3463 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3464 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3468 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3469 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3470 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3476 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3477 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3481 @findex gnus-browse-describe-group
3482 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-browse-describe-group}).
3486 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3487 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3488 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3493 @section Exiting Gnus
3494 @cindex exiting Gnus
3496 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
3501 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3502 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
3503 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3504 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3508 @findex gnus-group-exit
3509 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3510 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3514 @findex gnus-group-quit
3515 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3516 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3519 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3520 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3521 @vindex gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook
3522 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
3523 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
3524 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3530 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3531 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3532 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3538 @section Group Topics
3541 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3542 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3543 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3544 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3545 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3546 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3550 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3551 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3562 2: alt.religion.emacs
3565 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3567 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3568 13: comp.sources.unix
3571 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3573 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3574 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3575 is a toggling command.)
3577 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3578 dum@dots{} Nice tune, that@dots{} la la la@dots{} What, you're back?
3579 Yes, and now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed
3580 under @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy?
3583 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3584 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3585 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
3588 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3592 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3593 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3594 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3595 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3596 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3600 @node Topic Commands
3601 @subsection Topic Commands
3602 @cindex topic commands
3604 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3605 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3606 definitions slightly.
3608 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3609 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3610 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3611 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3612 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3613 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3615 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3622 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3623 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3624 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3628 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3630 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3631 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3632 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3633 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3636 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3637 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3638 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3639 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3643 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3644 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3645 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3646 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3652 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3653 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3654 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3658 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3659 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3660 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3663 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3664 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the ``cut'' part of cut and paste. Then,
3665 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the ``Gnus''
3666 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the ``paste'' part of cut and
3667 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3669 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3670 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3674 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3675 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3682 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3684 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3685 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3686 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3687 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3688 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3689 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3693 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3699 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3700 Move the current group to some other topic
3701 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3702 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3706 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3707 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3711 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3712 Copy the current group to some other topic
3713 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3714 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3718 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3719 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3720 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3724 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3725 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3726 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3730 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3731 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3732 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3733 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3734 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3735 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3736 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3739 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3740 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3744 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3745 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3746 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3750 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3751 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3752 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3756 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3757 Toggle hiding empty topics
3758 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3762 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3763 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3764 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3765 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3768 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3769 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3770 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3771 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3772 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3775 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3776 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3777 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3778 expiry process (if any)
3779 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3783 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3784 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3787 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3788 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3789 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3793 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3794 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3795 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3798 @kindex T M-n (Topic)
3799 @findex gnus-topic-goto-next-topic
3800 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-next-topic}).
3803 @kindex T M-p (Topic)
3804 @findex gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic
3805 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic}).
3809 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3810 @cindex group parameters
3811 @cindex topic parameters
3813 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3814 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3819 @node Topic Variables
3820 @subsection Topic Variables
3821 @cindex topic variables
3823 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
3824 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
3826 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3827 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3828 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3841 Number of groups in the topic.
3843 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3845 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3848 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3849 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3850 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3853 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3854 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3856 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3857 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3858 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3862 @subsection Topic Sorting
3863 @cindex topic sorting
3865 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3871 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3872 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3873 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3874 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3877 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3878 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3879 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3880 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3883 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3884 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3885 Sort the current topic by group level
3886 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3889 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3890 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3891 Sort the current topic by group score
3892 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3895 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3896 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3897 Sort the current topic by group rank
3898 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3901 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3902 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3903 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
3904 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3907 @kindex T S e (Topic)
3908 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
3909 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
3910 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
3913 @kindex T S s (Topic)
3914 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups
3915 Sort the current topic according to the function(s) given by the
3916 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable
3917 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups}).
3921 When given a prefix argument, all these commands will sort in reverse
3922 order. @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group
3926 @node Topic Topology
3927 @subsection Topic Topology
3928 @cindex topic topology
3931 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3938 2: alt.religion.emacs
3941 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3943 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3944 13: comp.sources.unix
3948 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3949 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3950 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3955 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3956 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3960 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3961 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3962 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3963 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3964 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3965 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3967 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3968 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3969 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3972 @node Topic Parameters
3973 @subsection Topic Parameters
3974 @cindex topic parameters
3976 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent
3977 (and ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid
3978 topic parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}). When the agent is
3979 enabled, all agent parameters (See Agent Parameters in @ref{Category
3980 Syntax}) are also valid topic parameters.
3982 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3987 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3988 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3989 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3992 @item subscribe-level
3993 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
3994 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
3995 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
3999 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
4000 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
4001 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
4002 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
4009 2: alt.religion.emacs
4013 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
4015 8: comp.binaries.fractals
4016 13: comp.sources.unix
4021 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
4022 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
4023 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
4024 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
4025 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
4026 . "religion.SCORE")}.
4028 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
4029 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
4030 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
4031 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
4032 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
4034 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
4035 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
4036 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
4037 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
4038 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
4039 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
4040 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
4041 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
4044 @node Misc Group Stuff
4045 @section Misc Group Stuff
4048 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
4049 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
4050 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
4051 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
4052 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
4059 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
4060 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
4061 @xref{Server Buffer}.
4065 @findex gnus-group-post-news
4066 Start composing a message (a news by default)
4067 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
4068 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
4069 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
4070 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
4071 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
4075 @findex gnus-group-mail
4076 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
4077 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
4078 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
4079 @xref{Composing Messages}.
4083 @findex gnus-group-news
4084 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
4085 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
4086 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
4088 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
4089 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
4090 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
4091 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
4092 for this to work though.
4096 Variables for the group buffer:
4100 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
4101 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
4102 is called after the group buffer has been
4105 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
4106 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4107 is called after the group buffer is
4108 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
4111 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
4112 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4113 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
4114 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
4116 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4117 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4118 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
4119 whether they are empty or not.
4121 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4122 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4123 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
4124 non-@acronym{ASCII} group names.
4128 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4129 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
4132 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4133 @cindex UTF-8 group names
4134 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4135 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names. It
4136 is used to show non-@acronym{ASCII} group names. @code{((".*"
4137 utf-8))} is the default value if UTF-8 is supported, otherwise the
4138 default is @code{nil}.
4142 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4143 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
4148 @node Scanning New Messages
4149 @subsection Scanning New Messages
4150 @cindex new messages
4151 @cindex scanning new news
4157 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
4158 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
4159 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
4160 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
4161 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
4162 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
4167 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
4168 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
4169 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
4170 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
4171 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
4172 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
4173 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
4175 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
4176 @cindex activating groups
4178 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
4179 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
4184 @findex gnus-group-restart
4185 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
4186 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
4187 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
4191 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
4192 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
4194 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
4195 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
4199 @node Group Information
4200 @subsection Group Information
4201 @cindex group information
4202 @cindex information on groups
4209 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
4210 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
4213 Try to fetch the @acronym{FAQ} for the current group
4214 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the @acronym{FAQ}
4215 from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on
4216 a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
4217 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
4218 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be
4219 used for fetching the file.
4221 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
4222 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
4226 @findex gnus-group-fetch-charter
4227 @vindex gnus-group-charter-alist
4229 Try to open the charter for the current group in a web browser
4230 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-charter}). Query for a group if given a
4233 Gnus will use @code{gnus-group-charter-alist} to find the location of
4234 the charter. If no location is known, Gnus will fetch the control
4235 messages for the group, which in some cases includes the charter.
4239 @findex gnus-group-fetch-control
4240 @vindex gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url
4241 @cindex control message
4242 Fetch the control messages for the group from the archive at
4243 @code{ftp.isc.org} (@code{gnus-group-fetch-control}). Query for a
4244 group if given a prefix argument.
4246 If @code{gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url} is non-@code{nil},
4247 Gnus will open the control messages in a browser using
4248 @code{browse-url}. Otherwise they are fetched using @code{ange-ftp}
4249 and displayed in an ephemeral group.
4251 Note that the control messages are compressed. To use this command
4252 you need to turn on @code{auto-compression-mode} (@pxref{Compressed
4253 Files, ,Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Manual}).
4257 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
4259 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
4260 @cindex describing groups
4261 @cindex group description
4262 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
4263 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
4264 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
4268 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
4269 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
4270 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
4277 @findex gnus-version
4278 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
4282 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
4283 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
4286 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
4289 @findex gnus-info-find-node
4290 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
4294 @node Group Timestamp
4295 @subsection Group Timestamp
4297 @cindex group timestamps
4299 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
4300 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
4301 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
4304 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
4307 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
4309 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
4310 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
4313 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4314 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
4317 This will result in lines looking like:
4320 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
4321 0: custom 19961002T012713
4324 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
4325 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
4329 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4330 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
4333 If you would like greater control of the time format, you can use a
4334 user-defined format spec. Something like the following should do the
4338 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4339 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %ud\n")
4340 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
4341 (let ((time (gnus-group-timestamp gnus-tmp-group)))
4343 (format-time-string "%b %d %H:%M" time)
4349 @subsection File Commands
4350 @cindex file commands
4356 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
4357 @vindex gnus-init-file
4358 @cindex reading init file
4359 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
4360 @file{~/.gnus.el}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
4364 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
4365 @cindex saving .newsrc
4366 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
4367 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
4368 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
4371 @c @kindex Z (Group)
4372 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
4373 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
4378 @node Sieve Commands
4379 @subsection Sieve Commands
4380 @cindex group sieve commands
4382 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
4383 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
4384 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
4385 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
4386 script that can be transfered to the server somehow.
4388 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4389 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
4390 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
4391 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
4392 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
4393 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
4394 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
4395 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
4396 regenerate the Sieve script.
4398 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
4399 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
4400 is generated. If it is non-@code{nil} (the default) articles is
4401 placed in all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article
4402 is only placed in the group with the first matching rule. For
4403 example, the group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
4404 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
4405 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is @code{nil}. (When
4406 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-@code{nil}, it looks the same
4407 except that the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
4410 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
4411 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
4416 @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve, Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
4422 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
4423 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4424 @cindex generating sieve script
4425 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
4426 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
4430 @findex gnus-sieve-update
4431 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4432 @cindex updating sieve script
4433 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
4434 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
4435 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
4440 @node Summary Buffer
4441 @chapter Summary Buffer
4442 @cindex summary buffer
4444 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
4445 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
4447 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
4448 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
4450 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
4453 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
4454 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
4455 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
4456 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
4457 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
4458 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
4459 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
4460 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
4461 * Threading:: How threads are made.
4462 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
4463 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
4464 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
4465 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
4466 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
4467 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
4468 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
4469 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
4470 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
4471 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
4472 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
4473 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
4474 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
4475 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
4476 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
4477 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
4478 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
4479 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
4480 or reselecting the current group.
4481 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
4482 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
4483 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
4484 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
4488 @node Summary Buffer Format
4489 @section Summary Buffer Format
4490 @cindex summary buffer format
4494 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
4495 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
4496 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
4502 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
4503 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
4504 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
4505 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
4508 @findex mail-extract-address-components
4509 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
4510 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
4511 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
4512 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
4513 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
4514 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
4515 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
4516 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
4517 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
4518 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
4521 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
4522 'mail-extract-address-components)
4525 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
4526 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
4527 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
4528 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
4531 @node Summary Buffer Lines
4532 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
4534 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4535 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
4536 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
4537 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
4538 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4540 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
4541 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
4542 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
4543 possible to change this. Just write a new function
4544 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
4545 @xref{Positioning Point}.
4547 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n}.
4549 The following format specification characters and extended format
4550 specification(s) are understood:
4556 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
4557 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
4559 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
4560 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
4561 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
4563 Full @code{From} header.
4565 The name (from the @code{From} header).
4567 The name, @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header (@pxref{To
4570 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
4571 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
4572 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
4573 may be more thorough.
4575 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
4578 Number of lines in the article.
4580 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
4581 in some methods (like nnfolder).
4583 Pretty-printed version of the number of characters in the article;
4584 for example, @samp{1.2k} or @samp{0.4M}.
4586 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4588 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
4589 lines. A thread could be drawn like this:
4602 You can customize the appearance with the following options. Note
4603 that it is possible to make the thread display look really neat by
4604 replacing the default @acronym{ASCII} characters with graphic
4605 line-drawing glyphs.
4607 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4608 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4609 Used for the root of a thread. If @code{nil}, use subject
4610 instead. The default is @samp{> }.
4612 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
4613 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
4614 Used for the false root of a thread (@pxref{Loose Threads}). If
4615 @code{nil}, use subject instead. The default is @samp{> }.
4617 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4618 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4619 Used for a thread with just one message. If @code{nil}, use subject
4620 instead. The default is @samp{}.
4622 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4623 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4624 Used for drawing a vertical line. The default is @samp{| }.
4626 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4627 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4628 Used for indenting. The default is @samp{ }.
4630 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4631 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4632 Used for a leaf with brothers. The default is @samp{+-> }.
4634 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4635 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4636 Used for a leaf without brothers. The default is @samp{\-> }
4641 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4642 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4644 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4645 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4647 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4648 for adopted articles.
4650 One space for each thread level.
4652 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4654 Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
4657 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4658 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4659 or has been saved. @xref{Other Marks}.
4662 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4664 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4665 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4666 default level. If the difference between
4667 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4668 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4676 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4678 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4684 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4685 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4687 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4688 article has any children.
4694 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
4695 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
4697 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4698 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4699 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{x}}, where @var{x} is the letter
4700 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4701 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4702 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4705 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
4706 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
4707 There can only be one such area.
4709 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4710 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
4711 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4712 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4713 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4714 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4716 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4717 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4719 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
4722 @node To From Newsgroups
4723 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4727 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4728 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4729 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4730 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4731 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4735 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4736 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4737 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4741 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4742 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4745 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4746 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4749 @findex gnus-extra-header
4750 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4751 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4752 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4755 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4759 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4760 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4761 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4762 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4763 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4764 headers are used instead.
4768 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4769 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4770 to include extra headers when generating overview (@acronym{NOV}) files.
4771 If you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after
4772 changing this variable, by entering the server buffer using @kbd{^},
4773 and then @kbd{g} on the appropriate mail server (e.g. nnml) to cause
4776 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4777 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4778 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4779 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4781 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
4785 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4787 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4788 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4789 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
4790 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4794 (The values listed above are the default values in Gnus. Alter them
4797 A note for news server administrators, or for users who wish to try to
4798 convince their news server administrator to provide some additional
4801 The above is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4802 the @acronym{NOV} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4803 nntp admin to add (in the usual implementation, notably INN):
4809 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4810 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4813 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4814 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4816 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4817 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4818 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4819 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4821 Here are the elements you can play with:
4827 Unprefixed group name.
4829 Current article number.
4831 Current article score.
4835 Number of unread articles in this group.
4837 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4840 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4841 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4842 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4843 and no unselected ones.
4845 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4846 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4848 Subject of the current article.
4850 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4852 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4854 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4856 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4858 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4860 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4864 @node Summary Highlighting
4865 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4869 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4870 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4871 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4872 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4873 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4875 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4876 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4877 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4878 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4880 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4881 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4882 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4883 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4885 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4886 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4887 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4888 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4889 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4890 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4893 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4894 ((> score default) . bold))
4896 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4897 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4901 @node Summary Maneuvering
4902 @section Summary Maneuvering
4903 @cindex summary movement
4905 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4906 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4908 None of these commands select articles.
4913 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4914 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4915 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4916 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4917 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4921 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4922 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4923 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4924 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4925 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4928 @kindex G g (Summary)
4929 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4930 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4931 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4934 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4935 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4936 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4937 to the group buffer.
4939 Variables related to summary movement:
4943 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4944 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4945 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4946 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
4947 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4948 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4949 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
4950 next group with unread articles. As a special case, if this variable
4951 is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
4952 confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same
4953 will happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
4954 Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
4955 command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
4956 @pxref{Group Levels}.
4958 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4959 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4960 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4961 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4962 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4963 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4964 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4966 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4968 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4969 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4970 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4971 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4972 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4974 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4975 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4976 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4977 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4978 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4979 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4980 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4981 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4984 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4985 the given number of lines from the top.
4990 @node Choosing Articles
4991 @section Choosing Articles
4992 @cindex selecting articles
4995 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4996 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
5000 @node Choosing Commands
5001 @subsection Choosing Commands
5003 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
5004 and they all select and display an article.
5006 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
5007 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
5011 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
5012 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
5013 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
5014 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
5016 If you have an article window open already and you press @kbd{SPACE}
5017 again, the article will be scrolled. This lets you conveniently
5018 @kbd{SPACE} through an entire newsgroup. @xref{Paging the Article}.
5023 @kindex G n (Summary)
5024 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
5025 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
5026 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
5031 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
5032 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
5033 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
5038 @kindex G N (Summary)
5039 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
5040 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
5045 @kindex G P (Summary)
5046 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
5047 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
5050 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
5051 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
5052 Go to the next article with the same subject
5053 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
5056 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
5057 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
5058 Go to the previous article with the same subject
5059 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
5063 @kindex G f (Summary)
5065 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
5066 Go to the first unread article
5067 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
5071 @kindex G b (Summary)
5073 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
5074 Go to the unread article with the highest score
5075 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}). If given a prefix argument,
5076 go to the first unread article that has a score over the default score.
5081 @kindex G l (Summary)
5082 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
5083 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
5086 @kindex G o (Summary)
5087 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
5089 @cindex article history
5090 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
5091 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
5092 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
5093 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
5094 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
5095 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
5100 @kindex G j (Summary)
5101 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
5102 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
5103 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
5108 @node Choosing Variables
5109 @subsection Choosing Variables
5111 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
5114 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5115 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5116 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
5117 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
5118 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
5119 the server and display it in the article buffer.
5121 @item gnus-select-article-hook
5122 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
5123 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
5124 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article. If you would
5125 like each article to be saved in the Agent as you read it, putting
5126 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} on this hook will do so.
5128 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
5129 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
5130 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
5131 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
5132 @findex gnus-unread-mark
5133 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
5134 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
5135 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
5136 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
5137 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
5138 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
5139 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
5140 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
5141 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
5146 @node Paging the Article
5147 @section Scrolling the Article
5148 @cindex article scrolling
5153 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
5154 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
5155 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
5156 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
5157 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
5159 @vindex gnus-article-boring-faces
5160 @vindex gnus-article-skip-boring
5161 If @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} is non-@code{nil} and the rest of
5162 the article consists only of citations and signature, then it will be
5163 skipped; the next article will be shown instead. You can customize
5164 what is considered uninteresting with
5165 @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}. You can manually view the article's
5166 pages, no matter how boring, using @kbd{C-M-v}.
5169 @kindex DEL (Summary)
5170 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
5171 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
5174 @kindex RET (Summary)
5175 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
5176 Scroll the current article one line forward
5177 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
5180 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
5181 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
5182 Scroll the current article one line backward
5183 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
5187 @kindex A g (Summary)
5189 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
5190 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5191 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
5192 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
5193 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
5194 the way it came from the server.
5196 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
5197 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
5198 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
5201 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5206 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
5211 @kindex A < (Summary)
5212 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
5213 Scroll to the beginning of the article
5214 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
5219 @kindex A > (Summary)
5220 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
5221 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
5225 @kindex A s (Summary)
5227 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
5228 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
5229 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
5233 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
5234 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
5239 @node Reply Followup and Post
5240 @section Reply, Followup and Post
5243 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
5244 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
5245 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
5246 * Canceling and Superseding::
5250 @node Summary Mail Commands
5251 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
5253 @cindex composing mail
5255 Commands for composing a mail message:
5261 @kindex S r (Summary)
5263 @findex gnus-summary-reply
5264 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
5265 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
5266 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
5267 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
5272 @kindex S R (Summary)
5273 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
5274 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
5275 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5276 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
5277 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5280 @kindex S w (Summary)
5281 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
5282 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
5283 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
5284 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5285 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers. If @code{Mail-Followup-To} is
5286 present, that's used instead.
5289 @kindex S W (Summary)
5290 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
5291 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
5292 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
5293 the process/prefix convention.
5296 @kindex S v (Summary)
5297 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
5298 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
5299 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
5300 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5301 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
5302 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
5305 @kindex S V (Summary)
5306 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original
5307 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article and include the
5308 original message (@code{gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original}). This
5309 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5312 @kindex S B r (Summary)
5313 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to
5314 Mail a reply to the author of the current article but ignore the
5315 @code{Reply-To} field (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to}).
5316 If you need this because a mailing list incorrectly sets a
5317 @code{Reply-To} header pointing to the list, you probably want to set
5318 the @code{broken-reply-to} group parameter instead, so things will work
5319 correctly. @xref{Group Parameters}.
5322 @kindex S B R (Summary)
5323 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original
5324 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5325 original message but ignore the @code{Reply-To} field
5326 (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original}).
5330 @kindex S o m (Summary)
5331 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
5332 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
5333 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
5334 Forward the current article to some other person
5335 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If no prefix is given, the message
5336 is forwarded according to the value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime})
5337 and (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
5338 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
5339 as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
5340 forward as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
5341 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
5342 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
5343 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME}
5349 @kindex S m (Summary)
5350 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
5351 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
5352 Prepare a mail (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}). By default, use
5353 the posting style of the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5354 If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
5359 @kindex S i (Summary)
5360 @findex gnus-summary-news-other-window
5361 Prepare a news (@code{gnus-summary-news-other-window}). By default,
5362 post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that. If the
5363 prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
5365 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
5366 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
5367 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
5368 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
5369 for this to work though.
5372 @kindex S D b (Summary)
5373 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
5374 @cindex bouncing mail
5375 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
5376 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
5377 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
5378 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
5379 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
5380 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
5381 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
5382 very well fail, though.
5385 @kindex S D r (Summary)
5386 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
5387 Not to be confused with the previous command,
5388 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
5389 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
5390 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
5391 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
5392 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
5393 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
5394 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
5396 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
5397 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
5398 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
5399 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
5400 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
5402 This command understands the process/prefix convention
5403 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5406 @kindex S D e (Summary)
5407 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message-edit
5409 Like the previous command, but will allow you to edit the message as
5410 if it were a new message before resending.
5413 @kindex S O m (Summary)
5414 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
5415 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
5416 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
5417 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5420 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
5421 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
5422 @cindex crossposting
5423 @cindex excessive crossposting
5424 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
5425 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
5427 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
5428 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
5429 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
5430 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
5431 command understands the process/prefix convention
5432 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
5436 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5437 Manual}, for more information.
5440 @node Summary Post Commands
5441 @subsection Summary Post Commands
5443 @cindex composing news
5445 Commands for posting a news article:
5451 @kindex S p (Summary)
5452 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
5453 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
5454 Prepare for posting an article (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}). By
5455 default, post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5456 If the prefix is 1, prompt for another group instead.
5461 @kindex S f (Summary)
5462 @findex gnus-summary-followup
5463 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
5464 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
5468 @kindex S F (Summary)
5470 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
5471 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
5472 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
5473 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
5474 process/prefix convention.
5477 @kindex S n (Summary)
5478 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
5479 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5480 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
5483 @kindex S N (Summary)
5484 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
5485 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5486 message through mail and include the original message
5487 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
5488 the process/prefix convention.
5491 @kindex S o p (Summary)
5492 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
5493 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
5494 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
5495 If no prefix is given, the message is forwarded according to the value
5496 of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}) and
5497 (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
5498 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
5499 as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
5500 forward as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
5501 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
5502 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
5503 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section.
5506 @kindex S O p (Summary)
5507 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
5509 @cindex making digests
5510 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
5511 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
5512 process/prefix convention.
5515 @kindex S u (Summary)
5516 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
5517 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
5518 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
5519 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
5522 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5523 Manual}, for more information.
5526 @node Summary Message Commands
5527 @subsection Summary Message Commands
5531 @kindex S y (Summary)
5532 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
5533 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
5534 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
5535 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
5536 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5541 @node Canceling and Superseding
5542 @subsection Canceling Articles
5543 @cindex canceling articles
5544 @cindex superseding articles
5546 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
5547 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
5549 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
5551 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
5553 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
5554 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
5555 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
5556 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
5557 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
5558 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5560 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
5561 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
5564 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
5565 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
5566 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
5568 Gnus ensures that only you can cancel your own messages using a
5569 @code{Cancel-Lock} header (@pxref{Canceling News, Canceling News, ,
5570 message, Message Manual}).
5572 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
5573 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
5574 your original article.
5576 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
5578 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
5579 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
5580 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
5583 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
5584 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
5585 have posted almost the same article twice.
5587 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
5588 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
5589 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
5590 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
5591 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
5592 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
5593 header by substituting one of those words for the word
5594 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
5595 you would do normally. The previous article will be
5596 canceled/superseded.
5598 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
5600 @node Delayed Articles
5601 @section Delayed Articles
5602 @cindex delayed sending
5603 @cindex send delayed
5605 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
5606 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
5607 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
5608 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
5611 (gnus-delay-initialize)
5614 @findex gnus-delay-article
5615 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
5616 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
5617 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
5618 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
5622 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
5623 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
5624 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
5625 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
5628 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
5629 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
5630 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
5633 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
5634 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
5635 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
5636 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
5637 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
5638 that means a time tomorrow.
5641 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
5642 couple of variables:
5645 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
5646 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
5647 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
5648 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
5650 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
5651 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
5652 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
5653 formats described above.
5655 @item gnus-delay-group
5656 @vindex gnus-delay-group
5657 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
5658 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
5659 value is @code{"delayed"}.
5661 @item gnus-delay-header
5662 @vindex gnus-delay-header
5663 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
5664 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
5665 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
5668 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
5669 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
5670 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
5671 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
5672 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
5674 @findex gnus-delay-send-queue
5675 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
5676 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue}
5677 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
5678 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
5679 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
5680 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} function.
5683 @item gnus-delay-initialize
5684 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
5685 By default, this function installs @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
5686 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts the optional second
5687 argument @code{no-check}. If it is non-@code{nil},
5688 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed. The optional first
5689 argument is ignored.
5691 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to do nothing.
5692 Presumably, you want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles.
5693 Just don't forget to set that up :-)
5697 @node Marking Articles
5698 @section Marking Articles
5699 @cindex article marking
5700 @cindex article ticking
5703 There are several marks you can set on an article.
5705 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
5706 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
5707 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
5709 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
5712 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
5713 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
5714 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
5718 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
5722 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
5723 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
5724 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
5728 @node Unread Articles
5729 @subsection Unread Articles
5731 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
5736 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
5737 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
5739 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
5740 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
5741 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
5742 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
5743 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
5744 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
5745 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
5748 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
5749 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
5751 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
5752 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
5753 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
5754 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
5758 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
5759 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
5761 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
5766 @subsection Read Articles
5767 @cindex expirable mark
5769 All the following marks mark articles as read.
5774 @vindex gnus-del-mark
5775 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
5776 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
5779 @vindex gnus-read-mark
5780 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
5783 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
5784 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
5785 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
5788 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
5789 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
5792 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
5793 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
5796 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
5797 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
5800 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
5801 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
5804 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
5805 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
5808 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
5809 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
5812 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
5813 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
5817 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
5818 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
5819 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
5823 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
5824 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
5826 One more special mark, though:
5830 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
5831 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
5833 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
5834 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
5835 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
5836 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
5842 @subsection Other Marks
5843 @cindex process mark
5846 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
5852 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
5853 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
5854 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
5855 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
5856 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
5859 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
5860 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
5861 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
5862 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
5865 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
5866 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
5867 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
5870 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
5871 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
5872 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5875 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
5876 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
5877 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
5878 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
5881 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
5882 Articles that according to the server haven't been shown to the user
5883 before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
5884 (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all servers support this
5885 mark, in which case it simply never appears. Compare with
5886 @code{gnus-unseen-mark}.
5889 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
5890 Articles that haven't been seen before in Gnus by the user are marked
5891 with a @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
5892 Compare with @code{gnus-recent-mark}.
5895 @vindex gnus-downloaded-mark
5896 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), articles may be
5897 downloaded for unplugged (offline) viewing. If you are using the
5898 @samp{%O} spec, these articles get the @samp{+} mark in that spec.
5899 (The variable @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} controls which character to
5903 @vindex gnus-undownloaded-mark
5904 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), some articles might
5905 not have been downloaded. Such articles cannot be viewed while you
5906 are unplugged (offline). If you are using the @samp{%O} spec, these
5907 articles get the @samp{-} mark in that spec. (The variable
5908 @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} controls which character to use.)
5911 @vindex gnus-downloadable-mark
5912 The Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}) downloads some articles
5913 automatically, but it is also possible to explicitly mark articles for
5914 download, even if they would not be downloaded automatically. Such
5915 explicitly-marked articles get the @samp{%} mark in the first column.
5916 (The variable @code{gnus-downloadable-mark} controls which character to
5920 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
5921 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
5922 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
5923 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
5924 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
5927 @vindex gnus-process-mark
5928 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
5929 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
5930 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
5931 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
5932 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
5936 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
5937 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
5938 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
5940 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
5941 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
5942 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
5946 @subsection Setting Marks
5947 @cindex setting marks
5949 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
5954 @kindex M c (Summary)
5955 @kindex M-u (Summary)
5956 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
5957 @cindex mark as unread
5958 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
5959 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
5965 @kindex M t (Summary)
5966 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
5967 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
5968 @xref{Article Caching}.
5973 @kindex M ? (Summary)
5974 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
5975 Mark the current article as dormant
5976 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5980 @kindex M d (Summary)
5982 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
5983 Mark the current article as read
5984 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
5988 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
5989 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
5990 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
5995 @kindex M k (Summary)
5996 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
5997 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
5998 and then select the next unread article
5999 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
6003 @kindex M K (Summary)
6004 @kindex C-k (Summary)
6005 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
6006 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
6007 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
6010 @kindex M C (Summary)
6011 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
6012 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
6013 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
6016 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
6017 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
6018 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
6019 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
6022 @kindex M H (Summary)
6023 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
6024 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
6025 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
6028 @kindex M h (Summary)
6029 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
6030 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
6031 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
6034 @kindex C-w (Summary)
6035 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
6036 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
6037 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
6040 @kindex M V k (Summary)
6041 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
6042 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
6043 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
6047 @kindex M e (Summary)
6049 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
6050 Mark the current article as expirable
6051 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
6054 @kindex M b (Summary)
6055 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
6056 Set a bookmark in the current article
6057 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
6060 @kindex M B (Summary)
6061 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
6062 Remove the bookmark from the current article
6063 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
6066 @kindex M V c (Summary)
6067 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
6068 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
6069 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
6072 @kindex M V u (Summary)
6073 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
6074 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
6075 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
6078 @kindex M V m (Summary)
6079 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
6080 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
6081 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
6082 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
6085 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
6086 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
6087 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
6088 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
6089 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
6090 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
6091 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
6092 The default is @code{t}.
6095 @node Generic Marking Commands
6096 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
6098 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
6099 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
6100 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
6101 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
6102 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
6105 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
6106 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
6109 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
6110 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
6111 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
6112 to list in this manual.
6114 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
6115 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
6116 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
6117 article, you could say something like:
6121 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
6122 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6123 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
6131 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6132 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
6136 @node Setting Process Marks
6137 @subsection Setting Process Marks
6138 @cindex setting process marks
6140 Process marks are displayed as @code{#} in the summary buffer, and are
6141 used for marking articles in such a way that other commands will
6142 process these articles. For instance, if you process mark four
6143 articles and then use the @kbd{*} command, Gnus will enter these four
6144 commands into the cache. For more information,
6145 @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
6152 @kindex M P p (Summary)
6153 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
6154 Mark the current article with the process mark
6155 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
6156 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
6160 @kindex M P u (Summary)
6161 @kindex M-# (Summary)
6162 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
6163 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
6166 @kindex M P U (Summary)
6167 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
6168 Remove the process mark from all articles
6169 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
6172 @kindex M P i (Summary)
6173 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
6174 Invert the list of process marked articles
6175 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
6178 @kindex M P R (Summary)
6179 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
6180 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6181 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
6184 @kindex M P G (Summary)
6185 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
6186 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6187 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
6190 @kindex M P r (Summary)
6191 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
6192 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
6195 @kindex M P g (Summary)
6196 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
6197 Unmark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
6200 @kindex M P t (Summary)
6201 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6202 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6203 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6206 @kindex M P T (Summary)
6207 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6208 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6209 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6212 @kindex M P v (Summary)
6213 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
6214 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
6215 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
6218 @kindex M P s (Summary)
6219 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
6220 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6223 @kindex M P S (Summary)
6224 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
6225 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
6226 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
6229 @kindex M P a (Summary)
6230 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
6231 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6234 @kindex M P b (Summary)
6235 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
6236 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
6237 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
6240 @kindex M P k (Summary)
6241 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
6242 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
6243 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
6246 @kindex M P y (Summary)
6247 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
6248 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
6249 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
6252 @kindex M P w (Summary)
6253 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
6254 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
6255 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
6259 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @ref{Searching for Articles}, for how to
6260 set process marks based on article body contents.
6267 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
6268 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
6269 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
6272 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
6273 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
6274 additional articles.
6280 @kindex / / (Summary)
6281 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
6282 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
6283 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
6287 @kindex / a (Summary)
6288 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
6289 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
6290 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
6294 @kindex / x (Summary)
6295 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
6296 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
6297 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
6298 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
6303 @kindex / u (Summary)
6305 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
6306 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
6307 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
6308 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
6309 dormant articles will also be excluded.
6312 @kindex / m (Summary)
6313 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
6314 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
6315 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
6318 @kindex / t (Summary)
6319 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
6320 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
6321 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
6322 articles younger than that number of days.
6325 @kindex / n (Summary)
6326 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
6327 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
6328 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
6329 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6332 @kindex / w (Summary)
6333 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
6334 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
6335 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
6339 @kindex / . (Summary)
6340 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen
6341 Limit the summary buffer to the unseen articles
6342 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen}).
6345 @kindex / v (Summary)
6346 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
6347 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
6348 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
6351 @kindex / p (Summary)
6352 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate
6353 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
6354 group parameter predicate
6355 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate}). @xref{Group
6356 Parameters}, for more on this predicate.
6359 @kindex / r (Summary)
6360 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-replied
6361 Limit the summary buffer to replied articles
6362 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-replied}). If given a prefix, exclude
6367 @kindex M S (Summary)
6368 @kindex / E (Summary)
6369 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
6370 Include all expunged articles in the limit
6371 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
6374 @kindex / D (Summary)
6375 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
6376 Include all dormant articles in the limit
6377 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
6380 @kindex / * (Summary)
6381 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
6382 Include all cached articles in the limit
6383 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
6386 @kindex / d (Summary)
6387 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
6388 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
6389 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
6392 @kindex / M (Summary)
6393 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
6394 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
6397 @kindex / T (Summary)
6398 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
6399 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
6402 @kindex / c (Summary)
6403 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
6404 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit@*
6405 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
6408 @kindex / C (Summary)
6409 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
6410 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
6411 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
6412 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
6415 @kindex / N (Summary)
6416 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
6417 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
6418 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
6421 @kindex / o (Summary)
6422 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
6423 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
6424 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
6432 @cindex article threading
6434 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
6435 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
6436 hierarchical fashion.
6438 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
6439 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
6440 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
6441 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
6442 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
6443 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
6444 @ref{Customizing Threading}.
6446 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
6450 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
6453 A tree-like article structure.
6456 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
6459 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
6460 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
6461 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
6462 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
6463 called loose threads.
6465 @item thread gathering
6466 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
6468 @item sparse threads
6469 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
6470 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
6476 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
6477 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
6481 @node Customizing Threading
6482 @subsection Customizing Threading
6483 @cindex customizing threading
6486 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
6487 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
6488 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
6489 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
6494 @subsubsection Loose Threads
6497 @cindex loose threads
6500 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
6501 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
6502 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
6503 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
6504 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
6505 read or killed the root in a previous session.
6507 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
6508 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
6509 There are four possible values:
6513 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
6514 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
6515 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
6516 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
6517 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
6522 @cindex adopting articles
6527 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
6528 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
6529 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
6530 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
6533 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
6534 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root-always
6535 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
6536 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
6537 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
6538 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
6539 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
6540 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6541 If you want all threads to have a dummy root, even the non-gathered
6542 ones, set @code{gnus-summary-make-false-root-always} to @code{t}.
6545 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
6546 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
6547 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
6551 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
6552 display them after one another.
6555 Don't gather loose threads.
6558 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6559 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6560 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
6561 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
6562 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
6563 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
6564 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
6565 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
6566 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
6567 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
6568 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
6570 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
6571 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
6572 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
6575 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6576 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6577 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
6578 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
6579 simplification is used.
6581 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6582 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6583 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
6584 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
6586 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
6588 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6594 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
6595 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
6596 "answer" "reference" "announce"
6597 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
6602 (mapconcat 'identity
6603 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
6605 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
6608 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
6611 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6612 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6613 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
6614 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
6615 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
6616 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
6618 Useful functions to put in this list include:
6621 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
6622 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
6623 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
6625 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6626 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6629 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
6630 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
6631 Remove excessive whitespace.
6633 @item gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6634 @findex gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6635 Remove all whitespace.
6638 You may also write your own functions, of course.
6641 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6642 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6643 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
6644 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
6645 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
6646 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
6647 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
6648 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
6650 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6651 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6652 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
6653 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
6654 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
6655 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
6656 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
6657 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
6658 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
6662 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6663 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6664 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
6665 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
6667 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6668 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6669 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
6672 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
6676 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6677 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
6683 @node Filling In Threads
6684 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
6687 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
6688 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
6689 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
6690 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you would
6691 like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still connect as
6692 many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable to
6693 @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than that
6694 number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case, fetching
6695 old headers only works if the back end you are using carries overview
6696 files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool},
6697 @code{nnml}, and @code{nnmaildir}. Also remember that if the root of
6698 the thread has been expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can
6701 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
6702 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
6703 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
6705 @item gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
6706 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
6707 Same as @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}, but only used for ephemeral
6710 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
6711 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
6712 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
6713 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
6714 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
6715 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
6716 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
6717 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
6718 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
6719 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
6720 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
6721 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
6722 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
6723 @code{nil} by default.
6725 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
6726 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
6727 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
6728 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
6729 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
6730 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
6731 web-based groups, like the @code{nnultimate} groups.
6733 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
6734 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
6735 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
6740 @node More Threading
6741 @subsubsection More Threading
6744 @item gnus-show-threads
6745 @vindex gnus-show-threads
6746 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
6747 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
6748 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
6749 slower and more awkward.
6751 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6752 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6753 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
6756 This can also be a predicate specifier (@pxref{Predicate Specifiers}).
6757 Available predicates are @code{gnus-article-unread-p} and
6758 @code{gnus-article-unseen-p}.
6763 (setq gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6764 '(or gnus-article-unread-p
6765 gnus-article-unseen-p))
6768 (It's a pretty nonsensical example, since all unseen articles are also
6769 unread, but you get my drift.)
6772 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
6773 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
6774 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
6775 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
6776 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
6777 threads are expunged.
6779 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
6780 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
6781 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
6784 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6785 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6786 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
6787 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
6788 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
6789 result in a new thread.
6791 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
6792 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
6793 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
6796 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6797 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6798 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
6799 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
6800 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
6801 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
6802 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
6803 Setting this variable to an alternate value
6804 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
6805 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
6806 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
6811 @node Low-Level Threading
6812 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
6816 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
6817 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
6818 Hook run before parsing any headers.
6820 @item gnus-alter-header-function
6821 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
6822 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
6823 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
6824 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
6825 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
6826 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
6827 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
6828 meaningful. Here's one example:
6831 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
6833 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
6834 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
6836 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
6838 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
6845 @node Thread Commands
6846 @subsection Thread Commands
6847 @cindex thread commands
6853 @kindex T k (Summary)
6854 @kindex C-M-k (Summary)
6855 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
6856 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
6857 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
6858 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
6863 @kindex T l (Summary)
6864 @kindex C-M-l (Summary)
6865 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
6866 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
6867 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
6870 @kindex T i (Summary)
6871 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
6872 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
6873 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
6876 @kindex T # (Summary)
6877 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6878 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
6879 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6882 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
6883 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6884 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
6885 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6888 @kindex T T (Summary)
6889 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
6890 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
6893 @kindex T s (Summary)
6894 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
6895 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any@*
6896 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
6899 @kindex T h (Summary)
6900 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
6901 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
6904 @kindex T S (Summary)
6905 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
6906 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
6909 @kindex T H (Summary)
6910 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
6911 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
6914 @kindex T t (Summary)
6915 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
6916 Re-thread the current article's thread
6917 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
6918 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
6921 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
6922 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
6923 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
6924 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
6928 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
6929 understand the numeric prefix.
6934 @kindex T n (Summary)
6936 @kindex C-M-n (Summary)
6938 @kindex M-down (Summary)
6939 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
6940 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
6943 @kindex T p (Summary)
6945 @kindex C-M-p (Summary)
6947 @kindex M-up (Summary)
6948 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
6949 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
6952 @kindex T d (Summary)
6953 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
6954 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
6957 @kindex T u (Summary)
6958 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
6959 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
6962 @kindex T o (Summary)
6963 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
6964 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
6967 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
6968 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
6969 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
6970 a command like @kbd{T k} (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
6971 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
6972 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
6973 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
6974 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
6975 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
6976 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
6977 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
6978 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
6982 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
6983 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
6985 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
6986 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
6987 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
6988 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6989 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
6990 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6991 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-random
6992 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
6993 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number
6994 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date
6995 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
6996 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
6997 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
6998 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
7000 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
7001 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
7002 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
7003 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score},
7004 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number},
7005 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date},
7006 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-random} and
7007 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
7009 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
7010 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
7011 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
7013 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
7014 last function in the list. You should probably always include
7015 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
7016 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
7017 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
7018 ascending article order.
7020 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
7021 by number, you could do something like:
7024 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
7025 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
7026 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
7027 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
7030 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
7031 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
7032 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
7033 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
7034 which the articles arrived.
7036 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
7040 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
7042 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
7043 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
7046 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
7047 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
7048 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
7049 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
7052 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
7053 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
7054 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
7055 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
7056 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
7057 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-random
7058 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
7059 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or
7060 other, you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions}
7061 variable. It is very similar to the
7062 @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that it uses slightly
7063 different functions for article comparison. Available sorting
7064 predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
7065 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author},
7066 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date},
7067 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-random}, and
7068 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
7070 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
7074 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
7075 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
7076 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
7081 @node Asynchronous Fetching
7082 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
7083 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
7084 @cindex article pre-fetch
7087 If you read your news from an @acronym{NNTP} server that's far away, the
7088 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
7089 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
7090 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
7091 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
7093 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
7094 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
7096 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
7097 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
7098 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
7099 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
7100 connection is blocked.
7102 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
7103 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
7104 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
7105 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
7107 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
7108 the link between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server will become more
7109 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
7110 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
7113 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing@dots{} unless
7116 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
7117 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
7118 happen automatically.
7120 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
7121 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
7122 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
7123 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
7124 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
7125 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
7126 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
7128 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
7129 @findex gnus-async-read-p
7130 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
7131 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p}
7132 variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This
7133 function should return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is
7134 to be pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which
7135 returns @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an
7136 article data structure as the only parameter.
7138 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter
7139 than 100 lines, you could say something like:
7142 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
7143 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
7144 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
7145 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
7148 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
7151 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
7152 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
7153 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
7155 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
7156 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
7157 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
7158 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
7162 Remove articles when they are read.
7165 Remove articles when exiting the group.
7168 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
7170 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
7171 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
7172 @c from the next group.
7175 @node Article Caching
7176 @section Article Caching
7177 @cindex article caching
7180 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @acronym{NNTP} connection, you may
7181 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
7182 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
7183 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
7184 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
7186 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
7188 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7189 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
7190 @vindex gnus-use-cache
7191 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
7192 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
7193 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
7194 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
7195 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
7197 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
7198 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
7199 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
7200 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
7201 as dormant, and don't worry.
7203 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
7205 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
7206 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
7207 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
7208 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
7209 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
7210 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
7211 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
7212 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
7213 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
7214 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
7216 @findex gnus-jog-cache
7217 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
7218 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
7219 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
7220 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
7221 command if 1) your connection to the @acronym{NNTP} server is really, really,
7222 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
7223 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
7224 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
7225 not then be downloaded by this command.
7227 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
7228 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
7229 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
7230 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
7231 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
7232 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
7234 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
7235 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
7236 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
7237 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
7238 variables, the group is not cached.
7240 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
7241 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
7242 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
7243 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
7244 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
7245 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
7246 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
7247 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @acronym{NOV}
7248 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
7251 @findex gnus-cache-move-cache
7252 @code{gnus-cache-move-cache} will move your whole
7253 @code{gnus-cache-directory} to some other location. You get asked to
7254 where, isn't that cool?
7256 @node Persistent Articles
7257 @section Persistent Articles
7258 @cindex persistent articles
7260 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
7261 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
7262 useful in my opinion.
7264 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
7265 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
7266 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
7267 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
7268 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
7269 the expiry going on at the news server.
7271 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
7272 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
7273 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
7279 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
7280 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
7283 @kindex M-* (Summary)
7284 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
7285 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
7286 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
7290 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
7292 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
7293 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
7294 interested in persistent articles:
7297 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
7301 @node Article Backlog
7302 @section Article Backlog
7304 @cindex article backlog
7306 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
7307 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
7308 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
7309 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
7310 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
7311 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
7312 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
7313 increase memory usage some.
7315 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
7316 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
7317 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
7318 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
7319 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
7320 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
7321 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
7323 The default value is 20.
7326 @node Saving Articles
7327 @section Saving Articles
7328 @cindex saving articles
7330 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
7331 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
7332 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
7333 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
7334 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
7336 For the commands listed here, the target is a file. If you want to
7337 save to a group, see the @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article})
7338 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
7340 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
7341 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
7342 unwanted headers before saving the article.
7344 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
7345 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
7346 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
7347 deleted before saving.
7353 @kindex O o (Summary)
7355 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
7356 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
7357 Save the current article using the default article saver
7358 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
7361 @kindex O m (Summary)
7362 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
7363 Save the current article in mail format
7364 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
7367 @kindex O r (Summary)
7368 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
7369 Save the current article in Rmail format
7370 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
7373 @kindex O f (Summary)
7374 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
7375 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
7376 Save the current article in plain file format
7377 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
7380 @kindex O F (Summary)
7381 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
7382 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
7383 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
7386 @kindex O b (Summary)
7387 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
7388 Save the current article body in plain file format
7389 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
7392 @kindex O h (Summary)
7393 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
7394 Save the current article in mh folder format
7395 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
7398 @kindex O v (Summary)
7399 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
7400 Save the current article in a VM folder
7401 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
7405 @kindex O p (Summary)
7407 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
7408 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
7409 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
7410 If given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), include the
7411 complete headers in the piped output.
7414 @kindex O P (Summary)
7415 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
7416 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
7417 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
7418 external program @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/,
7419 Muttprint}. The program name and options to use is controlled by the
7420 variable @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}.
7421 (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
7425 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
7426 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
7427 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
7428 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
7429 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
7430 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
7431 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
7432 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
7433 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
7434 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
7435 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
7436 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
7440 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
7441 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
7442 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
7443 functions below, or you can create your own.
7447 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7448 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7449 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
7450 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7451 This is the default format, @dfn{Babyl}. Uses the function in the
7452 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7453 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7455 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7456 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7457 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
7458 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
7459 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7460 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7462 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
7463 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
7464 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
7465 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7466 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
7467 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7468 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7470 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
7471 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
7472 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
7473 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
7474 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7475 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7477 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7478 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7479 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
7480 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7481 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7483 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7484 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7485 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
7486 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
7487 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
7490 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
7491 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
7492 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
7493 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
7494 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
7496 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7497 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7498 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
7499 reader to use this setting.
7502 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
7503 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
7504 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
7505 @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
7508 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
7509 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
7510 available functions that generate names:
7514 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
7515 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
7516 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7518 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
7519 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7520 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7522 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
7523 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
7524 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7526 @item gnus-plain-save-name
7527 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7528 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7530 @item gnus-sender-save-name
7531 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
7532 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
7535 @vindex gnus-split-methods
7536 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
7537 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
7538 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
7539 related to VM in @file{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
7543 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
7544 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
7545 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
7546 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
7549 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
7550 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
7551 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
7552 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
7553 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
7554 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
7555 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
7556 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
7557 called returns a string or a list of strings.
7559 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
7560 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
7561 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
7562 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
7564 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
7565 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
7566 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
7569 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
7570 lots of mail groups called things like
7571 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
7572 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
7573 following will do just that:
7576 (defun my-save-name (group)
7577 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
7578 (substring group (match-end 0))))
7580 (setq gnus-split-methods
7581 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
7586 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7587 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
7588 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
7589 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
7590 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
7591 all the files in the top level directory
7592 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
7593 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
7594 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
7595 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
7597 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
7598 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
7599 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
7600 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
7601 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
7604 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
7608 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; @r{to get a hierarchy}
7609 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
7610 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; @r{no encoding}
7613 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
7614 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
7615 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
7616 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
7619 @node Decoding Articles
7620 @section Decoding Articles
7621 @cindex decoding articles
7623 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
7624 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
7627 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
7628 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
7629 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
7630 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
7631 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
7632 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
7636 @cindex article series
7637 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
7638 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
7639 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
7640 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
7641 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
7643 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
7644 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
7645 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
7647 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
7648 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
7649 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
7651 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
7652 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
7653 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
7656 @node Uuencoded Articles
7657 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
7659 @cindex uuencoded articles
7664 @kindex X u (Summary)
7665 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
7666 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
7667 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
7670 @kindex X U (Summary)
7671 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
7672 Uudecodes and saves the current series
7673 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7676 @kindex X v u (Summary)
7677 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
7678 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
7681 @kindex X v U (Summary)
7682 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
7683 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
7684 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
7688 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
7689 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
7690 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
7691 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
7692 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7694 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
7695 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
7696 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
7697 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
7700 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
7701 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
7702 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
7703 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
7704 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
7705 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
7709 @node Shell Archives
7710 @subsection Shell Archives
7712 @cindex shell archives
7713 @cindex shared articles
7715 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
7716 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
7717 some commands to deal with these:
7722 @kindex X s (Summary)
7723 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
7724 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
7727 @kindex X S (Summary)
7728 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
7729 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
7732 @kindex X v s (Summary)
7733 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
7734 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
7737 @kindex X v S (Summary)
7738 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
7739 Unshars, views and saves the current series
7740 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
7744 @node PostScript Files
7745 @subsection PostScript Files
7751 @kindex X p (Summary)
7752 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
7753 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
7756 @kindex X P (Summary)
7757 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
7758 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
7759 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
7762 @kindex X v p (Summary)
7763 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
7764 View the current PostScript series
7765 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
7768 @kindex X v P (Summary)
7769 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
7770 View and save the current PostScript series
7771 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
7776 @subsection Other Files
7780 @kindex X o (Summary)
7781 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
7782 Save the current series
7783 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
7786 @kindex X b (Summary)
7787 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
7788 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
7789 doesn't really work yet.
7793 @node Decoding Variables
7794 @subsection Decoding Variables
7796 Adjective, not verb.
7799 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
7800 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
7801 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
7805 @node Rule Variables
7806 @subsubsection Rule Variables
7807 @cindex rule variables
7809 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
7810 variables are of the form
7813 (list '(regexp1 command2)
7820 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7821 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7823 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
7824 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @file{.au} sound file, you could
7827 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7828 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
7831 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7832 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7833 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
7834 user and default view rules.
7836 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7837 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7838 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
7843 @node Other Decode Variables
7844 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
7847 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7849 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7850 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
7851 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
7852 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
7853 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
7857 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
7858 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
7861 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
7862 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
7863 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
7866 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7867 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7868 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
7869 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
7870 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
7873 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7874 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7875 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
7877 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7878 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7879 Files with a @acronym{MIME} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
7880 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
7881 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @acronym{MIME} package (yet), so this is slightly
7884 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7885 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7886 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
7888 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7889 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7890 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
7891 looking for files to display.
7893 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
7894 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
7895 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
7898 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7899 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7900 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
7903 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7904 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7905 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
7908 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7909 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7910 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
7913 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7914 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7915 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
7916 decoded articles as unread.
7918 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7919 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7920 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
7921 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
7923 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7924 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7925 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
7927 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7928 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7930 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
7931 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @acronym{MIME}
7932 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
7933 @code{metamail} for viewing.
7935 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7936 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7937 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
7938 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
7939 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
7940 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
7941 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
7942 simply dropped them.
7947 @node Uuencoding and Posting
7948 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
7952 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7953 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7954 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
7955 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
7956 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
7957 for you when you post the article.
7959 @item gnus-uu-post-length
7960 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
7961 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
7962 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
7964 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
7965 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
7966 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
7967 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
7968 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
7969 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
7970 think that counts@dots{}) Default is @code{nil}.
7972 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7973 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7974 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
7975 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
7976 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
7977 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
7978 Default is @code{t}.
7984 @subsection Viewing Files
7985 @cindex viewing files
7986 @cindex pseudo-articles
7988 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
7989 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
7990 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
7991 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
7992 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
7993 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
7994 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
7996 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
7997 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
7998 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
7999 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
8001 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
8002 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
8003 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
8005 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
8006 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
8007 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
8008 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
8009 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
8011 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
8012 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
8013 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
8014 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
8015 a list of parameters to that command.
8017 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
8018 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
8019 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
8021 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
8022 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
8023 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
8026 @node Article Treatment
8027 @section Article Treatment
8029 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
8030 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
8031 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
8032 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
8033 these articles easier.
8036 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
8037 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
8038 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
8039 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
8040 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
8041 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
8042 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
8043 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
8044 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
8045 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
8046 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
8050 @node Article Highlighting
8051 @subsection Article Highlighting
8052 @cindex highlighting
8054 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
8055 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
8060 @kindex W H a (Summary)
8061 @findex gnus-article-highlight
8062 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
8063 Do much highlighting of the current article
8064 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
8065 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
8068 @kindex W H h (Summary)
8069 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
8070 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
8071 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
8072 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
8073 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
8074 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
8075 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
8076 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
8077 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
8078 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
8079 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
8082 @kindex W H c (Summary)
8083 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
8084 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
8086 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
8089 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
8091 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
8092 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
8093 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
8095 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
8096 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
8097 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
8099 @item gnus-cite-face-list
8100 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
8101 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
8102 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
8103 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
8104 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
8106 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
8107 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
8108 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
8110 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
8111 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
8112 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
8114 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
8115 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
8116 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
8117 that it's a citation.
8119 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
8120 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
8121 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
8123 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
8124 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
8125 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
8127 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
8128 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
8129 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
8130 cited text belonging to the attribution.
8136 @kindex W H s (Summary)
8137 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8138 @vindex gnus-signature-face
8139 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
8140 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
8141 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
8142 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
8143 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
8148 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
8151 @node Article Fontisizing
8152 @subsection Article Fontisizing
8154 @cindex article emphasis
8156 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
8157 @kindex W e (Summary)
8158 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
8159 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
8160 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
8161 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
8163 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
8164 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
8165 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
8166 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
8167 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
8168 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
8169 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
8170 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
8174 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
8175 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
8176 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
8185 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
8186 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
8187 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
8188 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
8189 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
8190 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
8191 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
8192 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
8193 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
8194 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
8195 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
8196 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
8197 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
8199 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
8200 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
8201 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
8205 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
8208 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
8210 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
8211 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
8212 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
8213 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
8215 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
8218 @node Article Hiding
8219 @subsection Article Hiding
8220 @cindex article hiding
8222 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
8223 too much cruft in most articles.
8228 @kindex W W a (Summary)
8229 @findex gnus-article-hide
8230 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
8231 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
8232 headers, @acronym{PGP}, cited text and the signature.
8235 @kindex W W h (Summary)
8236 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
8237 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
8241 @kindex W W b (Summary)
8242 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8243 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
8244 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
8247 @kindex W W s (Summary)
8248 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
8249 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
8253 @kindex W W l (Summary)
8254 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
8255 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8256 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
8257 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
8258 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
8259 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
8260 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
8264 @item gnus-list-identifiers
8265 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8266 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
8267 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
8272 @kindex W W P (Summary)
8273 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
8274 Hide @acronym{PEM} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
8275 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
8278 @kindex W W B (Summary)
8279 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
8280 @vindex gnus-article-banner-alist
8281 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8284 @cindex stripping advertisements
8285 @cindex advertisements
8286 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
8287 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
8288 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
8289 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
8290 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
8291 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
8292 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
8293 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
8294 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
8295 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
8298 Regardless of a group, you can hide things like advertisements only when
8299 the sender of an article has a certain mail address specified in
8300 @code{gnus-article-address-banner-alist}.
8304 @item gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8305 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8306 Alist of mail addresses and banners. Each element has the form
8307 @code{(@var{address} . @var{banner})}, where @var{address} is a regexp
8308 matching a mail address in the From header, @var{banner} is one of a
8309 symbol @code{signature}, an item in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist},
8310 a regexp and @code{nil}. If @var{address} matches author's mail
8311 address, it will remove things like advertisements. For example, if a
8312 sender has the mail address @samp{hail@@yoo-hoo.co.jp} and there is a
8313 banner something like @samp{Do You Yoo-hoo!?} in all articles he
8314 sends, you can use the following element to remove them:
8317 ("@@yoo-hoo\\.co\\.jp\\'" .
8318 "\n_+\nDo You Yoo-hoo!\\?\n.*\n.*\n")
8324 @kindex W W c (Summary)
8325 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
8326 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
8327 customizing the hiding:
8331 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8332 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8333 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8334 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8335 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
8336 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
8337 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
8342 Starting point of the hidden text.
8344 Ending point of the hidden text.
8346 Number of characters in the hidden region.
8348 Number of lines of hidden text.
8351 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
8352 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
8353 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
8354 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
8355 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
8360 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
8361 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
8363 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
8364 following two variables:
8367 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8368 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8369 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
8370 50), hide the cited text.
8372 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8373 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8374 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
8379 @kindex W W C (Summary)
8380 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
8381 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
8382 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
8383 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
8384 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8388 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
8389 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
8390 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
8392 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
8393 citation customization.
8395 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
8399 @node Article Washing
8400 @subsection Article Washing
8402 @cindex article washing
8404 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
8405 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
8407 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
8408 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
8411 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
8412 articles by default.
8417 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
8418 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
8422 Force redisplaying of the current article
8423 (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). This is also not really washing.
8424 If you type this, you see the article without any previously applied
8425 interactive Washing functions but with all default treatments
8426 (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8429 @kindex W l (Summary)
8430 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
8431 Remove page breaks from the current article
8432 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
8436 @kindex W r (Summary)
8437 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
8438 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
8439 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
8440 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
8441 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
8442 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
8444 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
8445 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
8446 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
8447 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
8450 @kindex W m (Summary)
8451 @findex gnus-summary-morse-message
8452 Morse decode the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-morse-message}).
8456 @kindex W t (Summary)
8458 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
8459 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
8460 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
8463 @kindex W v (Summary)
8464 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-headers
8465 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
8466 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-headers}).
8469 @kindex W o (Summary)
8470 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
8471 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
8474 @kindex W d (Summary)
8475 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
8476 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
8478 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
8480 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
8481 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
8482 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
8483 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
8486 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
8487 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
8488 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
8489 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
8492 @kindex W Y f (Summary)
8493 @findex gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article
8494 @cindex Outlook Express
8495 Full deuglify of broken Outlook (Express) articles: Treat dumbquotes,
8496 unwrap lines, repair attribution and rearrange citation.
8497 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}).
8500 @kindex W Y u (Summary)
8501 @findex gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines
8502 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min
8503 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max
8504 Unwrap lines that appear to be wrapped citation lines. You can control
8505 what lines will be unwrapped by frobbing
8506 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min} and
8507 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max}, indicating the minimum and
8508 maximum length of an unwrapped citation line.
8509 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines}).
8512 @kindex W Y a (Summary)
8513 @findex gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution
8514 Repair a broken attribution line.@*
8515 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution}).
8518 @kindex W Y c (Summary)
8519 @findex gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation
8520 Repair broken citations by rearranging the text.
8521 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation}).
8524 @kindex W w (Summary)
8525 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
8526 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
8528 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
8532 @kindex W Q (Summary)
8533 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
8534 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
8537 @kindex W C (Summary)
8538 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
8539 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
8540 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
8543 @kindex W c (Summary)
8544 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
8545 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
8546 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
8547 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
8548 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
8551 @kindex W q (Summary)
8552 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
8553 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
8554 Quoted-Printable is one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when
8555 sending non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. It typically
8556 makes strings like @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which
8557 doesn't look very readable to me. Note that this is usually done
8558 automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8559 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
8560 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8563 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
8564 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
8565 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}). Base64 is
8566 one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when sending
8567 non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. Note that this is
8568 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8569 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
8570 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8573 @kindex W Z (Summary)
8574 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
8575 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
8576 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
8577 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
8580 @kindex W A (Summary)
8581 @findex gnus-article-treat-ansi-sequences
8582 Translate ANSI SGR control sequences into overlays or extents
8583 (@code{gnus-article-treat-ansi-sequences}). ANSI sequences are used in
8584 some Chinese hierarchies for highlighting.
8587 @kindex W u (Summary)
8588 @findex gnus-article-unsplit-urls
8589 Remove newlines from within URLs. Some mailers insert newlines into
8590 outgoing email messages to keep lines short. This reformatting can
8591 split long URLs onto multiple lines. Repair those URLs by removing
8592 the newlines (@code{gnus-article-unsplit-urls}).
8595 @kindex W h (Summary)
8596 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
8597 Treat @acronym{HTML} (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}). Note that this is
8598 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8599 @code{Content-Type} header that says that the message is @acronym{HTML}.
8601 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8603 @vindex gnus-article-wash-function
8604 The default is to use the function specified by
8605 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{Display Customization, ,Display
8606 Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}) to convert the
8607 @acronym{HTML}, but this is controlled by the
8608 @code{gnus-article-wash-function} variable. Pre-defined functions you
8616 Use @uref{http://emacs-w3m.namazu.org/, emacs-w3m}.
8619 Use @uref{http://links.sf.net/, Links}.
8622 Use @uref{http://lynx.isc.org/, Lynx}.
8625 Use html2text---a simple @acronym{HTML} converter included with Gnus.
8630 @kindex W b (Summary)
8631 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
8632 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
8633 @xref{Article Buttons}.
8636 @kindex W B (Summary)
8637 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
8638 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
8639 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
8642 @kindex W p (Summary)
8643 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
8644 Verify a signed control message
8645 (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}). Control messages such as
8646 @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are usually signed by the
8647 hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the @acronym{PGP} public key of
8648 the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
8649 message.@footnote{@acronym{PGP} keys for many hierarchies are
8650 available at @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
8653 @kindex W s (Summary)
8654 @findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
8655 Verify a signed (@acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME} or
8656 @acronym{S/MIME}) message
8657 (@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}). @xref{Security}.
8660 @kindex W a (Summary)
8661 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body
8662 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
8663 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body}).
8666 @kindex W E l (Summary)
8667 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
8668 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
8669 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
8672 @kindex W E m (Summary)
8673 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
8674 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
8675 lines with a single empty line.
8676 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
8679 @kindex W E t (Summary)
8680 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
8681 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
8682 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
8685 @kindex W E a (Summary)
8686 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
8687 Do all the three commands above
8688 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
8691 @kindex W E A (Summary)
8692 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
8693 Remove all blank lines
8694 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
8697 @kindex W E s (Summary)
8698 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
8699 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
8700 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
8703 @kindex W E e (Summary)
8704 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
8705 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
8706 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
8710 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
8713 @node Article Header
8714 @subsection Article Header
8716 These commands perform various transformations of article header.
8721 @kindex W G u (Summary)
8722 @findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
8723 Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
8726 @kindex W G n (Summary)
8727 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
8728 Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
8729 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
8732 @kindex W G f (Summary)
8733 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-headers
8734 Fold all the message headers
8735 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-headers}).
8738 @kindex W E w (Summary)
8739 @findex gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace
8740 Remove excessive whitespace from all headers
8741 (@code{gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace}).
8746 @node Article Buttons
8747 @subsection Article Buttons
8750 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
8751 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
8752 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
8753 button on these references.
8755 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
8756 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
8757 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man pages and
8758 Emacs or Gnus related references. This is controlled by two variables,
8759 one that handles article bodies and one that handles article heads:
8763 @item gnus-button-alist
8764 @vindex gnus-button-alist
8765 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
8768 (@var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
8774 All text that match this regular expression (case insensitive) will be
8775 considered an external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches
8776 embedded URLs: @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}. This can also be a
8777 variable containing a regexp, useful variables to use include
8778 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp} and @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp}.
8781 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
8782 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
8783 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
8786 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
8787 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
8788 avoid false matches. Often variables named
8789 @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} are used here, @xref{Article Button
8790 Levels}, but any other form may be used too.
8792 @c @code{use-p} is @code{eval}ed only if @code{regexp} matches.
8795 This function will be called when you click on this button.
8798 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
8799 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
8803 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
8806 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
8809 @item gnus-header-button-alist
8810 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
8811 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
8812 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
8813 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
8816 (@var{header} @var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
8819 @var{header} is a regular expression.
8822 @subsubsection Related variables and functions
8825 @item gnus-button-@var{*}-level
8826 @xref{Article Button Levels}.
8828 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-browse-level
8830 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
8831 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
8832 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
8833 default values of the variables above.
8835 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-man-level
8837 @item gnus-button-man-handler
8838 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
8839 The function to use for displaying man pages. It must take at least one
8840 argument with a string naming the man page.
8842 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-message-level
8844 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
8845 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
8846 Regular expression that matches a message ID or a mail address.
8848 @item gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
8849 @vindex gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
8850 This variable determines what to do when the button on a string as
8851 @samp{foo123@@bar.invalid} is pushed. Strings like this can be either a
8852 message ID or a mail address. If it is one of the symbols @code{mid} or
8853 @code{mail}, Gnus will always assume that the string is a message ID or
8854 a mail address, respectively. If this variable is set to the symbol
8855 @code{ask}, always query the user what do do. If it is a function, this
8856 function will be called with the string as its only argument. The
8857 function must return @code{mid}, @code{mail}, @code{invalid} or
8858 @code{ask}. The default value is the function
8859 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
8861 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
8862 @findex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
8863 Function that guesses whether its argument is a message ID or a mail
8864 address. Returns @code{mid} if it's a message IDs, @code{mail} if
8865 it's a mail address, @code{ask} if unsure and @code{invalid} if the
8868 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
8869 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
8870 An alist of @code{(RATE . REGEXP)} pairs used by the function
8871 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
8873 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-tex-level
8875 @item gnus-button-ctan-handler
8876 @findex gnus-button-ctan-handler
8877 The function to use for displaying CTAN links. It must take one
8878 argument, the string naming the URL.
8881 @vindex gnus-ctan-url
8882 Top directory of a CTAN (Comprehensive TeX Archive Network) archive used
8883 by @code{gnus-button-ctan-handler}.
8887 @item gnus-article-button-face
8888 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
8889 Face used on buttons.
8891 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
8892 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
8893 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
8897 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
8900 @node Article Button Levels
8901 @subsection Article button levels
8902 @cindex button levels
8903 The higher the value of the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level},
8904 the more buttons will appear. If the level is zero, no corresponding
8905 buttons are displayed. With the default value (which is 5) you should
8906 already see quite a lot of buttons. With higher levels, you will see
8907 more buttons, but you may also get more false positives. To avoid them,
8908 you can set the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} local to
8909 specific groups (@pxref{Group Parameters}). Here's an example for the
8910 variable @code{gnus-parameters}:
8913 ;; @r{increase @code{gnus-button-*-level} in some groups:}
8914 (setq gnus-parameters
8915 '(("\\<\\(emacs\\|gnus\\)\\>" (gnus-button-emacs-level 10))
8916 ("\\<unix\\>" (gnus-button-man-level 10))
8917 ("\\<tex\\>" (gnus-button-tex-level 10))))
8922 @item gnus-button-browse-level
8923 @vindex gnus-button-browse-level
8924 Controls the display of references to message IDs, mail addresses and
8925 news URLs. Related variables and functions include
8926 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp}, @code{browse-url}, and
8927 @code{browse-url-browser-function}.
8929 @item gnus-button-emacs-level
8930 @vindex gnus-button-emacs-level
8931 Controls the display of Emacs or Gnus references. Related functions are
8932 @code{gnus-button-handle-custom},
8933 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-function},
8934 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-variable},
8935 @code{gnus-button-handle-symbol},
8936 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-key},
8937 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos},
8938 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-command},
8939 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-variable},
8940 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-documentation}, and
8941 @code{gnus-button-handle-library}.
8943 @item gnus-button-man-level
8944 @vindex gnus-button-man-level
8945 Controls the display of references to (Unix) man pages.
8946 See @code{gnus-button-man-handler}.
8948 @item gnus-button-message-level
8949 @vindex gnus-button-message-level
8950 Controls the display of message IDs, mail addresses and news URLs.
8951 Related variables and functions include
8952 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp},
8953 @code{gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail},
8954 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}, and
8955 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist}.
8957 @item gnus-button-tex-level
8958 @vindex gnus-button-tex-level
8959 Controls the display of references to @TeX{} or LaTeX stuff, e.g. for CTAN
8960 URLs. See the variables @code{gnus-ctan-url},
8961 @code{gnus-button-ctan-handler},
8962 @code{gnus-button-ctan-directory-regexp}, and
8963 @code{gnus-button-handle-ctan-bogus-regexp}.
8969 @subsection Article Date
8971 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
8972 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
8973 when the article was sent.
8978 @kindex W T u (Summary)
8979 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
8980 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
8981 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
8984 @kindex W T i (Summary)
8985 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
8987 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
8988 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
8991 @kindex W T l (Summary)
8992 @findex gnus-article-date-local
8993 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
8996 @kindex W T p (Summary)
8997 @findex gnus-article-date-english
8998 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
8999 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
9002 @kindex W T s (Summary)
9003 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
9004 @findex gnus-article-date-user
9005 @findex format-time-string
9006 Display the date using a user-defined format
9007 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
9008 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
9009 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
9010 for a list of possible format specs.
9013 @kindex W T e (Summary)
9014 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
9015 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
9016 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
9017 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
9018 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
9021 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
9024 @vindex gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header
9025 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
9026 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
9029 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
9030 into wonderful absurdities.
9032 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
9035 (gnus-start-date-timer)
9038 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
9039 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
9043 @kindex W T o (Summary)
9044 @findex gnus-article-date-original
9045 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
9046 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
9047 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
9048 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
9049 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
9053 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
9054 preferred format automatically.
9057 @node Article Display
9058 @subsection Article Display
9063 These commands add various frivolous display gimmicks to the article
9064 buffer in Emacs versions that support them.
9066 @code{X-Face} headers are small black-and-white images supplied by the
9067 message headers (@pxref{X-Face}).
9069 @code{Face} headers are small colored images supplied by the message
9070 headers (@pxref{Face}).
9072 Smileys are those little @samp{:-)} symbols that people like to litter
9073 their messages with (@pxref{Smileys}).
9075 Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
9076 try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
9078 All these functions are toggles---if the elements already exist,
9083 @kindex W D x (Summary)
9084 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
9085 Display an @code{X-Face} in the @code{From} header.
9086 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}).
9089 @kindex W D d (Summary)
9090 @findex gnus-article-display-face
9091 Display a @code{Face} in the @code{From} header.
9092 (@code{gnus-article-display-face}).
9095 @kindex W D s (Summary)
9096 @findex gnus-treat-smiley
9097 Display smileys (@code{gnus-treat-smiley}).
9100 @kindex W D f (Summary)
9101 @findex gnus-treat-from-picon
9102 Piconify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
9105 @kindex W D m (Summary)
9106 @findex gnus-treat-mail-picon
9107 Piconify all mail headers (i. e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
9108 (@code{gnus-treat-mail-picon}).
9111 @kindex W D n (Summary)
9112 @findex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
9113 Piconify all news headers (i. e., @code{Newsgroups} and
9114 @code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon}).
9117 @kindex W D D (Summary)
9118 @findex gnus-article-remove-images
9119 Remove all images from the article buffer
9120 (@code{gnus-article-remove-images}).
9126 @node Article Signature
9127 @subsection Article Signature
9129 @cindex article signature
9131 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
9132 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
9133 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
9134 that says what is to be considered a signature is
9135 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
9136 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
9137 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
9138 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
9139 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
9142 (setq gnus-signature-separator
9143 '("^-- $" ; @r{The standard}
9144 "^-- *$" ; @r{A common mangling}
9145 "^-------*$" ; @r{Many people just use a looong}
9146 ; @r{line of dashes. Shame!}
9147 "^ *--------*$" ; @r{Double-shame!}
9148 "^________*$" ; @r{Underscores are also popular}
9149 "^========*$")) ; @r{Pervert!}
9152 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
9155 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
9156 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
9157 signature when displaying articles.
9161 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
9164 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
9167 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
9168 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
9170 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
9171 in question is not a signature.
9174 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
9175 listed above. Here's an example:
9178 (setq gnus-signature-limit
9179 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
9182 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
9183 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
9184 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
9185 signature after all.
9188 @node Article Miscellanea
9189 @subsection Article Miscellanea
9193 @kindex A t (Summary)
9194 @findex gnus-article-babel
9195 Translate the article from one language to another
9196 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
9202 @section MIME Commands
9203 @cindex MIME decoding
9205 @cindex viewing attachments
9207 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
9208 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @acronym{MIME} part''.
9214 @kindex K v (Summary)
9215 View the @acronym{MIME} part.
9218 @kindex K o (Summary)
9219 Save the @acronym{MIME} part.
9222 @kindex K c (Summary)
9223 Copy the @acronym{MIME} part.
9226 @kindex K e (Summary)
9227 View the @acronym{MIME} part externally.
9230 @kindex K i (Summary)
9231 View the @acronym{MIME} part internally.
9234 @kindex K | (Summary)
9235 Pipe the @acronym{MIME} part to an external command.
9238 The rest of these @acronym{MIME} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
9243 @kindex K b (Summary)
9244 Make all the @acronym{MIME} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
9245 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
9249 @kindex K m (Summary)
9250 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
9251 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
9252 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
9253 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
9254 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
9257 @kindex X m (Summary)
9258 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
9259 Save all parts matching a @acronym{MIME} type to a directory
9260 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
9261 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9264 @kindex M-t (Summary)
9265 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized
9266 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
9267 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
9270 @kindex W M w (Summary)
9271 @findex gnus-article-decode-mime-words
9272 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
9273 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
9276 @kindex W M c (Summary)
9277 @findex gnus-article-decode-charset
9278 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
9279 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
9281 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
9282 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
9283 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
9284 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not
9285 include @acronym{MIME} headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic
9286 parameter to the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
9289 @kindex W M v (Summary)
9290 @findex gnus-mime-view-all-parts
9291 View all the @acronym{MIME} parts in the current article
9292 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
9299 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
9300 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
9301 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9302 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
9305 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
9308 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
9312 @item gnus-article-loose-mime
9313 @vindex gnus-article-loose-mime
9314 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus won't require the @samp{MIME-Version} header
9315 before interpreting the message as a @acronym{MIME} message. This helps
9316 when reading messages from certain broken mail user agents. The
9317 default is @code{nil}.
9319 @item gnus-article-emulate-mime
9320 @vindex gnus-article-emulate-mime
9321 There are other, non-@acronym{MIME} encoding methods used. The most common
9322 is @samp{uuencode}, but yEncode is also getting to be popular. If
9323 this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will look in message bodies to
9324 see if it finds these encodings, and if so, it'll run them through the
9325 Gnus @acronym{MIME} machinery. The default is @code{t}.
9327 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9328 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9329 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9330 this list won't have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9331 displayed or this variable is overridden by
9332 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
9333 @code{(".*/.*")}. This variable is only used when
9334 @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing} is @code{nil}.
9336 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9337 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9338 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9339 this list will have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9340 displayed. This variable overrides
9341 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
9342 This variable is only used when @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing}
9345 To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
9346 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
9347 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} at the default value.
9349 @item gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9350 @vindex gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9351 If this is non-@code{nil}, then all @acronym{MIME} parts get buttons. The
9352 default value is @code{nil}.
9354 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
9355 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
9356 For each @acronym{MIME} part, this function will be called with the @acronym{MIME}
9357 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
9358 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
9359 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
9360 save all jpegs into some directory).
9362 Here's an example function the does the latter:
9365 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
9366 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
9368 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
9369 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
9370 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
9371 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
9372 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
9375 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9376 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9377 Alist of @acronym{MIME} multipart types and functions to handle them.
9379 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9380 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9381 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @acronym{MIME} parts.
9382 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
9384 Ready-made functions include@*
9385 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
9386 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
9387 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
9388 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
9389 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
9390 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
9391 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
9392 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
9393 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9394 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9395 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9396 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9398 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
9399 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
9401 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
9402 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
9403 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
9406 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9407 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9408 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9409 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
9413 to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
9422 People use different charsets, and we have @acronym{MIME} to let us know what
9423 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
9424 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @acronym{MIME}, and
9425 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
9426 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
9427 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
9428 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
9430 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
9431 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
9432 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
9433 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
9435 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets
9436 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @acronym{MIME}-aware agents that
9437 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
9438 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
9439 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
9440 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
9441 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
9442 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
9443 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
9445 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
9446 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
9447 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @acronym{MIME}
9448 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
9449 quoted-printable header encoding.
9451 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
9452 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
9453 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
9457 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
9460 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
9461 means encode all charsets),
9463 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
9464 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
9465 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
9472 @cindex coding system aliases
9473 @cindex preferred charset
9475 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
9477 If there are several @acronym{MIME} charsets that encode the same Emacs
9478 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
9481 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
9482 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
9485 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
9486 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @acronym{MIME} charset.
9488 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
9491 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
9494 This will almost do the right thing.
9496 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
9500 (codepage-setup 1251)
9501 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
9505 @node Article Commands
9506 @section Article Commands
9513 @kindex A P (Summary)
9514 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
9515 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
9516 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
9517 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will
9518 be run just before printing the buffer. An alternative way to print
9519 article is to use Muttprint (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
9524 @node Summary Sorting
9525 @section Summary Sorting
9526 @cindex summary sorting
9528 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
9529 can't really see why you'd want that.
9534 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
9535 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
9536 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
9539 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
9540 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
9541 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
9544 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
9545 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
9546 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
9549 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
9550 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
9551 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
9554 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
9555 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
9556 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
9559 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
9560 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
9561 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
9564 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
9565 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
9566 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
9569 @kindex C-c C-s C-r (Summary)
9570 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-random
9571 Randomize (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-random}).
9574 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
9575 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
9576 Sort using the default sorting method
9577 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
9580 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
9581 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
9582 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
9583 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
9584 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
9588 @node Finding the Parent
9589 @section Finding the Parent
9590 @cindex parent articles
9591 @cindex referring articles
9596 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
9597 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
9598 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
9599 if the current group is fetched by @acronym{NNTP}, the parent hasn't expired
9600 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
9601 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
9602 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
9603 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
9604 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
9606 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
9607 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
9608 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
9609 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
9610 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
9614 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
9615 @kindex A R (Summary)
9616 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
9617 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
9620 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
9621 @kindex A T (Summary)
9622 Display the full thread where the current article appears
9623 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
9624 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
9625 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
9626 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
9627 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
9628 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
9630 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
9631 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
9632 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
9633 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
9634 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
9635 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
9638 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
9639 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
9641 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
9642 You can also ask the @acronym{NNTP} server for an arbitrary article, no
9643 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
9644 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
9645 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
9646 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
9647 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
9650 The current select method will be used when fetching by
9651 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
9652 by giving this command a prefix.
9654 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
9655 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
9656 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
9657 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @acronym{NNTP} method. It
9658 would, perhaps, be best if the @acronym{NNTP} server you consult is the one
9659 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
9662 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
9663 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
9664 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
9667 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
9668 then ask Google if that fails:
9671 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
9673 (nnweb "google" (nnweb-type google))))
9676 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
9677 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox},
9678 @code{nnbabyl}, @code{nnmaildir}, @code{nnml}, are able to locate
9679 articles from any groups, while @code{nnfolder}, and @code{nnimap} are
9680 only able to locate articles that have been posted to the current
9681 group. (Anything else would be too time consuming.) @code{nnmh} does
9682 not support this at all.
9685 @node Alternative Approaches
9686 @section Alternative Approaches
9688 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
9689 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
9692 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
9693 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
9698 @subsection Pick and Read
9699 @cindex pick and read
9701 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
9702 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
9703 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
9704 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
9706 @findex gnus-pick-mode
9707 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
9708 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
9709 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
9710 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
9711 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
9713 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
9718 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
9719 Pick the article or thread on the current line
9720 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9721 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
9722 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
9723 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
9724 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
9725 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
9728 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
9729 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
9730 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
9731 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
9735 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
9736 Unpick the thread or article
9737 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9738 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
9739 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
9740 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
9741 the thread or article at that line.
9745 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
9746 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
9747 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
9748 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
9749 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
9750 will still be visible when you are reading.
9754 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
9755 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
9756 which is mapped to the same function
9757 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
9759 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
9762 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
9765 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
9766 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
9768 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
9769 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
9770 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
9772 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
9773 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
9774 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
9775 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
9776 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
9777 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
9778 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
9782 @subsection Binary Groups
9783 @cindex binary groups
9785 @findex gnus-binary-mode
9786 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
9787 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
9788 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
9789 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
9790 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
9791 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
9794 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
9795 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
9796 command, when you have turned on this mode
9797 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
9799 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
9800 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
9804 @section Tree Display
9807 @vindex gnus-use-trees
9808 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
9809 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
9810 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
9813 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
9816 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
9817 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
9818 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
9820 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9821 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9822 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
9823 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
9824 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
9826 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
9827 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
9828 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
9829 default is @code{modeline}.
9831 @item gnus-tree-line-format
9832 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
9833 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
9834 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
9835 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
9836 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
9837 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
9843 The name of the poster.
9845 The @code{From} header.
9847 The number of the article.
9849 The opening bracket.
9851 The closing bracket.
9856 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
9858 Variables related to the display are:
9861 @item gnus-tree-brackets
9862 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
9863 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
9864 ``sparse'' articles. The format is
9866 ((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
9867 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close})
9868 (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))
9870 and the default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
9872 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9873 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9874 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
9875 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
9879 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
9880 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
9881 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
9882 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
9883 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
9884 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
9885 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
9886 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
9887 other windows displayed next to it.
9889 You may also wish to add the following hook to keep the window minimized
9893 (add-hook 'gnus-configure-windows-hook
9894 'gnus-tree-perhaps-minimize)
9897 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
9898 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
9899 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9900 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
9901 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
9902 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
9903 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
9907 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
9910 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
9920 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
9925 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
9926 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
9928 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
9930 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
9936 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
9937 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
9938 following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
9941 (setq gnus-use-trees t
9942 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9943 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
9944 (gnus-add-configuration
9948 (summary 0.75 point)
9953 @xref{Window Layout}.
9956 @node Mail Group Commands
9957 @section Mail Group Commands
9958 @cindex mail group commands
9960 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
9961 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
9963 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
9964 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9969 @kindex B e (Summary)
9970 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
9971 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
9972 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
9973 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
9974 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
9977 @kindex B C-M-e (Summary)
9978 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
9979 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
9980 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
9981 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
9982 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
9985 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
9986 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
9987 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
9988 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
9989 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
9990 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
9993 @kindex B m (Summary)
9995 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
9996 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
9997 Move the article from one mail group to another
9998 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9999 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
10002 @kindex B c (Summary)
10004 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
10005 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
10006 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
10007 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
10008 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
10011 @kindex B B (Summary)
10012 @cindex crosspost mail
10013 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
10014 Crosspost the current article to some other group
10015 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
10016 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
10017 be properly updated.
10020 @kindex B i (Summary)
10021 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
10022 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
10023 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
10024 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
10027 @kindex B I (Summary)
10028 @findex gnus-summary-create-article
10029 Create an empty article in the current mail newsgroups
10030 (@code{gnus-summary-create-article}). You will be prompted for a
10031 @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
10034 @kindex B r (Summary)
10035 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
10036 @vindex gnus-summary-respool-default-method
10037 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
10038 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
10039 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
10040 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
10041 Marks will be preserved if @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
10042 (which is the default).
10046 @kindex B w (Summary)
10047 @kindex e (Summary)
10048 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
10049 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
10050 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article-done
10051 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
10052 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
10053 (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
10054 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
10057 @kindex B q (Summary)
10058 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
10059 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
10060 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
10061 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
10064 @kindex B t (Summary)
10065 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
10066 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
10067 when respooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
10070 @kindex B p (Summary)
10071 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
10072 Some people have a tendency to send you ``courtesy'' copies when they
10073 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
10074 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
10075 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
10076 article from your news server (or rather, from
10077 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
10078 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
10079 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
10080 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
10081 just not have arrived yet.
10084 @kindex K E (Summary)
10085 @findex gnus-article-encrypt-body
10086 @vindex gnus-article-encrypt-protocol
10087 Encrypt the body of an article (@code{gnus-article-encrypt-body}).
10088 The body is encrypted with the encryption protocol specified by the
10089 variable @code{gnus-article-encrypt-protocol}.
10093 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
10094 @cindex moving articles
10095 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
10096 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
10097 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
10098 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
10099 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
10100 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
10101 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
10104 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
10105 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
10106 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
10107 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
10111 @node Various Summary Stuff
10112 @section Various Summary Stuff
10115 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
10116 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
10117 * Summary Generation Commands::
10118 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
10122 @vindex gnus-summary-display-while-building
10123 @item gnus-summary-display-while-building
10124 If non-@code{nil}, show and update the summary buffer as it's being
10125 built. If @code{t}, update the buffer after every line is inserted.
10126 If the value is an integer, @var{n}, update the display every @var{n}
10127 lines. The default is @code{nil}.
10129 @vindex gnus-summary-display-arrow
10130 @item gnus-summary-display-arrow
10131 If non-@code{nil}, display an arrow in the fringe to indicate the
10134 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
10135 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
10136 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
10138 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
10139 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
10140 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
10141 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
10142 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
10143 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
10146 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
10147 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
10148 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
10149 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
10150 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
10152 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
10153 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
10154 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
10157 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
10158 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
10159 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
10160 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
10161 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
10162 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
10163 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
10164 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
10165 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
10166 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
10168 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
10169 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
10170 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
10171 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
10172 list of articles to be selected.
10174 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
10175 the list in one particular group:
10178 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
10179 (if (string= group "some.group")
10180 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
10184 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-variables
10185 @item gnus-newsgroup-variables
10186 A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
10187 variables and their default values (when the default values are not
10188 @code{nil}), that should be made global while the summary buffer is
10189 active. These variables can be used to set variables in the group
10190 parameters while still allowing them to affect operations done in
10191 other buffers. For example:
10194 (setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
10195 '(message-use-followup-to
10196 (gnus-visible-headers .
10197 "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
10203 @node Summary Group Information
10204 @subsection Summary Group Information
10209 @kindex H f (Summary)
10210 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
10211 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
10212 Try to fetch the @acronym{FAQ} (list of frequently asked questions)
10213 for the current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try
10214 to get the @acronym{FAQ} from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which
10215 is usually a directory on a remote machine. This variable can also be
10216 a list of directories. In that case, giving a prefix to this command
10217 will allow you to choose between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp}
10218 or @code{efs} will probably be used for fetching the file.
10221 @kindex H d (Summary)
10222 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
10223 Give a brief description of the current group
10224 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
10225 rereading the description from the server.
10228 @kindex H h (Summary)
10229 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
10230 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
10231 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
10234 @kindex H i (Summary)
10235 @findex gnus-info-find-node
10236 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
10240 @node Searching for Articles
10241 @subsection Searching for Articles
10246 @kindex M-s (Summary)
10247 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
10248 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
10249 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
10252 @kindex M-r (Summary)
10253 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
10254 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
10255 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
10258 @kindex & (Summary)
10259 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
10260 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
10261 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
10262 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
10263 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
10264 search backward instead.
10266 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string RET #} will put the process mark on
10267 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
10270 @kindex M-& (Summary)
10271 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
10272 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
10273 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
10276 @node Summary Generation Commands
10277 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
10282 @kindex Y g (Summary)
10283 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
10284 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
10287 @kindex Y c (Summary)
10288 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
10289 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10290 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
10293 @kindex Y d (Summary)
10294 @findex gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles
10295 Pull all dormant articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10296 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles}).
10301 @node Really Various Summary Commands
10302 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
10308 @kindex C-d (Summary)
10309 @kindex A D (Summary)
10310 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
10311 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
10312 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
10313 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
10314 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
10315 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
10316 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
10317 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
10321 @kindex C-M-d (Summary)
10322 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
10323 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
10324 several documents into one biiig group
10325 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
10326 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
10327 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
10328 command understands the process/prefix convention
10329 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10332 @kindex C-t (Summary)
10333 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
10334 Toggle truncation of summary lines
10335 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
10336 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
10337 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
10340 @kindex = (Summary)
10341 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
10342 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
10343 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
10346 @kindex C-M-e (Summary)
10347 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
10348 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10349 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
10352 @kindex C-M-a (Summary)
10353 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
10354 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10355 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
10360 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
10361 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
10362 @cindex summary exit
10363 @cindex exiting groups
10365 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
10366 group and return you to the group buffer.
10373 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
10374 @kindex Z Q (Summary)
10375 @kindex q (Summary)
10376 @findex gnus-summary-exit
10377 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
10378 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
10379 @vindex gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook
10380 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
10381 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
10382 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
10383 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
10384 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
10385 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
10386 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
10387 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
10391 @kindex Z E (Summary)
10392 @kindex Q (Summary)
10393 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
10394 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
10395 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
10399 @kindex Z c (Summary)
10400 @kindex c (Summary)
10401 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
10402 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
10403 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
10404 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
10407 @kindex Z C (Summary)
10408 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
10409 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
10410 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
10413 @kindex Z n (Summary)
10414 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
10415 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
10416 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
10420 @kindex Z R (Summary)
10421 @kindex C-x C-s (Summary)
10422 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
10423 Exit this group, and then enter it again
10424 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
10425 all articles, both read and unread.
10429 @kindex Z G (Summary)
10430 @kindex M-g (Summary)
10431 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
10432 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
10433 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
10434 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
10435 articles, both read and unread.
10438 @kindex Z N (Summary)
10439 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
10440 Exit the group and go to the next group
10441 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
10444 @kindex Z P (Summary)
10445 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
10446 Exit the group and go to the previous group
10447 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
10450 @kindex Z s (Summary)
10451 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
10452 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
10453 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
10454 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
10455 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
10458 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
10459 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
10460 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
10461 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
10463 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
10464 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
10465 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
10466 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
10467 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
10468 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
10469 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
10470 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
10471 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
10472 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
10473 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
10474 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
10476 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
10478 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
10479 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
10480 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
10481 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
10482 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
10483 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
10484 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
10485 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
10486 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
10489 @node Crosspost Handling
10490 @section Crosspost Handling
10494 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
10495 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
10496 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
10497 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
10498 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
10499 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
10502 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
10503 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
10504 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
10505 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
10506 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
10508 @cindex cross-posting
10510 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
10511 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
10512 correctly is if you use an @acronym{NNTP} server that supports @sc{xover}
10513 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
10514 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @acronym{NOV} lines. This is
10515 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
10516 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
10517 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
10518 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
10519 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
10520 the cross reference mechanism.
10522 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
10523 @cindex overview.fmt
10524 To check whether your @acronym{NNTP} server includes the @code{Xref} header
10525 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
10526 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
10527 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
10528 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
10529 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
10532 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
10533 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
10534 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
10539 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
10542 @node Duplicate Suppression
10543 @section Duplicate Suppression
10545 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
10546 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
10547 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
10548 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
10553 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
10554 is evil and not very common.
10557 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
10558 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
10561 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
10562 different @acronym{NNTP} servers.
10565 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
10568 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
10569 well, but these four are the most common situations.
10571 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
10572 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
10573 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
10574 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
10575 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
10576 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
10577 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
10580 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
10581 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
10582 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
10583 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
10584 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
10585 saw the article in.
10588 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
10589 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
10590 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
10592 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
10593 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
10594 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
10595 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
10596 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
10597 session are suppressed.
10599 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
10600 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
10601 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
10602 suppression list. The default is 10000.
10604 @item gnus-duplicate-file
10605 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
10606 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
10607 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
10610 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
10611 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
10612 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
10613 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
10614 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
10615 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
10616 to you to figure out, I think.
10621 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
10622 The formats that are supported are @acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME}
10623 and @acronym{S/MIME}, however you need some external programs to get
10628 To handle @acronym{PGP} and @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages, you have to
10629 install an OpenPGP implementation such as GnuPG. The Lisp interface
10630 to GnuPG included with Gnus is called PGG (@pxref{Top, ,PGG, pgg, PGG
10631 Manual}), but Mailcrypt and gpg.el are also supported.
10634 To handle @acronym{S/MIME} message, you need to install OpenSSL. OpenSSL 0.9.6
10635 or newer is recommended.
10639 More information on how to set things up can be found in the message
10640 manual (@pxref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}).
10643 @item mm-verify-option
10644 @vindex mm-verify-option
10645 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
10646 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
10647 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10649 @item mm-decrypt-option
10650 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
10651 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
10652 @code{always}, always decrypt; @code{known}, only decrypt known
10653 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10656 @vindex mml1991-use
10657 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
10658 @acronym{PGP} messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but
10659 @code{mailcrypt} and @code{gpg} are also supported although
10663 @vindex mml2015-use
10664 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
10665 @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but
10666 @code{mailcrypt} and @code{gpg} are also supported although
10671 @cindex snarfing keys
10672 @cindex importing PGP keys
10673 @cindex PGP key ring import
10674 Snarfing OpenPGP keys (i.e., importing keys from articles into your
10675 key ring) is not supported explicitly through a menu item or command,
10676 rather Gnus do detect and label keys as @samp{application/pgp-keys},
10677 allowing you to specify whatever action you think is appropriate
10678 through the usual @acronym{MIME} infrastructure. You can use a
10679 @file{~/.mailcap} entry (@pxref{mailcap, , mailcap, emacs-mime, The
10680 Emacs MIME Manual}) such as the following to import keys using GNU
10681 Privacy Guard when you click on the @acronym{MIME} button
10682 (@pxref{Using MIME}).
10685 application/pgp-keys; gpg --import --interactive --verbose; needsterminal
10688 This happens to also be the default action defined in
10689 @code{mailcap-mime-data}.
10692 @section Mailing List
10693 @cindex mailing list
10696 @kindex A M (summary)
10697 @findex gnus-mailing-list-insinuate
10698 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
10699 add a @code{to-list} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
10700 possibly using @kbd{A M} (@code{gnus-mailing-list-insinuate}) in the
10703 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
10708 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
10709 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
10710 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
10713 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
10714 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
10715 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
10718 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
10719 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
10720 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
10724 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
10725 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
10726 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
10729 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
10730 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10731 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
10734 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
10735 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10736 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
10741 @node Article Buffer
10742 @chapter Article Buffer
10743 @cindex article buffer
10745 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
10746 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
10747 tell Gnus otherwise.
10750 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
10751 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
10752 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
10753 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
10754 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
10758 @node Hiding Headers
10759 @section Hiding Headers
10760 @cindex hiding headers
10761 @cindex deleting headers
10763 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
10764 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
10766 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
10767 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
10768 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
10769 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
10770 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
10771 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
10772 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseam---and you'll probably want to get rid
10773 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
10774 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
10776 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
10780 @item gnus-visible-headers
10781 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
10782 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
10783 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
10784 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
10786 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
10787 the article and the subject, you'd say:
10790 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
10793 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10796 @item gnus-ignored-headers
10797 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
10798 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
10799 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
10800 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
10801 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
10803 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
10804 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
10807 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
10810 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10813 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
10814 variable will have no effect.
10818 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
10819 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
10820 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
10821 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
10822 the headers are to be displayed.
10824 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
10825 and then the subject, you might say something like:
10828 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
10831 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
10832 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
10834 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
10835 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
10836 You can hide further boring headers by setting
10837 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
10838 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
10839 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead it
10840 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
10843 These conditions are:
10846 Remove all empty headers.
10848 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
10849 @code{Newsgroups} header.
10851 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same addresses as
10852 the @code{From} header, or if the @code{broken-reply-to} group
10855 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
10858 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10859 the current group's @code{to-address} parameter.
10861 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10862 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
10864 Remove the @code{CC} header if it only contains the address identical to
10865 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
10867 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
10870 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
10872 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
10875 To include these three elements, you could say something like:
10878 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
10879 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
10882 This is also the default value for this variable.
10886 @section Using MIME
10887 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
10889 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
10890 while people stand around yawning.
10892 @acronym{MIME}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
10893 while all newsreaders die of fear.
10895 @acronym{MIME} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
10896 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
10897 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
10899 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
10900 @findex gnus-display-mime
10901 Gnus pushes @acronym{MIME} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
10902 to display the @acronym{MIME} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
10903 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
10904 display, save and manipulate the @acronym{MIME} objects.
10906 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
10907 @acronym{MIME} button:
10910 @findex gnus-article-press-button
10911 @item RET (Article)
10912 @kindex RET (Article)
10913 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
10914 Toggle displaying of the @acronym{MIME} object
10915 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}). If built-in viewers can not display
10916 the object, Gnus resorts to external viewers in the @file{mailcap}
10917 files. If a viewer has the @samp{copiousoutput} specification, the
10918 object is displayed inline.
10920 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
10921 @item M-RET (Article)
10922 @kindex M-RET (Article)
10924 Prompt for a method, and then view the @acronym{MIME} object using this
10925 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
10927 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
10929 @kindex t (Article)
10930 View the @acronym{MIME} object as if it were a different @acronym{MIME} media type
10931 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}).
10933 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset
10935 @kindex C (Article)
10936 Prompt for a charset, and then view the @acronym{MIME} object using this
10937 charset (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset}).
10939 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
10941 @kindex o (Article)
10942 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @acronym{MIME} object
10943 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
10945 @findex gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip
10946 @item C-o (Article)
10947 @kindex C-o (Article)
10948 Prompt for a file name, then save the @acronym{MIME} object and strip it from
10949 the article. Then proceed to article editing, where a reasonable
10950 suggestion is being made on how the altered article should look
10951 like. The stripped @acronym{MIME} object will be referred via the
10952 message/external-body @acronym{MIME} type.
10953 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip}).
10955 @findex gnus-mime-delete-part
10957 @kindex d (Article)
10958 Delete the @acronym{MIME} object from the article and replace it with some
10959 information about the removed @acronym{MIME} object
10960 (@code{gnus-mime-delete-part}).
10962 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
10964 @kindex c (Article)
10965 Copy the @acronym{MIME} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
10966 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}). Compressed files like @file{.gz} and
10967 @file{.bz2} are automatically decompressed if
10968 @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled (@pxref{Compressed Files,,
10969 Accessing Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Editor}).
10971 @findex gnus-mime-print-part
10973 @kindex p (Article)
10974 Print the @acronym{MIME} object (@code{gnus-mime-print-part}). This
10975 command respects the @samp{print=} specifications in the
10976 @file{.mailcap} file.
10978 @findex gnus-mime-inline-part
10980 @kindex i (Article)
10981 Insert the contents of the @acronym{MIME} object into the buffer
10982 (@code{gnus-mime-inline-part}) as text/plain. If given a prefix, insert
10983 the raw contents without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can
10984 do semi-manual charset stuff (see
10985 @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in @ref{Paging the
10988 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-internally
10990 @kindex E (Article)
10991 View the @acronym{MIME} object with an internal viewer. If no internal
10992 viewer is available, use an external viewer
10993 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-internally}).
10995 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-externally
10997 @kindex e (Article)
10998 View the @acronym{MIME} object with an external viewer.
10999 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-externally}).
11001 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
11003 @kindex | (Article)
11004 Output the @acronym{MIME} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
11006 @findex gnus-mime-action-on-part
11008 @kindex . (Article)
11009 Interactively run an action on the @acronym{MIME} object
11010 (@code{gnus-mime-action-on-part}).
11014 Gnus will display some @acronym{MIME} objects automatically. The way Gnus
11015 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs
11016 @acronym{MIME} manual.
11018 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
11019 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
11020 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @acronym{MIME} has
11021 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
11022 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
11023 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
11024 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
11025 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
11026 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
11028 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
11030 Also @pxref{MIME Commands}.
11033 @node Customizing Articles
11034 @section Customizing Articles
11035 @cindex article customization
11037 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
11038 exist. You can call these functions interactively
11039 (@pxref{Article Washing}), or you can have them
11040 called automatically when you select the articles.
11042 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
11043 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
11044 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
11045 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
11047 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
11048 for sensible values.
11052 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
11055 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
11058 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
11061 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
11064 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
11068 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
11069 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
11070 regexps in the list.
11073 A list where the first element is not a string:
11075 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
11076 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
11077 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
11081 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
11086 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
11087 to the fact that some messages are @acronym{MIME} multipart articles that may
11088 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
11089 considered to contain just a single part.
11091 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
11092 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
11093 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
11094 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
11095 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
11096 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
11097 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
11099 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
11100 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
11101 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
11102 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
11105 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
11106 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
11108 @xref{Article Buttons}.
11110 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
11111 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
11112 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
11113 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
11114 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
11115 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
11116 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
11117 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
11118 @item gnus-treat-unsplit-urls (t, integer)
11119 @item gnus-treat-wash-html (t, integer)
11121 @xref{Article Washing}.
11123 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
11124 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
11125 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
11126 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
11127 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
11128 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
11129 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
11131 @xref{Article Date}.
11133 @item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
11134 @item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
11135 @item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
11139 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
11141 @item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
11143 @vindex gnus-body-boundary-delimiter
11144 Adds a delimiter between header and body, the string used as delimiter
11145 is controlled by @code{gnus-body-boundary-delimiter}.
11149 @item gnus-treat-display-x-face (head)
11153 @item gnus-treat-display-face (head)
11157 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
11158 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
11159 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
11160 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
11161 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
11162 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
11163 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
11164 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
11165 @item gnus-treat-strip-banner (t, last)
11166 @item gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers (head)
11168 @xref{Article Hiding}.
11170 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
11171 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
11172 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
11174 @xref{Article Highlighting}.
11176 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
11177 @item gnus-treat-translate
11178 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
11180 @item gnus-treat-unfold-headers (head)
11181 @item gnus-treat-fold-headers (head)
11182 @item gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups (head)
11183 @item gnus-treat-leading-whitespace (head)
11185 @xref{Article Header}.
11190 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
11191 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
11192 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
11193 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
11194 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
11198 @node Article Keymap
11199 @section Article Keymap
11201 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
11202 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
11203 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
11204 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
11207 A few additional keystrokes are available:
11212 @kindex SPACE (Article)
11213 @findex gnus-article-next-page
11214 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
11215 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h SPACE h}.
11218 @kindex DEL (Article)
11219 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
11220 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
11221 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h DEL h}.
11224 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
11225 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
11226 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
11227 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
11228 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
11231 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
11232 @findex gnus-article-mail
11233 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
11234 given a prefix, include the mail.
11237 @kindex s (Article)
11238 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
11239 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
11240 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
11243 @kindex ? (Article)
11244 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
11245 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
11246 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
11249 @kindex TAB (Article)
11250 @findex gnus-article-next-button
11251 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
11252 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
11255 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
11256 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
11257 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
11260 @kindex R (Article)
11261 @findex gnus-article-reply-with-original
11262 Send a reply to the current article and yank the current article
11263 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}). If given a prefix, make a
11264 wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
11268 @kindex F (Article)
11269 @findex gnus-article-followup-with-original
11270 Send a followup to the current article and yank the current article
11271 (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}). If given a prefix, make
11272 a wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
11280 @section Misc Article
11284 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
11285 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
11286 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
11287 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
11290 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
11291 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
11292 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
11293 Hook used to decode @acronym{MIME} articles. The default value is
11294 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
11296 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
11297 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
11298 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
11299 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
11300 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
11301 the contents of the article buffer.
11303 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
11304 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
11305 Hook called in article mode buffers.
11307 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
11308 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
11309 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
11310 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
11312 @vindex gnus-article-over-scroll
11313 @item gnus-article-over-scroll
11314 If non-@code{nil}, allow scrolling the article buffer even when there
11315 no more new text to scroll in. The default is @code{nil}.
11317 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
11318 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
11319 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
11320 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
11321 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
11327 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
11328 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
11329 performed. The characters and their meaning:
11334 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
11337 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
11340 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
11341 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
11342 security status, i.e. good or bad signature.)
11345 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
11348 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
11351 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasised strings in the article buffer.
11356 The number of @acronym{MIME} parts in the article.
11360 @vindex gnus-break-pages
11362 @item gnus-break-pages
11363 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
11364 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
11365 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
11366 paging will not be done.
11368 @item gnus-page-delimiter
11369 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
11370 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
11374 @cindex internationalized domain names
11375 @vindex gnus-use-idna
11376 @item gnus-use-idna
11377 This variable controls whether Gnus performs IDNA decoding of
11378 internationalized domain names inside @samp{From}, @samp{To} and
11379 @samp{Cc} headers. This requires
11380 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/, GNU Libidn}, and this
11381 variable is only enabled if you have installed it.
11386 @node Composing Messages
11387 @chapter Composing Messages
11388 @cindex composing messages
11391 @cindex sending mail
11396 @cindex using s/mime
11397 @cindex using smime
11399 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
11400 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
11401 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
11402 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Overview, message,
11403 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
11404 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
11407 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
11408 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
11409 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
11410 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
11411 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
11412 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
11413 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
11414 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
11417 Also @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
11418 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
11424 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
11427 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
11428 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
11429 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
11430 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched. If
11431 @code{nil} include all headers.
11433 @item gnus-add-to-list
11434 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
11435 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
11436 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
11438 @item gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
11439 @vindex gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
11440 This can also be a function receiving the group name as the only
11441 parameter which should return non-@code{nil} if a confirmation is
11442 needed, or a regular expression matching group names, where
11443 confirmation is should be asked for.
11445 If you find yourself never wanting to reply to mail, but occasionally
11446 press R anyway, this variable might be for you.
11448 @item gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
11449 @vindex gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
11450 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus also requests confirmation according to
11451 @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} when replying to mail. This is
11452 useful for treating mailing lists like newsgroups.
11457 @node Posting Server
11458 @section Posting Server
11460 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
11461 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
11463 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
11465 It can be quite complicated.
11467 @vindex gnus-post-method
11468 When posting news, Message usually invokes @code{message-send-news}
11469 (@pxref{News Variables, , News Variables, message, Message Manual}).
11470 Normally, Gnus will post using the same select method as you're
11471 reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
11472 groups from different private servers). However. If the server
11473 you're reading from doesn't allow posting, just reading, you probably
11474 want to use some other server to post your (extremely intelligent and
11475 fabulously interesting) articles. You can then set the
11476 @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
11479 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
11482 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
11483 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
11484 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
11485 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
11487 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
11488 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
11490 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
11491 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
11494 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
11495 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
11497 When sending mail, Message invokes @code{message-send-mail-function}.
11498 The default function, @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}, pipes
11499 your article to the @code{sendmail} binary for further queuing and
11500 sending. When your local system is not configured for sending mail
11501 using @code{sendmail}, and you have access to a remote @acronym{SMTP}
11502 server, you can set @code{message-send-mail-function} to
11503 @code{smtpmail-send-it} and make sure to setup the @code{smtpmail}
11504 package correctly. An example:
11507 (setq message-send-mail-function 'smtpmail-send-it
11508 smtpmail-default-smtp-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
11511 To the thing similar to this, there is
11512 @code{message-smtpmail-send-it}. It is useful if your ISP requires
11513 the @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication. See the
11514 documentation for the function @code{mail-source-touch-pop}.
11516 Other possible choices for @code{message-send-mail-function} includes
11517 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
11518 and @code{feedmail-send-it}.
11520 @node Mail and Post
11521 @section Mail and Post
11523 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
11527 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
11528 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
11529 @cindex mailing lists
11531 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
11532 gatewayed to the @acronym{NNTP} server, you can read those groups without
11533 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
11534 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
11535 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
11536 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
11537 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
11538 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
11539 still a pain, though.
11541 @item gnus-user-agent
11542 @vindex gnus-user-agent
11545 This variable controls which information should be exposed in the
11546 User-Agent header. It can be one of the symbols @code{gnus} (show only
11547 Gnus version), @code{emacs-gnus} (show only Emacs and Gnus versions),
11548 @code{emacs-gnus-config} (same as @code{emacs-gnus} plus system
11549 configuration), @code{emacs-gnus-type} (same as @code{emacs-gnus} plus
11550 system type) or a custom string. If you set it to a string, be sure to
11551 use a valid format, see RFC 2616.
11555 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
11556 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
11557 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
11560 @findex ispell-message
11562 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
11565 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
11566 you're in, you could say something like the following:
11569 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
11573 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
11574 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
11576 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
11579 Modify to suit your needs.
11582 @node Archived Messages
11583 @section Archived Messages
11584 @cindex archived messages
11585 @cindex sent messages
11587 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
11588 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
11589 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
11590 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
11593 For archiving interesting messages in a group you read, see the
11594 @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}) command (@pxref{Mail
11597 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
11598 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
11599 use to store sent messages. The default is:
11602 (nnfolder "archive"
11603 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
11604 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
11605 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
11606 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
11609 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
11610 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
11611 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
11612 directory chosen, you could say something like:
11615 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
11616 '(nnfolder "archive"
11617 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
11618 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
11619 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
11622 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
11624 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
11625 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
11626 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
11628 This variable can be used to do the following:
11632 Messages will be saved in that group.
11634 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
11635 message will not be stored in the select method given by
11636 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
11637 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
11638 has the default value shown above. Then setting
11639 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
11640 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
11641 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
11644 @item a list of strings
11645 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
11647 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
11648 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
11651 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
11656 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
11658 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
11661 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
11663 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
11666 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
11668 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11669 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
11670 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
11671 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
11674 More complex stuff:
11676 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11677 '((if (message-news-p)
11682 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
11683 messages in one file per month:
11686 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11687 '((if (message-news-p)
11689 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
11692 @c (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
11693 @c use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
11695 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
11696 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
11697 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
11698 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
11699 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
11700 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
11701 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
11702 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
11703 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
11704 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
11706 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
11707 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
11708 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
11709 this will disable archiving.
11712 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
11713 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
11714 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
11715 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
11716 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
11719 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
11720 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
11721 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
11724 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
11725 but the latter is the preferred method.
11727 @item gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11728 @vindex gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11729 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
11731 @item gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11732 @vindex gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11733 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Gcc copies; if a regexp
11734 and matches the Gcc group name, attach files as external parts; if it is
11735 @code{all}, attach local files as external parts; if it is other
11736 non-@code{nil}, the behavior is the same as @code{all}, but it may be
11737 changed in the future.
11742 @node Posting Styles
11743 @section Posting Styles
11744 @cindex posting styles
11747 All them variables, they make my head swim.
11749 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
11750 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
11751 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
11754 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
11755 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
11756 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
11757 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
11758 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
11763 (signature "Peace and happiness")
11764 (organization "What me?"))
11766 (signature "Death to everybody"))
11767 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
11768 (organization "Emacs is it")))
11771 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
11772 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
11773 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
11774 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
11775 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
11776 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
11777 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
11778 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
11780 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
11781 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
11782 If it is the form @code{(header @var{match} @var{regexp})}, then Gnus
11783 will look in the original article for a header whose name is
11784 @var{match} and compare that @var{regexp}. @var{match} and
11785 @var{regexp} are strings. (The original article is the one you are
11786 replying or following up to. If you are not composing a reply or a
11787 followup, then there is nothing to match against.) If the
11788 @code{match} is a function symbol, that function will be called with
11789 no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
11790 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
11791 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is
11792 said to @dfn{match}.
11794 Each style may contain an arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
11795 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. The
11796 attribute name can be one of:
11799 @item @code{signature}
11800 @item @code{signature-file}
11801 @item @code{x-face-file}
11802 @item @code{address}, overriding @code{user-mail-address}
11803 @item @code{name}, overriding @code{(user-full-name)}
11807 The attribute name can also be a string or a symbol. In that case,
11808 this will be used as a header name, and the value will be inserted in
11809 the headers of the article; if the value is @code{nil}, the header
11810 name will be removed. If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form
11811 is evaluated, and the result is thrown away.
11813 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
11814 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
11815 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
11816 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
11817 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
11818 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable, which
11819 is a vector of the following headers: number subject from date id
11820 references chars lines xref extra.
11822 @vindex message-reply-headers
11824 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
11825 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
11826 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
11828 @findex message-mail-p
11829 @findex message-news-p
11831 So here's a new example:
11834 (setq gnus-posting-styles
11836 (signature-file "~/.signature")
11838 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
11839 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
11841 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
11842 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly") ;; @r{A form}
11843 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
11844 (message-news-p ;; @r{A function symbol}
11845 (signature my-news-signature))
11846 (window-system ;; @r{A value symbol}
11847 ("X-Window-System" (format "%s" window-system)))
11848 ;; @r{If I'm replying to Larsi, set the Organization header.}
11849 ((header "from" "larsi.*org")
11850 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
11851 ((posting-from-work-p) ;; @r{A user defined function}
11852 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
11853 (address "user@@bar.foo")
11854 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
11855 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
11857 (From (save-excursion
11858 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
11859 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
11861 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
11864 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
11865 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
11866 if you fill many roles.
11873 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
11874 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
11875 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
11876 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
11877 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
11879 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
11880 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
11881 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
11882 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
11883 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
11887 @vindex nndraft-directory
11888 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
11889 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
11890 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
11891 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
11892 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
11893 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
11895 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
11896 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
11897 unsubscribe it. The special properties of the draft group comes from
11898 a group property (@pxref{Group Parameters}), and if lost the group
11899 behaves like any other group. This means the commands below will not
11900 be available. To restore the special properties of the group, the
11901 simplest way is to kill the group, using @kbd{C-k}, and restart
11902 Gnus. The group is automatically created again with the
11903 correct parameters. The content of the group is not lost.
11905 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
11906 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
11907 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
11908 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
11909 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
11910 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
11911 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
11912 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
11913 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
11914 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
11915 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
11916 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
11917 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
11918 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
11920 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
11921 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
11922 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
11924 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
11925 @kindex D e (Draft)
11926 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
11927 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
11928 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
11930 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
11933 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
11934 @kindex D s (Draft)
11935 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
11936 @kindex D S (Draft)
11937 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
11938 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
11939 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
11940 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
11941 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
11944 @findex gnus-draft-toggle-sending
11945 @kindex D t (Draft)
11946 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
11947 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
11948 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
11951 @node Rejected Articles
11952 @section Rejected Articles
11953 @cindex rejected articles
11955 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
11956 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
11957 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
11958 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
11960 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
11961 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
11962 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
11963 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
11964 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
11966 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
11967 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
11968 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
11970 @node Signing and encrypting
11971 @section Signing and encrypting
11973 @cindex using s/mime
11974 @cindex using smime
11976 Gnus can digitally sign and encrypt your messages, using vanilla
11977 @acronym{PGP} format or @acronym{PGP/MIME} or @acronym{S/MIME}. For
11978 decoding such messages, see the @code{mm-verify-option} and
11979 @code{mm-decrypt-option} options (@pxref{Security}).
11981 @vindex gnus-message-replysign
11982 @vindex gnus-message-replyencrypt
11983 @vindex gnus-message-replysignencrypted
11984 Often, you would like to sign replies to people who send you signed
11985 messages. Even more often, you might want to encrypt messages which
11986 are in reply to encrypted messages. Gnus offers
11987 @code{gnus-message-replysign} to enable the former, and
11988 @code{gnus-message-replyencrypt} for the latter. In addition, setting
11989 @code{gnus-message-replysignencrypted} (on by default) will sign
11990 automatically encrypted messages.
11992 Instructing @acronym{MML} to perform security operations on a
11993 @acronym{MIME} part is done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for
11994 signing and the @kbd{C-c C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
11999 @kindex C-c C-m s s (Message)
12000 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
12002 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
12005 @kindex C-c C-m s o (Message)
12006 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
12008 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP}.
12011 @kindex C-c C-m s p (Message)
12012 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
12014 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
12017 @kindex C-c C-m c s (Message)
12018 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
12020 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
12023 @kindex C-c C-m c o (Message)
12024 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
12026 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP}.
12029 @kindex C-c C-m c p (Message)
12030 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
12032 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
12035 @kindex C-c C-m C-n (Message)
12036 @findex mml-unsecure-message
12037 Remove security related @acronym{MML} tags from message.
12041 @xref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}, for more information.
12043 @node Select Methods
12044 @chapter Select Methods
12045 @cindex foreign groups
12046 @cindex select methods
12048 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
12049 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
12050 @acronym{NNTP} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
12051 personal mail group.
12053 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
12054 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
12055 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
12056 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
12057 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
12058 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
12060 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
12061 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
12063 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
12066 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @acronym{NNTP} server
12067 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
12068 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
12069 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
12070 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
12072 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
12075 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
12076 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
12077 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
12078 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
12079 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @acronym{IMAP} client.
12080 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
12081 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
12082 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
12086 @node Server Buffer
12087 @section Server Buffer
12089 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
12090 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
12091 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
12092 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
12093 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
12094 back end represents a virtual server.
12096 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
12097 different actual @acronym{NNTP} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
12098 on the same actual @acronym{NNTP} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
12099 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
12101 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
12102 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
12103 @acronym{NNTP} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
12104 hangs if queried for @acronym{NOV} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
12105 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
12106 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
12107 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
12109 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
12110 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
12113 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
12114 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
12115 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
12116 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
12117 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
12118 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
12119 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
12122 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
12123 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
12126 @node Server Buffer Format
12127 @subsection Server Buffer Format
12128 @cindex server buffer format
12130 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
12131 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
12132 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
12133 variable, with some simple extensions:
12138 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
12141 The name of this server.
12144 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
12147 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
12150 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
12151 The mode line can also be customized by using the
12152 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
12153 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
12163 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
12166 @node Server Commands
12167 @subsection Server Commands
12168 @cindex server commands
12174 @findex gnus-server-add-server
12175 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
12179 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
12180 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
12183 @kindex SPACE (Server)
12184 @findex gnus-server-read-server
12185 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
12189 @findex gnus-server-exit
12190 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
12194 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
12195 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
12199 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
12200 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
12204 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
12205 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
12209 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
12210 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
12214 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
12215 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
12216 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
12221 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
12222 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
12223 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
12224 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
12229 @node Example Methods
12230 @subsection Example Methods
12232 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
12235 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
12238 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
12244 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
12245 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
12248 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
12249 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
12251 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
12252 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
12256 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
12259 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
12260 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
12262 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
12263 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
12264 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
12268 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
12271 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
12274 Here's the method for a public spool:
12278 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
12279 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
12285 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @acronym{NNTP}
12286 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
12287 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @acronym{NNTP} server.
12288 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
12289 should probably look something like this:
12293 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
12294 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
12295 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host")
12296 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
12299 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
12300 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
12301 configuration to the example above:
12304 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
12307 See also @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches}.
12309 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
12310 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
12311 telnet connection to the news server as follows:
12315 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
12316 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-telnet)
12317 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
12318 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
12321 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
12322 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
12323 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
12324 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
12327 @node Creating a Virtual Server
12328 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
12330 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
12331 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
12333 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
12334 would probably be best to use @code{nnml} to read the cache. You
12335 could also use @code{nnspool} or @code{nnmh}, though.
12337 Type @kbd{a nnml RET cache RET}.
12339 You should now have a brand new @code{nnml} virtual server called
12340 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
12341 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
12342 will contain the following:
12352 (nnml-directory "~/News/cache/")
12353 (nnml-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
12356 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
12357 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
12358 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
12361 @node Server Variables
12362 @subsection Server Variables
12363 @cindex server variables
12364 @cindex server parameters
12366 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
12367 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
12368 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
12369 change the ``base'' variable after the variables have been loaded, you
12370 won't change the ``derived'' variables.
12372 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
12373 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
12374 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
12375 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
12376 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
12377 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
12378 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
12379 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
12380 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
12384 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
12385 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
12386 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
12389 Server variables are often called @dfn{server parameters}.
12391 @node Servers and Methods
12392 @subsection Servers and Methods
12394 Wherever you would normally use a select method
12395 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
12396 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
12397 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
12401 @node Unavailable Servers
12402 @subsection Unavailable Servers
12404 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
12405 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
12406 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
12407 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
12408 actually the case or not.
12410 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
12411 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
12412 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
12413 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
12414 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
12415 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
12416 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
12417 it will regard that server as ``down''.
12419 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
12420 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
12422 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
12423 with the following commands:
12429 @findex gnus-server-open-server
12430 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
12431 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
12435 @findex gnus-server-close-server
12436 Close the connection (if any) to the server
12437 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
12441 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
12442 Mark the current server as unreachable
12443 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
12446 @kindex M-o (Server)
12447 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
12448 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
12449 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
12452 @kindex M-c (Server)
12453 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
12454 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
12455 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
12459 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
12460 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
12461 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
12465 @findex gnus-server-offline-server
12466 Set server status to offline (@code{gnus-server-offline-server}).
12472 @section Getting News
12473 @cindex reading news
12474 @cindex news back ends
12476 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
12477 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @acronym{NNTP} server,
12478 or it can read from a local spool.
12481 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
12482 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
12490 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @acronym{NNTP} server is rather easy.
12491 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @acronym{NNTP}
12492 server as the, uhm, address.
12494 If the @acronym{NNTP} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
12495 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
12496 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
12497 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
12499 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
12500 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
12501 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
12503 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
12508 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
12509 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
12510 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
12512 @cindex authentification
12513 @cindex nntp authentification
12514 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12515 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
12516 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
12517 commands to the @acronym{NNTP} server after it has been contacted. By
12518 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
12519 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
12520 present in this hook.
12522 @item nntp-authinfo-function
12523 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
12524 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12525 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
12526 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @acronym{NNTP}
12527 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
12528 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
12529 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
12530 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
12531 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
12532 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
12533 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
12537 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
12540 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
12542 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
12543 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
12544 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
12545 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
12546 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
12547 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
12548 @samp{force} is explained below.
12552 Here's an example file:
12555 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
12556 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
12559 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
12560 have to be first, for instance.
12562 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
12563 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
12564 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
12565 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
12566 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
12567 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
12568 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
12570 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
12571 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
12577 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
12578 previously mentioned.
12580 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
12582 @item nntp-server-action-alist
12583 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
12584 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
12585 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
12586 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
12589 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
12590 '(("innd" (ding))))
12593 You probably don't want to do that, though.
12595 The default value is
12598 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
12599 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
12600 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
12603 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
12604 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
12606 @item nntp-maximum-request
12607 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
12608 If the @acronym{NNTP} server doesn't support @acronym{NOV} headers, this back end
12609 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
12610 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
12611 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
12612 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
12613 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
12615 @item nntp-connection-timeout
12616 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
12617 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
12618 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @acronym{NNTP} servers not
12619 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
12620 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
12621 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
12622 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
12623 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
12624 no timeouts are done.
12626 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
12627 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
12628 @c @cindex PPP connections
12629 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
12630 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
12631 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
12632 @c changes after connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server, Gnus will simply sit
12633 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
12634 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
12635 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
12636 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
12637 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
12638 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
12640 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
12641 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
12642 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
12643 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
12644 @c described above.
12646 @item nntp-server-hook
12647 @vindex nntp-server-hook
12648 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @acronym{NNTP}
12651 @item nntp-buggy-select
12652 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
12653 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
12655 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
12656 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
12657 If the @acronym{NNTP} server does not support @acronym{NOV}, you could set this
12658 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @acronym{NOV}
12661 @item nntp-xover-commands
12662 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
12663 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
12665 List of strings used as commands to fetch @acronym{NOV} lines from a
12666 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
12670 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
12671 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @acronym{NOV} lines to
12672 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
12673 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
12674 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @acronym{NOV}
12675 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
12676 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
12677 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
12678 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
12679 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
12680 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
12682 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
12683 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
12684 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @acronym{NNTP} server.
12686 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12687 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12688 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
12689 server closes connection.
12691 @item nntp-record-commands
12692 @vindex nntp-record-commands
12693 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
12694 @acronym{NNTP} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
12695 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@acronym{NNTP} connection
12696 that doesn't seem to work.
12698 @item nntp-open-connection-function
12699 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
12700 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
12701 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
12702 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
12703 Five pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped in
12704 two categories: direct connection functions (three pre-made), and
12705 indirect ones (two pre-made).
12707 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
12708 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
12709 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
12710 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
12711 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
12712 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
12713 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
12716 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
12719 Note that not all servers support the recommended ID. This works for
12720 INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
12722 @item nntp-read-timeout
12723 @vindex nntp-read-timeout
12724 How long nntp should wait between checking for the end of output.
12725 Shorter values mean quicker response, but is more CPU intensive. The
12726 default is 0.1 seconds. If you have a slow line to the server (and
12727 don't like to see Emacs eat your available CPU power), you might set
12733 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
12734 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
12735 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
12739 @node Direct Functions
12740 @subsubsection Direct Functions
12741 @cindex direct connection functions
12743 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
12744 between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server. The behavior of these
12745 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
12746 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12749 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
12750 @item nntp-open-network-stream
12751 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
12754 @findex nntp-open-tls-stream
12755 @item nntp-open-tls-stream
12756 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
12757 this you must have @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/, GNUTLS}
12758 installed. You then define a server as follows:
12761 ;; @r{"nntps" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
12762 ;; @r{however, @samp{gnutls-cli -p} doesn't like named ports.}
12764 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12765 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-tls-stream)
12766 (nntp-port-number )
12767 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12770 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
12771 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
12772 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
12773 this you must have @uref{http://www.openssl.org, OpenSSL} or
12774 @uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL, SSLeay} installed. You
12775 then define a server as follows:
12778 ;; @r{"snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
12779 ;; @r{however, @samp{openssl s_client -port} doesn't like named ports.}
12781 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12782 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
12783 (nntp-port-number 563)
12784 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12787 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
12788 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
12789 Opens a connection to an @acronym{NNTP} server by simply @samp{telnet}'ing
12790 it. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have the
12791 default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
12792 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
12793 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
12794 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
12798 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
12799 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
12800 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
12803 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
12804 session, which is not a good idea.
12808 @node Indirect Functions
12809 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
12810 @cindex indirect connection functions
12812 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
12813 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server.
12814 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
12815 the ``via'' family of connection: they're all prefixed with ``via'' to make
12816 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
12817 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12820 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12821 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12822 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet}
12823 to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from there. This is useful for instance if
12824 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
12826 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12829 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
12830 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
12831 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
12832 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
12834 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12835 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12836 List of strings to be used as the switches to
12837 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}. If you use
12838 @samp{ssh} for @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}, you may set this to
12839 @samp{("-C")} in order to compress all data connections, otherwise set
12840 this to @samp{("-t" "-e" "none")} or @samp{("-C" "-t" "-e" "none")} if
12841 the telnet command requires a pseudo-tty allocation on an intermediate
12845 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12846 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12847 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
12848 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
12850 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12853 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
12854 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
12855 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
12858 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
12859 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
12860 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
12861 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
12863 @item nntp-via-user-password
12864 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
12865 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
12867 @item nntp-via-envuser
12868 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
12869 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
12870 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
12871 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
12873 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
12874 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
12875 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
12876 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
12883 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
12888 @item nntp-via-user-name
12889 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
12890 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
12892 @item nntp-via-address
12893 @vindex nntp-via-address
12894 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
12899 @node Common Variables
12900 @subsubsection Common Variables
12902 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
12903 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
12908 @item nntp-pre-command
12909 @vindex nntp-pre-command
12910 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native
12911 connection function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream},
12912 @code{nntp-open-tls-stream}, and @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}. This is
12913 where you would put a @samp{SOCKS} wrapper for instance.
12916 @vindex nntp-address
12917 The address of the @acronym{NNTP} server.
12919 @item nntp-port-number
12920 @vindex nntp-port-number
12921 Port number to connect to the @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
12922 @samp{nntp}. If you use @acronym{NNTP} over
12923 @acronym{tls}/@acronym{ssl}, you may want to use integer ports rather
12924 than named ports (i.e, use @samp{563} instead of @samp{snews} or
12925 @samp{nntps}), because external @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} tools may
12926 not work with named ports.
12928 @item nntp-end-of-line
12929 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
12930 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @acronym{NNTP}
12931 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
12932 using a non native connection function.
12934 @item nntp-telnet-command
12935 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
12936 Command to use when connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server through
12937 @samp{telnet}. This is @emph{not} for an intermediate host. This is
12938 just for the real @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
12941 @item nntp-telnet-switches
12942 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
12943 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-telnet-command}. The default
12950 @subsection News Spool
12954 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
12955 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
12956 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
12959 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
12960 anything else) as the address.
12962 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
12963 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
12964 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
12965 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
12969 @item nnspool-inews-program
12970 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
12971 Program used to post an article.
12973 @item nnspool-inews-switches
12974 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
12975 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
12977 @item nnspool-spool-directory
12978 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
12979 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
12980 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
12982 @item nnspool-nov-directory
12983 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
12984 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @acronym{NOV} files. This is normally@*
12985 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
12987 @item nnspool-lib-dir
12988 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
12989 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
12991 @item nnspool-active-file
12992 @vindex nnspool-active-file
12993 The name of the active file.
12995 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
12996 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
12997 The name of the group descriptions file.
12999 @item nnspool-history-file
13000 @vindex nnspool-history-file
13001 The name of the news history file.
13003 @item nnspool-active-times-file
13004 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
13005 The name of the active date file.
13007 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
13008 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
13009 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @acronym{NOV} files
13012 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
13013 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
13015 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
13016 relevant portion from the overview file. If @code{nil},
13017 @code{nnspool} will load the entire file into a buffer and process it
13024 @section Getting Mail
13025 @cindex reading mail
13028 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
13032 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
13033 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
13034 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
13035 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
13036 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
13037 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
13038 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
13039 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
13040 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
13041 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
13042 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
13043 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
13044 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
13048 @node Mail in a Newsreader
13049 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
13051 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
13052 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
13053 of a culture shock.
13055 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
13056 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
13058 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
13059 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
13060 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
13061 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
13063 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
13065 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
13066 deleted? How awful!
13068 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
13069 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
13070 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
13071 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @ref{Expiring
13074 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
13075 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
13076 they want to treat a message.
13078 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
13079 via @acronym{SMTP}, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
13080 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
13081 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
13082 archived somewhere else.
13084 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
13085 These are transported via @acronym{NNTP}, and are therefore news. But we may need
13086 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
13087 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
13088 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
13090 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
13091 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
13092 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
13094 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
13095 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
13098 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
13099 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
13100 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
13101 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
13102 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
13104 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
13105 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
13106 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
13107 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
13108 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
13109 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
13113 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
13114 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
13116 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
13117 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
13118 and things will happen automatically.
13120 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a ``one file per
13121 mail'' back end), you could put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
13124 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
13127 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
13128 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
13129 directory, which is @file{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
13130 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
13131 like any other group.
13133 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
13136 (setq nnmail-split-methods
13137 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13138 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
13142 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
13143 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
13144 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
13147 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
13148 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
13149 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
13152 @node Splitting Mail
13153 @subsection Splitting Mail
13154 @cindex splitting mail
13155 @cindex mail splitting
13156 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
13158 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
13159 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
13160 to be split into groups.
13163 (setq nnmail-split-methods
13164 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13165 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
13166 ("mail.other" "")))
13169 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
13170 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
13171 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
13172 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
13173 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
13174 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
13175 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
13178 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
13181 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
13182 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
13183 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
13184 mail belongs in that group.
13186 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
13187 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{*} so that it matches any mails
13188 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
13189 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
13190 rule to make a match will ``win'', unless you have crossposting enabled.
13191 In that case, all matching rules will ``win''.)
13193 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
13194 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
13195 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
13196 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
13197 thinks should carry this mail message.
13199 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
13200 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
13201 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
13202 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
13204 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
13205 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
13206 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
13207 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
13208 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{*}) group.
13210 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
13213 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
13214 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
13215 links. If that's the case for you, set
13216 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
13217 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
13219 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
13220 @findex nnmail-split-history
13221 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
13222 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
13223 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
13224 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
13227 @vindex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
13228 Header lines longer than the value of
13229 @code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} are excluded from the split
13232 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-charset
13233 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes
13234 By default the splitting codes @acronym{MIME} decodes headers so you
13235 can match on non-@acronym{ASCII} strings. The
13236 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-charset} variable specifies the default
13237 charset for decoding. The behaviour can be turned off completely by
13238 binding @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} to @code{nil}, which is
13239 useful if you want to match articles based on the raw header data.
13241 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
13242 By default, splitting is performed on all incoming messages. If you
13243 specify a @code{directory} entry for the variable @code{mail-sources}
13244 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}), however, then splitting does
13245 @emph{not} happen by default. You can set the variable
13246 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to a non-@code{nil} value to make
13247 splitting happen even in this case. (This variable has no effect on
13248 other kinds of entries.)
13250 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
13251 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
13252 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
13253 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
13254 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
13255 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
13256 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
13257 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
13258 month's rent money.
13262 @subsection Mail Sources
13264 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from
13265 a @acronym{POP} mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a
13266 maildir, for instance.
13269 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
13270 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
13271 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
13275 @node Mail Source Specifiers
13276 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
13278 @cindex mail server
13281 @cindex mail source
13283 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
13284 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
13289 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
13292 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
13293 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
13294 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
13297 The following mail source types are available:
13301 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
13307 The file name. Defaults to the value of the @env{MAIL}
13308 environment variable or the value of @code{rmail-spool-directory}
13309 (usually something like @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}).
13313 Script run before/after fetching mail.
13316 An example file mail source:
13319 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
13322 Or using the default file name:
13328 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best
13329 to use @acronym{POP} or @acronym{IMAP} or the like to fetch the mail.
13330 You can not use ange-ftp file names here---it has no way to lock the
13331 mail spool while moving the mail.
13333 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
13337 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
13340 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
13344 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
13347 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
13349 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
13352 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
13356 @vindex nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once
13357 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used
13358 when you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
13359 That is, there is a one-to-one correspondence between files in that
13360 directory and groups, so that mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool}
13361 will be put in the group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix
13362 to be used instead of @code{.spool}.) Setting
13363 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-@code{nil} forces
13364 Gnus to scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful
13365 if you want to scan mail groups at a specified level.
13367 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
13368 There is also the variable @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming}, if you set
13369 that to a non-@code{nil} value, then the normal splitting process is
13370 applied to all the files from the directory, @ref{Splitting Mail}.
13376 The name of the directory where the files are. There is no default
13380 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
13384 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
13385 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
13386 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
13387 predicate are considered.
13391 Script run before/after fetching mail.
13395 An example directory mail source:
13398 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
13403 Get mail from a @acronym{POP} server.
13409 The name of the @acronym{POP} server. The default is taken from the
13410 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
13413 The port number of the @acronym{POP} server. This can be a number (eg,
13414 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
13415 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
13416 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
13417 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
13420 The user name to give to the @acronym{POP} server. The default is the login
13424 The password to give to the @acronym{POP} server. If not specified,
13425 the user is prompted.
13428 The program to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. This
13429 should be a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
13432 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
13435 The valid format specifier characters are:
13439 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
13440 included in this string.
13443 The name of the server.
13446 The port number of the server.
13449 The user name to use.
13452 The password to use.
13455 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13456 corresponding keywords.
13459 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
13460 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
13463 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
13464 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
13467 The function to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. The
13468 function is called with one parameter---the name of the file where the
13469 mail should be moved to.
13471 @item :authentication
13472 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
13473 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
13478 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
13479 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
13481 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default @acronym{POP} server,
13482 using the default user name, and default fetcher:
13488 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
13491 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
13492 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
13495 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
13498 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
13502 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
13503 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
13504 contains exactly one mail.
13510 The name of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
13511 taken from the @env{MAILDIR} environment variable or
13514 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
13515 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
13517 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
13518 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
13519 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
13522 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
13523 from locking problems).
13527 Two example maildir mail sources:
13530 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
13531 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
13535 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
13540 Get mail from a @acronym{IMAP} server. If you don't want to use
13541 @acronym{IMAP} as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie
13542 with nnimap), for some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar
13543 to a @acronym{POP} server and fetches articles from a given
13544 @acronym{IMAP} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for more information.
13546 Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} and STARTTLS support you
13547 may need external programs and libraries, @xref{IMAP}.
13553 The name of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is taken from the
13554 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
13557 The port number of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
13558 @samp{993} for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} connections.
13561 The user name to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is the login
13565 The password to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. If not specified, the user is
13569 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
13570 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
13571 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{tls},
13572 @samp{ssl}, @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
13574 @item :authentication
13575 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
13576 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
13577 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
13578 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
13581 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
13582 mapped into the @code{imap-shell-program} variable. This should be a
13583 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
13589 The valid format specifier characters are:
13593 The name of the server.
13596 User name from @code{imap-default-user}.
13599 The port number of the server.
13602 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13603 corresponding keywords.
13606 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
13607 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
13610 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
13611 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
13612 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @acronym{IMAP} client and mark some
13613 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{1:*}.
13614 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
13615 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 section 6.4.4.
13618 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
13619 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
13620 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
13621 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 section 2.3.2.
13624 If non-@code{nil}, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the
13625 mailbox after finishing the fetch.
13629 An example @acronym{IMAP} mail source:
13632 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
13634 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
13638 Get mail from a webmail server, such as @uref{http://www.hotmail.com/},
13639 @uref{http://webmail.netscape.com/}, @uref{http://www.netaddress.com/},
13640 @uref{http://mail.yahoo.com/}.
13642 NOTE: Webmail largely depends on cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
13643 required for url "4.0pre.46".
13645 WARNING: Mails may be lost. NO WARRANTY.
13651 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
13652 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
13655 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
13659 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
13663 If non-@code{nil}, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to
13664 trash folder after finishing the fetch.
13668 An example webmail source:
13671 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
13673 :password "secret")
13678 @item Common Keywords
13679 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
13685 If non-@code{nil}, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you
13686 use directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this
13691 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
13696 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
13697 useful when you use local mail and news.
13702 @subsubsection Function Interface
13704 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
13705 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
13706 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
13707 consider the following mail-source setting:
13710 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
13711 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
13714 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
13715 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
13716 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
13717 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
13718 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
13720 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
13723 @node Mail Source Customization
13724 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
13726 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
13727 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
13731 @item mail-source-crash-box
13732 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
13733 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is@*
13734 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
13736 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
13737 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
13738 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them. If
13739 @code{t}, delete the files immediately, if @code{nil}, never delete any
13740 files. If a positive number, delete files older than number of days
13741 (This will only happen, when receiving new mail). You may also set
13742 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} to @code{nil} and call
13743 @code{mail-source-delete-old-incoming} from a hook or interactively.
13745 @item mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
13746 @vindex mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
13747 If non-@code{nil}, ask for for confirmation before deleting old incoming
13748 files. This variable only applies when
13749 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is a positive number.
13751 @item mail-source-ignore-errors
13752 @vindex mail-source-ignore-errors
13753 If non-@code{nil}, ignore errors when reading mail from a mail source.
13755 @item mail-source-directory
13756 @vindex mail-source-directory
13757 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
13758 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
13759 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
13762 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13763 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13764 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
13765 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
13766 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
13767 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil}.
13769 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
13770 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
13771 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
13773 @item mail-source-movemail-program
13774 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
13775 If non-@code{nil}, name of program for fetching new mail. If
13776 @code{nil}, @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
13781 @node Fetching Mail
13782 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
13784 @vindex mail-sources
13785 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
13786 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
13787 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
13788 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
13790 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
13791 @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to fetch mail by
13794 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a
13795 @acronym{POP} mail server, you'd say something like:
13800 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13801 :password "secret")))
13804 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
13808 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
13809 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13812 :password "secret")))
13816 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
13817 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
13818 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
13819 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
13820 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
13821 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
13825 @node Mail Back End Variables
13826 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
13828 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
13832 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13833 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13834 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
13835 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
13837 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
13838 @item nnmail-split-hook
13839 @findex gnus-article-decode-encoded-words
13840 @cindex RFC 1522 decoding
13841 @cindex RFC 2047 decoding
13842 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
13843 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
13844 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
13845 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
13846 in the buffer will show up in any files.
13847 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
13850 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13851 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13852 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13853 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13854 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
13855 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
13856 starting to handle the new mail) and
13857 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
13858 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
13859 default file modes the new mail files get:
13862 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13863 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
13865 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13866 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
13869 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
13870 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
13871 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
13872 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
13873 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
13874 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
13875 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
13877 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
13878 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
13879 @findex delete-file
13880 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
13882 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13883 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13884 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
13885 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
13886 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
13888 @item nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13889 @vindex nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13890 This can be a regular expression or a list of regular expressions.
13891 Group names that match any of the regular expressions will never be
13892 recorded in the @code{Message-ID} cache.
13894 This can be useful, for example, when using Fancy Splitting
13895 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}) together with the function
13896 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}.
13901 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
13902 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
13903 @cindex mail splitting
13904 @cindex fancy mail splitting
13906 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
13907 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
13908 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
13909 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
13910 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
13911 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
13913 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
13916 ;; @r{Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of}
13917 ;; @r{the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group}
13918 ;; @r{from real errors.}
13919 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
13921 ;; @r{Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant}
13922 ;; @r{groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the}
13923 ;; @r{(ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.}
13924 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
13925 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
13926 ;; @r{Other mailing lists@dots{}}
13927 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
13928 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
13929 ;; @r{Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent}
13930 ;; @r{cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to}
13931 ;; @r{the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the}
13932 ;; @r{message was really cross-posted.}
13933 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
13934 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
13935 ;; @r{People@dots{}}
13936 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
13937 ;; @r{Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.}
13941 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a
13942 (possibly) recursive structure where each split may contain other
13943 splits. Here are the possible split syntaxes:
13948 If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group name. Normal
13949 regexp match expansion will be done. See below for examples.
13951 @item (@var{field} @var{value} [- @var{restrict} [@dots{}] ] @var{split})
13952 If the split is a list, the first element of which is a string, then
13953 store the message as specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field}
13954 (a regexp) contains @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict}
13955 (yet another regexp) matches some string after @var{field} and before
13956 the end of the matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If
13957 none of the @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
13959 @item (| @var{split} @dots{})
13960 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{|} (vertical
13961 bar), then process each @var{split} until one of them matches. A
13962 @var{split} is said to match if it will cause the mail message to be
13963 stored in one or more groups.
13965 @item (& @var{split} @dots{})
13966 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{&}, then
13967 process all @var{split}s in the list.
13970 If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save (i.e., delete)
13971 this message. Use with extreme caution.
13973 @item (: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})
13974 If the split is a list, and the first element is @samp{:}, then the
13975 second element will be called as a function with @var{args} given as
13976 arguments. The function should return a @var{split}.
13979 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
13980 body of the messages:
13983 (defun split-on-body ()
13987 (goto-char (point-min))
13988 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
13992 The buffer is narrowed to the message in question when @var{function}
13993 is run. That's why @code{(widen)} needs to be called after
13994 @code{save-excursion} and @code{save-restriction} in the example
13995 above. Also note that with the nnimap backend, message bodies will
13996 not be downloaded by default. You need to set
13997 @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to @code{t} to do that
13998 (@pxref{Splitting in IMAP}).
14000 @item (! @var{func} @var{split})
14001 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{!}, then
14002 @var{split} will be processed, and @var{func} will be called as a
14003 function with the result of @var{split} as argument. @var{func}
14004 should return a split.
14007 If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
14011 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
14012 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
14013 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
14014 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
14015 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
14017 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
14018 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be Lisp symbols, in that case
14019 they are expanded as specified by the variable
14020 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells,
14021 where the @sc{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @sc{cdr}
14022 contains the associated value. Predefined entries in
14023 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist} include:
14027 Matches the @samp{From}, @samp{Sender} and @samp{Resent-From} fields.
14029 Matches the @samp{To}, @samp{Cc}, @samp{Apparently-To},
14030 @samp{Resent-To} and @samp{Resent-Cc} fields.
14032 Is the union of the @code{from} and @code{to} entries.
14035 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
14036 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
14037 when all this splitting is performed.
14039 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
14040 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
14041 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
14044 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
14047 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
14048 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
14050 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
14051 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
14052 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
14053 groupings 1 through 9.
14055 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words
14056 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} controls whether partial
14057 words are matched during fancy splitting.
14059 Normally, regular expressions given in @code{nnmail-split-fancy} are
14060 implicitly surrounded by @code{\<...\>} markers, which are word
14061 delimiters. If this variable is true, they are not implicitly
14062 surrounded by anything.
14065 (any "joe" "joemail")
14068 In this example, messages sent from @samp{joedavis@@foo.org} will
14069 normally not be filed in @samp{joemail}. With
14070 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} set to t, however, the
14071 match will happen. In effect, the requirement of a word boundary is
14072 removed and instead the match becomes more like a grep.
14074 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
14075 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
14076 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
14077 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
14078 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
14079 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
14080 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
14081 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
14082 it once per thread.
14084 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates}
14085 and @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-@code{nil}
14086 value. And then you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}
14087 using the colon feature, like so:
14089 (setq nnmail-treat-duplicates 'warn ; @r{or @code{delete}}
14090 nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids t
14092 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
14093 ;; @r{other splits go here}
14097 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
14098 non-@code{nil}, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees
14099 in the file specified by the variable
14100 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, together with the group it is in
14101 (the group is omitted for non-mail messages). When mail splitting is
14102 invoked, the function @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks
14103 at the References (and In-Reply-To) header of each message to split
14104 and searches the file specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}
14105 for the message ids. When it has found a parent, it returns the
14106 corresponding group name unless the group name matches the regexp
14107 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is
14108 recommended that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a
14109 somewhat higher number than the default so that the message ids are
14110 still in the cache. (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some
14111 300 kBytes in size.)
14112 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
14113 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
14114 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
14115 messages goes into the new group.
14117 Also see the variable @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} if you don't
14118 want certain groups to be recorded in the cache. For example, if all
14119 outgoing messages are written to an ``outgoing'' group, you could set
14120 @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} to match that group name.
14121 Otherwise, answers to all your messages would end up in the
14122 ``outgoing'' group.
14125 @node Group Mail Splitting
14126 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
14127 @cindex mail splitting
14128 @cindex group mail splitting
14130 @findex gnus-group-split
14131 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
14132 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
14133 You just have to set @code{to-list} and/or @code{to-address} in group
14134 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
14135 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
14136 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
14137 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @code{to-list} or
14138 @code{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
14140 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
14141 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @code{extra-aliases} group
14142 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
14143 rather use a regular expression, set @code{split-regexp}.
14145 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
14146 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
14147 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
14148 @code{to-list}, @code{to-address}, all of @code{extra-aliases} and all
14149 matches of @code{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
14150 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
14151 @code{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
14153 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
14154 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
14155 parameter @code{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
14156 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
14157 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @code{split-spec} may be set to
14158 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
14159 @code{gnus-group-split}.
14161 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
14162 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
14163 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
14164 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
14165 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
14166 some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
14167 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
14168 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
14169 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
14170 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
14171 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
14172 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
14173 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
14175 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
14180 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
14181 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
14183 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
14184 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
14185 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
14186 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
14188 ((split-spec . catch-all))
14191 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
14192 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
14193 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
14196 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
14197 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
14198 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
14202 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
14203 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
14204 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
14208 (: gnus-group-split-fancy @var{groups} @var{no-crosspost} @var{catch-all})
14211 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
14212 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
14213 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
14214 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fall back
14215 fancy split, used like @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
14216 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @code{split-regexp} matches the
14217 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
14218 Otherwise, if some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
14219 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
14221 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
14222 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
14223 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
14224 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
14225 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
14226 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
14227 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
14228 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
14229 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
14231 @findex gnus-group-split-update
14232 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
14233 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
14234 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
14235 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
14236 you. For example, add to your @file{~/.gnus.el}:
14239 (gnus-group-split-setup @var{auto-update} @var{catch-all})
14242 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
14243 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
14244 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
14245 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
14246 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
14249 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
14250 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
14251 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
14252 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
14254 @node Incorporating Old Mail
14255 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
14256 @cindex incorporating old mail
14257 @cindex import old mail
14259 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
14260 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
14261 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
14264 Doing so can be quite easy.
14266 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
14267 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
14268 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
14269 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
14270 your @code{nnml} groups.
14276 Go to the group buffer.
14279 Type @kbd{G f} and give the file name to the mbox file when prompted to create an
14280 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
14283 Type @kbd{SPACE} to enter the newly created group.
14286 Type @kbd{M P b} to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
14287 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
14290 Type @kbd{B r} to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
14291 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
14294 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
14295 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
14296 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
14297 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
14298 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
14300 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
14301 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
14302 using the new mail back end.
14305 @node Expiring Mail
14306 @subsection Expiring Mail
14307 @cindex article expiry
14309 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
14310 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
14311 different approach to mail reading.
14313 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
14314 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
14315 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
14316 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
14317 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
14318 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
14321 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
14322 articles as @dfn{expirable}. (With the default key bindings, this means
14323 that you have to type @kbd{E}.) This does not mean that the articles
14324 will disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
14325 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
14326 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
14327 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
14328 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
14329 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
14331 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Gnus provides
14332 two features, called ``auto-expire'' and ``total-expire'', that can help you
14333 with this. In a nutshell, ``auto-expire'' means that Gnus hits @kbd{E}
14334 for you when you select an article. And ``total-expire'' means that Gnus
14335 considers all articles as expirable that are read. So, in addition to
14336 the articles marked @samp{E}, also the articles marked @samp{r},
14337 @samp{R}, @samp{O}, @samp{K}, @samp{Y} and so on are considered
14340 When should either auto-expire or total-expire be used? Most people
14341 who are subscribed to mailing lists split each list into its own group
14342 and then turn on auto-expire or total-expire for those groups.
14343 (@xref{Splitting Mail}, for more information on splitting each list
14344 into its own group.)
14346 Which one is better, auto-expire or total-expire? It's not easy to
14347 answer. Generally speaking, auto-expire is probably faster. Another
14348 advantage of auto-expire is that you get more marks to work with: for
14349 the articles that are supposed to stick around, you can still choose
14350 between tick and dormant and read marks. But with total-expire, you
14351 only have dormant and ticked to choose from. The advantage of
14352 total-expire is that it works well with adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive
14353 Scoring}). Auto-expire works with normal scoring but not with adaptive
14356 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
14357 Groups that match the regular expression
14358 @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will have all articles that you
14359 read marked as expirable automatically. All articles marked as
14360 expirable have an @samp{E} in the first column in the summary buffer.
14362 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
14363 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
14364 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
14365 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
14366 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
14368 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
14370 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
14371 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
14372 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
14375 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
14376 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
14377 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
14378 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
14379 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
14381 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
14382 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
14385 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
14386 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
14389 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
14390 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
14392 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
14393 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
14394 don't really mix very well.
14396 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
14397 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
14398 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
14399 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
14402 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
14403 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
14404 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
14405 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
14408 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
14410 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
14412 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
14414 ((string= group "mail.junk")
14416 ((string= group "important")
14422 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
14423 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
14425 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
14426 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
14427 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
14430 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
14431 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
14433 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
14434 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
14435 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
14436 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
14437 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
14438 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
14439 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
14440 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
14441 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
14442 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
14443 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
14444 from as its parameter) which should return a target---either a group
14445 name or @code{delete}.
14447 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
14449 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
14452 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
14453 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
14454 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
14455 expire mail to groups according to the variable
14456 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
14459 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
14460 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
14461 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
14462 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
14463 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
14466 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
14467 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
14468 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
14469 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
14470 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
14471 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
14473 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
14474 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
14475 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
14476 easier for procmail users.
14478 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
14479 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
14480 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
14481 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
14482 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
14483 caution. Even more dangerous is the
14484 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
14485 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
14486 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
14487 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
14488 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
14489 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
14490 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
14493 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
14495 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
14496 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
14497 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
14498 auto-expire turned on.
14502 @subsection Washing Mail
14503 @cindex mail washing
14504 @cindex list server brain damage
14505 @cindex incoming mail treatment
14507 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
14508 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
14509 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
14510 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
14511 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
14512 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
14514 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
14515 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
14516 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
14519 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
14520 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
14521 storing the mail to disk. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
14522 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
14525 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14526 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14527 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
14528 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
14529 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
14532 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14533 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14534 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
14535 Emacs running on MS machines.
14539 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14540 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14541 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
14542 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
14545 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14546 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14547 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
14548 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
14550 (Note that this function works on both the header on the body of all
14551 messages, so it is a potentially dangerous function to use (if a body
14552 of a message contains something that looks like a header line). So
14553 rather than fix the bug, it is of course the right solution to make it
14554 into a feature by documenting it.)
14556 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14557 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14558 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
14559 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
14560 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
14561 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
14562 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
14565 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
14566 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
14569 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
14570 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
14573 This can also be done non-destructively with
14574 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
14576 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
14577 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
14578 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
14580 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14581 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14583 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
14584 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
14585 @code{References} headers.
14589 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14590 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14591 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
14595 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
14596 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
14597 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
14604 @subsection Duplicates
14606 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
14607 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
14608 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
14609 @cindex duplicate mails
14610 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
14611 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
14612 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
14613 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
14614 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
14615 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
14616 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
14617 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
14618 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
14619 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
14620 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
14621 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
14622 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
14624 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
14625 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
14626 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
14627 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
14629 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
14632 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
14633 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
14637 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
14638 '(| ;; @r{Messages duplicates go to a separate group.}
14639 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
14640 ;; @r{Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.}
14641 (any mail "mail.misc")
14642 ;; @r{Other rules.}
14648 (setq nnmail-split-methods
14649 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
14650 ;; @r{Other rules.}
14654 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
14655 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
14656 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
14657 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
14658 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
14661 @node Not Reading Mail
14662 @subsection Not Reading Mail
14664 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
14665 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
14666 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
14668 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
14669 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
14670 mail, which should help.
14672 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14673 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14674 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14675 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14676 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
14677 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
14678 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old Rmail
14679 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
14680 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
14681 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
14682 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
14684 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
14685 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
14689 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
14690 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
14692 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
14693 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
14694 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
14696 There are six different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
14697 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
14698 (because it is possibly the fastest) is @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
14702 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
14703 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the Rmail Babyl format.
14704 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
14705 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
14706 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
14707 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
14708 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
14712 @node Unix Mail Box
14713 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
14715 @cindex unix mail box
14717 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14718 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14719 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
14720 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
14721 which group it belongs in.
14723 Virtual server settings:
14726 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
14727 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14728 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
14731 @item nnmbox-active-file
14732 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14733 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
14734 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
14736 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
14737 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14738 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
14739 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
14744 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
14748 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14749 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14750 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a Babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{Rmail
14751 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
14752 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
14754 Virtual server settings:
14757 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
14758 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14759 The name of the Rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
14761 @item nnbabyl-active-file
14762 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14763 The name of the active file for the rmail box. The default is
14764 @file{~/.rmail-active}
14766 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14767 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14768 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
14774 @subsubsection Mail Spool
14776 @cindex mail @acronym{NOV} spool
14778 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
14779 format. It should be used with some caution.
14781 @vindex nnml-directory
14782 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
14783 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
14784 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
14785 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
14787 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
14790 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
14791 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
14792 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
14793 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
14794 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
14795 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
14796 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
14797 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
14799 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
14800 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
14801 @acronym{NOV} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it possibly the
14802 fastest back end when it comes to reading mail.
14804 @cindex self contained nnml servers
14806 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnml}
14807 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
14808 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
14809 proper @code{nnml} server) and have all your marks be preserved. Marks
14810 for a group is usually stored in the @code{.marks} file (but see
14811 @code{nnml-marks-file-name}) within each @code{nnml} group's directory.
14812 Individual @code{nnml} groups are also possible to backup, use @kbd{G m}
14813 to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the nnml
14816 If for some reason you believe your @file{.marks} files are screwed
14817 up, you can just delete them all. Gnus will then correctly regenerate
14818 them next time it starts.
14820 Virtual server settings:
14823 @item nnml-directory
14824 @vindex nnml-directory
14825 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory. The
14826 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default value
14829 @item nnml-active-file
14830 @vindex nnml-active-file
14831 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
14832 @file{~/Mail/active}.
14834 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
14835 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
14836 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
14837 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}.
14839 @item nnml-get-new-mail
14840 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14841 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
14844 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
14845 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
14846 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
14847 default is @code{nil}.
14849 @item nnml-nov-file-name
14850 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
14851 The name of the @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
14853 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14854 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14855 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
14857 @item nnml-marks-is-evil
14858 @vindex nnml-marks-is-evil
14859 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
14860 default is @code{nil}.
14862 @item nnml-marks-file-name
14863 @vindex nnml-marks-file-name
14864 The name of the @dfn{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
14866 @item nnml-use-compressed-files
14867 @vindex nnml-use-compressed-files
14868 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will allow using compressed message
14873 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
14874 If your @code{nnml} groups and @acronym{NOV} files get totally out of
14875 whack, you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
14876 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
14877 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
14878 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
14879 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
14884 @subsubsection MH Spool
14886 @cindex mh-e mail spool
14888 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
14889 @acronym{NOV} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks
14890 file. This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than
14891 @code{nnml}, but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts
14894 Virtual server settings:
14897 @item nnmh-directory
14898 @vindex nnmh-directory
14899 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
14900 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
14903 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
14904 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14905 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
14909 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
14910 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
14911 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks
14912 they are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
14913 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
14914 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not
14915 have to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
14920 @subsubsection Maildir
14924 @code{nnmaildir} stores mail in the maildir format, with each maildir
14925 corresponding to a group in Gnus. This format is documented here:
14926 @uref{http://cr.yp.to/proto/maildir.html} and here:
14927 @uref{http://www.qmail.org/man/man5/maildir.html}. @code{nnmaildir}
14928 also stores extra information in the @file{.nnmaildir/} directory
14931 Maildir format was designed to allow concurrent deliveries and
14932 reading, without needing locks. With other back ends, you would have
14933 your mail delivered to a spool of some kind, and then you would
14934 configure Gnus to split mail from that spool into your groups. You
14935 can still do that with @code{nnmaildir}, but the more common
14936 configuration is to have your mail delivered directly to the maildirs
14937 that appear as group in Gnus.
14939 @code{nnmaildir} is designed to be perfectly reliable: @kbd{C-g} will
14940 never corrupt its data in memory, and @code{SIGKILL} will never
14941 corrupt its data in the filesystem.
14943 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks and @acronym{NOV} data in each
14944 maildir. So you can copy a whole maildir from one Gnus setup to
14945 another, and you will keep your marks.
14947 Virtual server settings:
14951 For each of your @code{nnmaildir} servers (it's very unlikely that
14952 you'd need more than one), you need to create a directory and populate
14953 it with maildirs or symlinks to maildirs (and nothing else; do not
14954 choose a directory already used for other purposes). Each maildir
14955 will be represented in Gnus as a newsgroup on that server; the
14956 filename of the symlink will be the name of the group. Any filenames
14957 in the directory starting with @samp{.} are ignored. The directory is
14958 scanned when you first start Gnus, and each time you type @kbd{g} in
14959 the group buffer; if any maildirs have been removed or added,
14960 @code{nnmaildir} notices at these times.
14962 The value of the @code{directory} parameter should be a Lisp form
14963 which is processed by @code{eval} and @code{expand-file-name} to get
14964 the path of the directory for this server. The form is @code{eval}ed
14965 only when the server is opened; the resulting string is used until the
14966 server is closed. (If you don't know about forms and @code{eval},
14967 don't worry---a simple string will work.) This parameter is not
14968 optional; you must specify it. I don't recommend using
14969 @code{"~/Mail"} or a subdirectory of it; several other parts of Gnus
14970 use that directory by default for various things, and may get confused
14971 if @code{nnmaildir} uses it too. @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} is a typical
14974 @item target-prefix
14975 This should be a Lisp form which is processed by @code{eval} and
14976 @code{expand-file-name}. The form is @code{eval}ed only when the
14977 server is opened; the resulting string is used until the server is
14980 When you create a group on an @code{nnmaildir} server, the maildir is
14981 created with @code{target-prefix} prepended to its name, and a symlink
14982 pointing to that maildir is created, named with the plain group name.
14983 So if @code{directory} is @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} and
14984 @code{target-prefix} is @code{"../maildirs/"}, then when you create
14985 the group @code{foo}, @code{nnmaildir} will create
14986 @file{~/.nnmaildir/../maildirs/foo} as a maildir, and will create
14987 @file{~/.nnmaildir/foo} as a symlink pointing to
14988 @file{../maildirs/foo}.
14990 You can set @code{target-prefix} to a string without any slashes to
14991 create both maildirs and symlinks in the same @code{directory}; in
14992 this case, any maildirs found in @code{directory} whose names start
14993 with @code{target-prefix} will not be listed as groups (but the
14994 symlinks pointing to them will be).
14996 As a special case, if @code{target-prefix} is @code{""} (the default),
14997 then when you create a group, the maildir will be created in
14998 @code{directory} without a corresponding symlink. Beware that you
14999 cannot use @code{gnus-group-delete-group} on such groups without the
15000 @code{force} argument.
15002 @item directory-files
15003 This should be a function with the same interface as
15004 @code{directory-files} (such as @code{directory-files} itself). It is
15005 used to scan the server's @code{directory} for maildirs. This
15006 parameter is optional; the default is
15007 @code{nnheader-directory-files-safe} if
15008 @code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is @code{nil}, and
15009 @code{directory-files} otherwise.
15010 (@code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is checked only once when the
15011 server is opened; if you want to check it each time the directory is
15012 scanned, you'll have to provide your own function that does that.)
15015 If non-@code{nil}, then after scanning for new mail in the group
15016 maildirs themselves as usual, this server will also incorporate mail
15017 the conventional Gnus way, from @code{mail-sources} according to
15018 @code{nnmail-split-methods} or @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. The default
15019 value is @code{nil}.
15021 Do @emph{not} use the same maildir both in @code{mail-sources} and as
15022 an @code{nnmaildir} group. The results might happen to be useful, but
15023 that would be by chance, not by design, and the results might be
15024 different in the future. If your split rules create new groups,
15025 remember to supply a @code{create-directory} server parameter.
15028 @subsubsection Group parameters
15030 @code{nnmaildir} uses several group parameters. It's safe to ignore
15031 all this; the default behavior for @code{nnmaildir} is the same as the
15032 default behavior for other mail back ends: articles are deleted after
15033 one week, etc. Except for the expiry parameters, all this
15034 functionality is unique to @code{nnmaildir}, so you can ignore it if
15035 you're just trying to duplicate the behavior you already have with
15038 If the value of any of these parameters is a vector, the first element
15039 is evaluated as a Lisp form and the result is used, rather than the
15040 original value. If the value is not a vector, the value itself is
15041 evaluated as a Lisp form. (This is why these parameters use names
15042 different from those of other, similar parameters supported by other
15043 back ends: they have different, though similar, meanings.) (For
15044 numbers, strings, @code{nil}, and @code{t}, you can ignore the
15045 @code{eval} business again; for other values, remember to use an extra
15046 quote and wrap the value in a vector when appropriate.)
15050 An integer specifying the minimum age, in seconds, of an article
15051 before it will be expired, or the symbol @code{never} to specify that
15052 articles should never be expired. If this parameter is not set,
15053 @code{nnmaildir} falls back to the usual
15054 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) variables (overrideable by
15055 the @code{expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) group parameters. If you
15056 wanted a value of 3 days, you could use something like @code{[(* 3 24
15057 60 60)]}; @code{nnmaildir} will evaluate the form and use the result.
15058 An article's age is measured starting from the article file's
15059 modification time. Normally, this is the same as the article's
15060 delivery time, but editing an article makes it younger. Moving an
15061 article (other than via expiry) may also make an article younger.
15064 If this is set to a string such as a full Gnus group name, like
15066 "backend+server.address.string:group.name"
15068 and if it is not the name of the same group that the parameter belongs
15069 to, then articles will be moved to the specified group during expiry
15070 before being deleted. @emph{If this is set to an @code{nnmaildir}
15071 group, the article will be just as old in the destination group as it
15072 was in the source group.} So be careful with @code{expire-age} in the
15073 destination group. If this is set to the name of the same group that
15074 the parameter belongs to, then the article is not expired at all. If
15075 you use the vector form, the first element is evaluated once for each
15076 article. So that form can refer to
15077 @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name}, etc., to decide where to put the
15078 article. @emph{If this parameter is not set, @code{nnmaildir} does
15079 not fall back to the @code{expiry-target} group parameter or the
15080 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} variable.}
15083 If this is set to @code{t}, @code{nnmaildir} will treat the articles
15084 in this maildir as read-only. This means: articles are not renamed
15085 from @file{new/} into @file{cur/}; articles are only found in
15086 @file{new/}, not @file{cur/}; articles are never deleted; articles
15087 cannot be edited. @file{new/} is expected to be a symlink to the
15088 @file{new/} directory of another maildir---e.g., a system-wide mailbox
15089 containing a mailing list of common interest. Everything in the
15090 maildir outside @file{new/} is @emph{not} treated as read-only, so for
15091 a shared mailbox, you do still need to set up your own maildir (or
15092 have write permission to the shared mailbox); your maildir just won't
15093 contain extra copies of the articles.
15095 @item directory-files
15096 A function with the same interface as @code{directory-files}. It is
15097 used to scan the directories in the maildir corresponding to this
15098 group to find articles. The default is the function specified by the
15099 server's @code{directory-files} parameter.
15101 @item distrust-Lines:
15102 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmaildir} will always count the lines of an
15103 article, rather than use the @code{Lines:} header field. If
15104 @code{nil}, the header field will be used if present.
15107 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(read expire)]}. Whenever
15108 Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for article marks, @code{nnmaildir} will
15109 say that all articles have these marks, regardless of whether the
15110 marks stored in the filesystem say so. This is a proof-of-concept
15111 feature that will probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done
15112 in Gnus proper, or abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
15115 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(tick expire)]}. Whenever
15116 Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for article marks, @code{nnmaildir} will
15117 say that no articles have these marks, regardless of whether the marks
15118 stored in the filesystem say so. @code{never-marks} overrides
15119 @code{always-marks}. This is a proof-of-concept feature that will
15120 probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done in Gnus proper, or
15121 abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
15123 @item nov-cache-size
15124 An integer specifying the size of the @acronym{NOV} memory cache. To
15125 speed things up, @code{nnmaildir} keeps @acronym{NOV} data in memory
15126 for a limited number of articles in each group. (This is probably not
15127 worthwhile, and will probably be removed in the future.) This
15128 parameter's value is noticed only the first time a group is seen after
15129 the server is opened---i.e., when you first start Gnus, typically.
15130 The @acronym{NOV} cache is never resized until the server is closed
15131 and reopened. The default is an estimate of the number of articles
15132 that would be displayed in the summary buffer: a count of articles
15133 that are either marked with @code{tick} or not marked with
15134 @code{read}, plus a little extra.
15137 @subsubsection Article identification
15138 Articles are stored in the @file{cur/} subdirectory of each maildir.
15139 Each article file is named like @code{uniq:info}, where @code{uniq}
15140 contains no colons. @code{nnmaildir} ignores, but preserves, the
15141 @code{:info} part. (Other maildir readers typically use this part of
15142 the filename to store marks.) The @code{uniq} part uniquely
15143 identifies the article, and is used in various places in the
15144 @file{.nnmaildir/} subdirectory of the maildir to store information
15145 about the corresponding article. The full pathname of an article is
15146 available in the variable @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name} after you
15147 request the article in the summary buffer.
15149 @subsubsection NOV data
15150 An article identified by @code{uniq} has its @acronym{NOV} data (used
15151 to generate lines in the summary buffer) stored in
15152 @code{.nnmaildir/nov/uniq}. There is no
15153 @code{nnmaildir-generate-nov-databases} function. (There isn't much
15154 need for it---an article's @acronym{NOV} data is updated automatically
15155 when the article or @code{nnmail-extra-headers} has changed.) You can
15156 force @code{nnmaildir} to regenerate the @acronym{NOV} data for a
15157 single article simply by deleting the corresponding @acronym{NOV}
15158 file, but @emph{beware}: this will also cause @code{nnmaildir} to
15159 assign a new article number for this article, which may cause trouble
15160 with @code{seen} marks, the Agent, and the cache.
15162 @subsubsection Article marks
15163 An article identified by @code{uniq} is considered to have the mark
15164 @code{flag} when the file @file{.nnmaildir/marks/flag/uniq} exists.
15165 When Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for a group's marks, @code{nnmaildir}
15166 looks for such files and reports the set of marks it finds. When Gnus
15167 asks @code{nnmaildir} to store a new set of marks, @code{nnmaildir}
15168 creates and deletes the corresponding files as needed. (Actually,
15169 rather than create a new file for each mark, it just creates hard
15170 links to @file{.nnmaildir/markfile}, to save inodes.)
15172 You can invent new marks by creating a new directory in
15173 @file{.nnmaildir/marks/}. You can tar up a maildir and remove it from
15174 your server, untar it later, and keep your marks. You can add and
15175 remove marks yourself by creating and deleting mark files. If you do
15176 this while Gnus is running and your @code{nnmaildir} server is open,
15177 it's best to exit all summary buffers for @code{nnmaildir} groups and
15178 type @kbd{s} in the group buffer first, and to type @kbd{g} or
15179 @kbd{M-g} in the group buffer afterwards. Otherwise, Gnus might not
15180 pick up the changes, and might undo them.
15184 @subsubsection Mail Folders
15186 @cindex mbox folders
15187 @cindex mail folders
15189 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a
15190 separate file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format.
15191 @code{nnfolder} will add extra headers to keep track of article
15192 numbers and arrival dates.
15194 @cindex self contained nnfolder servers
15196 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnfolder}
15197 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
15198 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
15199 proper @code{nnfolder} server) and have all your marks be preserved.
15200 Marks for a group is usually stored in a file named as the mbox file
15201 with @code{.mrk} concatenated to it (but see
15202 @code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder}
15203 directory. Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to
15204 backup, use @kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup
15205 into the @code{nnfolder} directory).
15207 Virtual server settings:
15210 @item nnfolder-directory
15211 @vindex nnfolder-directory
15212 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this
15213 directory. The default is the value of @code{message-directory}
15214 (whose default is @file{~/Mail})
15216 @item nnfolder-active-file
15217 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
15218 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
15220 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
15221 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
15222 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
15223 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}
15225 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
15226 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
15227 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The
15228 default is @code{t}
15230 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
15231 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
15232 @cindex backup files
15233 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
15234 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If
15235 you wish to switch this off, you could say something like the
15236 following in your @file{.emacs} file:
15239 (defun turn-off-backup ()
15240 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
15242 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
15245 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
15246 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
15247 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
15248 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
15249 extract some information from it before removing it.
15251 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
15252 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
15253 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
15254 default is @code{nil}.
15256 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
15257 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
15258 The extension for @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
15260 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
15261 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
15262 The directory where the @acronym{NOV} files should be stored. If
15263 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
15265 @item nnfolder-marks-is-evil
15266 @vindex nnfolder-marks-is-evil
15267 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
15268 default is @code{nil}.
15270 @item nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
15271 @vindex nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
15272 The extension for @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.mrk}.
15274 @item nnfolder-marks-directory
15275 @vindex nnfolder-marks-directory
15276 The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If
15277 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
15282 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
15283 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
15284 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
15285 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
15286 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
15287 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
15290 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
15291 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
15293 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
15294 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
15295 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
15296 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
15297 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
15299 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
15300 typically done by @acronym{NNTP} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
15301 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
15302 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @acronym{NNTP} server), and
15303 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
15304 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
15305 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
15306 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
15309 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
15310 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
15311 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
15312 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
15317 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
15318 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
15319 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
15320 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
15321 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
15322 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
15323 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
15324 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
15325 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
15326 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
15327 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
15328 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
15329 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
15334 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
15335 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
15336 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
15337 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
15338 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
15339 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
15340 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
15341 Rmail was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
15342 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote Rmail
15343 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
15344 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
15345 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
15346 headers/status bits stuff. Rmail itself still exists as well, of
15347 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
15349 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
15350 file system, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
15355 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
15356 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
15357 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
15358 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
15359 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
15360 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
15361 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
15362 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
15363 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
15364 @acronym{NNTP} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
15365 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
15366 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
15367 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
15368 provided by the active file and overviews.
15370 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
15371 resource which defines available places in the file system to put new
15372 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
15373 tight, shared file systems. But if you live on a personal machine where
15374 the file system is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
15377 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
15378 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
15383 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
15384 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
15385 individual files, but with little or no indexing support---@code{nnmh}
15386 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
15387 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
15388 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
15389 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
15393 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
15394 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
15395 itself puts @emph{all} one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
15396 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
15397 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
15398 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
15399 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
15400 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
15401 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
15403 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
15404 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
15405 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
15406 friendly mail back end all over.
15410 For configuring expiry and other things, @code{nnmaildir} uses
15411 incompatible group parameters, slightly different from those of other
15414 @code{nnmaildir} is largely similar to @code{nnml}, with some notable
15415 differences. Each message is stored in a separate file, but the
15416 filename is unrelated to the article number in Gnus. @code{nnmaildir}
15417 also stores the equivalent of @code{nnml}'s overview files in one file
15418 per article, so it uses about twice as many inodes as @code{nnml}. (Use
15419 @code{df -i} to see how plentiful your inode supply is.) If this slows
15420 you down or takes up very much space, consider switching to
15421 @uref{http://www.namesys.com/, ReiserFS} or another non-block-structured
15424 Since maildirs don't require locking for delivery, the maildirs you use
15425 as groups can also be the maildirs your mail is directly delivered to.
15426 This means you can skip Gnus' mail splitting if your mail is already
15427 organized into different mailboxes during delivery. A @code{directory}
15428 entry in @code{mail-sources} would have a similar effect, but would
15429 require one set of mailboxes for spooling deliveries (in mbox format,
15430 thus damaging message bodies), and another set to be used as groups (in
15431 whatever format you like). A maildir has a built-in spool, in the
15432 @code{new/} subdirectory. Beware that currently, mail moved from
15433 @code{new/} to @code{cur/} instead of via mail splitting will not
15434 undergo treatment such as duplicate checking.
15436 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks for a given group in the
15437 corresponding maildir, in a way designed so that it's easy to manipulate
15438 them from outside Gnus. You can tar up a maildir, unpack it somewhere
15439 else, and still have your marks. @code{nnml} also stores marks, but
15440 it's not as easy to work with them from outside Gnus as with
15443 @code{nnmaildir} uses a significant amount of memory to speed things up.
15444 (It keeps in memory some of the things that @code{nnml} stores in files
15445 and that @code{nnmh} repeatedly parses out of message files.) If this
15446 is a problem for you, you can set the @code{nov-cache-size} group
15447 parameter to something small (0 would probably not work, but 1 probably
15448 would) to make it use less memory. This caching will probably be
15449 removed in the future.
15451 Startup is likely to be slower with @code{nnmaildir} than with other
15452 back ends. Everything else is likely to be faster, depending in part
15453 on your file system.
15455 @code{nnmaildir} does not use @code{nnoo}, so you cannot use @code{nnoo}
15456 to write an @code{nnmaildir}-derived back end.
15461 @node Browsing the Web
15462 @section Browsing the Web
15464 @cindex browsing the web
15468 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
15469 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
15470 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
15471 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
15472 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
15473 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
15474 even know what a news group is.
15476 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
15477 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
15478 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
15479 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
15480 you mad in the end.
15482 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
15485 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
15486 interfaces to these sources.
15490 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
15491 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
15492 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
15493 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
15494 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
15495 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
15498 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
15500 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
15501 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @acronym{HTML} data
15502 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
15503 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
15504 though, you should be ok.
15506 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
15507 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
15508 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
15509 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
15510 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
15512 @node Archiving Mail
15513 @subsection Archiving Mail
15514 @cindex archiving mail
15515 @cindex backup of mail
15517 Some of the back ends, notably @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and
15518 @code{nnmaildir}, now actually store the article marks with each group.
15519 For these servers, archiving and restoring a group while preserving
15520 marks is fairly simple.
15522 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
15523 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @file{.newsrc.eld} deity
15526 To archive an entire @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir}
15527 server, take a recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need
15528 to shut down Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or
15529 similar. You restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and
15530 adding a server definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The
15531 @ref{Article Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things
15532 might interfere with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus
15533 before you restore the data.
15535 It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml},
15536 @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir} groups, while preserving marks.
15537 For @code{nnml} or @code{nnmaildir}, you copy all files in the group's
15538 directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need to copy both the base folder
15539 file itself (@file{FOO}, say), and the marks file (@file{FOO.mrk} in
15540 this example). Restoring the group is done with @kbd{G m} from the Group
15541 buffer. The last step makes Gnus notice the new directory.
15542 @code{nnmaildir} notices the new directory automatically, so @kbd{G m}
15543 is unnecessary in that case.
15546 @subsection Web Searches
15551 @cindex Usenet searches
15552 @cindex searching the Usenet
15554 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
15555 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
15556 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
15557 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
15558 searches without having to use a browser.
15560 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
15561 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
15562 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
15563 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
15564 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
15566 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
15567 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
15568 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
15569 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
15570 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
15571 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
15572 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
15573 engines (Google, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
15574 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
15575 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
15578 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
15579 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
15580 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
15581 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
15582 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
15583 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
15585 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
15586 to use @code{nnweb}.
15588 Virtual server variables:
15593 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
15594 are @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}. Note that
15595 @code{dejanews} is an alias to @code{google}.
15598 @vindex nnweb-search
15599 The search string to feed to the search engine.
15601 @item nnweb-max-hits
15602 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
15603 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
15606 @item nnweb-type-definition
15607 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
15608 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
15609 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
15614 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
15618 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
15621 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
15624 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
15628 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
15635 @subsection Slashdot
15639 @uref{http://slashdot.org/, Slashdot} is a popular news site, with
15640 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
15641 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
15643 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
15644 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
15647 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
15648 '((nnslashdot "")))
15651 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} back end for new comments
15652 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
15653 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
15654 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
15655 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
15658 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
15659 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
15661 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
15662 comments), some light @acronym{HTML}izations will be performed. In
15663 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
15664 @samp{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @samp{br} added to
15665 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @acronym{HTML}
15666 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
15667 @acronym{HTML} forms.
15669 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
15672 @item nnslashdot-threaded
15673 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
15674 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
15675 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
15676 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
15677 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
15678 but much, much slower than unthreaded.
15680 @item nnslashdot-login-name
15681 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
15682 The login name to use when posting.
15684 @item nnslashdot-password
15685 @vindex nnslashdot-password
15686 The password to use when posting.
15688 @item nnslashdot-directory
15689 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
15690 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default is
15691 @file{~/News/slashdot/}.
15693 @item nnslashdot-active-url
15694 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
15695 The @acronym{URL} format string that will be used to fetch the
15696 information on news articles and comments. The default is@*
15697 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
15699 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
15700 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
15701 The @acronym{URL} format string that will be used to fetch comments.
15703 @item nnslashdot-article-url
15704 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
15705 The @acronym{URL} format string that will be used to fetch the news
15706 article. The default is
15707 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
15709 @item nnslashdot-threshold
15710 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
15711 The score threshold. The default is -1.
15713 @item nnslashdot-group-number
15714 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
15715 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
15716 updated. The default is 0.
15723 @subsection Ultimate
15725 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
15727 @uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/, The Ultimate Bulletin Board} is
15728 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
15729 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
15730 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
15732 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
15733 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
15734 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @acronym{URL}
15735 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
15736 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
15737 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
15738 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
15740 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
15743 @item nnultimate-directory
15744 @vindex nnultimate-directory
15745 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is@*
15746 @file{~/News/ultimate/}.
15751 @subsection Web Archive
15753 @cindex Web Archive
15755 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
15756 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
15757 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
15758 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
15761 @findex gnus-group-make-warchive-group
15762 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
15763 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
15764 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET @var{an_egroup} RET egroups RET
15765 www.egroups.com RET @var{your@@email.address} RET}. (Substitute the
15766 @var{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
15767 @var{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
15768 back end by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
15770 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
15773 @item nnwarchive-directory
15774 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
15775 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is@*
15776 @file{~/News/warchive/}.
15778 @item nnwarchive-login
15779 @vindex nnwarchive-login
15780 The account name on the web server.
15782 @item nnwarchive-passwd
15783 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
15784 The password for your account on the web server.
15792 Some web sites have an RDF Site Summary (@acronym{RSS}).
15793 @acronym{RSS} is a format for summarizing headlines from news related
15794 sites (such as BBC or CNN). But basically anything list-like can be
15795 presented as an @acronym{RSS} feed: weblogs, changelogs or recent
15796 changes to a wiki (e.g. @url{http://cliki.net/recent-changes.rdf}).
15798 @acronym{RSS} has a quite regular and nice interface, and it's
15799 possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
15801 @kindex G R (Summary)
15802 Use @kbd{G R} from the summary buffer to subscribe to a feed---you
15803 will be prompted for the location of the feed.
15805 An easy way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something like
15806 the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET y}, then
15807 subscribe to groups.
15809 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
15812 @item nnrss-directory
15813 @vindex nnrss-directory
15814 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
15815 @file{~/News/rss/}.
15817 @item nnrss-use-local
15818 @vindex nnrss-use-local
15819 @findex nnrss-generate-download-script
15820 If you set @code{nnrss-use-local} to @code{t}, @code{nnrss} will read
15821 the feeds from local files in @code{nnrss-directory}. You can use
15822 the command @code{nnrss-generate-download-script} to generate a
15823 download script using @command{wget}.
15826 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
15827 the summary buffer.
15830 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
15831 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
15833 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
15835 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
15836 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
15839 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
15842 (require 'browse-url)
15844 (defun browse-nnrss-url( arg )
15846 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
15849 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
15850 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
15853 (browse-url (cdr url))
15854 (gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward 1))
15855 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
15857 (eval-after-load "gnus"
15858 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
15859 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
15860 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
15863 @node Customizing w3
15864 @subsection Customizing w3
15870 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
15871 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
15872 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
15874 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
15875 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
15876 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
15879 (eval-after-load "w3"
15881 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
15882 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
15883 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
15884 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
15886 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
15889 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
15890 @acronym{HTML} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
15897 @cindex @acronym{IMAP}
15899 @acronym{IMAP} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or @dots{}),
15900 think of it as a modernized @acronym{NNTP}. Connecting to a @acronym{IMAP}
15901 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
15902 specify the network address of the server.
15904 @acronym{IMAP} has two properties. First, @acronym{IMAP} can do
15905 everything that @acronym{POP} can, it can hence be viewed as a
15906 @acronym{POP++}. Secondly, @acronym{IMAP} is a mail storage protocol,
15907 similar to @acronym{NNTP} being a news storage protocol---however,
15908 @acronym{IMAP} offers more features than @acronym{NNTP} because news
15909 is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.
15911 If you want to use @acronym{IMAP} as a @acronym{POP++}, use an imap
15912 entry in @code{mail-sources}. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from
15913 the @acronym{IMAP} server and store them on the local disk. This is
15914 not the usage described in this section---@xref{Mail Sources}.
15916 If you want to use @acronym{IMAP} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
15917 entry in @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}. With this, Gnus will
15918 manipulate mails stored on the @acronym{IMAP} server. This is the kind of
15919 usage explained in this section.
15921 A server configuration in @file{~/.gnus.el} with a few @acronym{IMAP}
15922 servers might look something like the following. (Note that for
15923 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}, you need external programs and libraries,
15927 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
15928 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; @r{no special configuration}
15929 ; @r{perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:}
15931 (nnimap-address "localhost")
15932 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
15933 ; @r{a UW server running on localhost}
15935 (nnimap-server-port 143)
15936 (nnimap-address "localhost")
15937 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
15938 ; @r{anonymous public cyrus server:}
15939 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
15940 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
15941 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
15942 (nnimap-stream network))
15943 ; @r{a ssl server on a non-standard port:}
15945 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
15946 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
15947 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
15950 After defining the new server, you can subscribe to groups on the
15951 server using normal Gnus commands such as @kbd{U} in the Group Buffer
15952 (@pxref{Subscription Commands}) or via the Server Buffer
15953 (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
15955 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
15960 @item nnimap-address
15961 @vindex nnimap-address
15963 The address of the remote @acronym{IMAP} server. Defaults to the virtual
15964 server name if not specified.
15966 @item nnimap-server-port
15967 @vindex nnimap-server-port
15968 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}.
15970 Note that this should be an integer, example server specification:
15973 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15974 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
15977 @item nnimap-list-pattern
15978 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
15979 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
15980 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
15981 interested in a few---some servers export your home directory via
15982 @acronym{IMAP}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
15983 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
15985 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
15986 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
15987 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
15990 Example server specification:
15993 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15994 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
15995 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
15998 @item nnimap-stream
15999 @vindex nnimap-stream
16000 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
16001 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
16002 of @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}. (@acronym{IMAP} over
16003 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is being replaced by STARTTLS, which can
16004 be automatically detected, but it's not widely deployed yet.)
16006 Example server specification:
16009 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
16010 (nnimap-stream ssl))
16013 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
16017 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually Kerberos 5). Requires the
16018 @samp{gsasl} or @samp{imtest} program.
16020 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with Kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
16022 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
16023 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
16026 @dfn{tls:} Connect through @acronym{TLS}. Requires GNUTLS (the program
16027 @samp{gnutls-cli}).
16029 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through @acronym{SSL}. Requires OpenSSL (the program
16030 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}).
16032 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @acronym{IMAP} connection.
16034 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
16037 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
16038 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD. If you're
16039 using @samp{imtest} from Cyrus IMAPD < 2.0.14 (which includes version
16040 1.5.x and 1.6.x) you need to frob @code{imap-process-connection-type}
16041 to make @code{imap.el} use a pty instead of a pipe when communicating
16042 with @samp{imtest}. You will then suffer from a line length
16043 restrictions on @acronym{IMAP} commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
16044 indefinitely if you have many articles in a mailbox. The variable
16045 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
16048 For @acronym{TLS} connection, the @code{gnutls-cli} program from GNUTLS is
16049 needed. It is available from
16050 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/}.
16052 @vindex imap-gssapi-program
16053 This parameter specifies a list of command lines that invoke a GSSAPI
16054 authenticated @acronym{IMAP} stream in a subshell. They are tried
16055 sequentially until a connection is made, or the list has been
16056 exhausted. By default, @samp{gsasl} from GNU SASL, available from
16057 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gsasl/}, and the @samp{imtest}
16058 program from Cyrus IMAPD (see @code{imap-kerberos4-program}), are
16061 @vindex imap-ssl-program
16062 For @acronym{SSL} connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
16063 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
16064 and nnimap support it too---although the most recent versions of
16065 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
16066 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
16067 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
16070 @vindex imap-shell-program
16071 @vindex imap-shell-host
16072 For @acronym{IMAP} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
16073 @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
16075 @item nnimap-authenticator
16076 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
16078 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
16079 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
16081 Example server specification:
16084 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
16085 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
16088 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
16092 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Requires
16093 external program @code{gsasl} or @code{imtest}.
16095 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos 4 authentication. Requires external program
16098 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Requires
16099 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
16101 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
16103 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
16105 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as ``anonymous'', supplying your email address as password.
16108 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
16110 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
16111 Unlike Parmenides the @acronym{IMAP} designers have decided things that
16112 don't exist actually do exist. More specifically, @acronym{IMAP} has
16113 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
16114 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
16115 nnimap does when you delete an article in Gnus (with @kbd{B DEL} or
16118 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
16119 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
16120 running in circles yet?
16122 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
16123 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
16126 The possible options are:
16131 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as ``Deleted'' when
16134 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
16135 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @acronym{IMAP} clients
16136 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
16137 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
16139 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
16144 @item nnimap-importantize-dormant
16145 @vindex nnimap-importantize-dormant
16147 If non-@code{nil} (the default), marks dormant articles as ticked (as
16148 well), for other @acronym{IMAP} clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will
16149 naturally still (only) be marked as dormant. This is to make dormant
16150 articles stand out, just like ticked articles, in other @acronym{IMAP}
16151 clients. (In other words, Gnus has two ``Tick'' marks and @acronym{IMAP}
16154 Probably the only reason for frobing this would be if you're trying
16155 enable per-user persistent dormant flags, using something like:
16158 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-flag-alist)
16159 (format "gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
16160 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-predicate-alist)
16161 (format "KEYWORD gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
16164 In this case, you would not want the per-user dormant flag showing up
16165 as ticked for other users.
16167 @item nnimap-expunge-search-string
16169 @vindex nnimap-expunge-search-string
16171 This variable contain the @acronym{IMAP} search command sent to server when
16172 searching for articles eligible for expiring. The default is
16173 @code{"UID %s NOT SINCE %s"}, where the first @code{%s} is replaced by
16174 UID set and the second @code{%s} is replaced by a date.
16176 Probably the only useful value to change this to is
16177 @code{"UID %s NOT SENTSINCE %s"}, which makes nnimap use the Date: in
16178 messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
16179 RFC 2060 for more information on valid strings.
16181 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
16182 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
16184 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
16185 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
16186 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
16189 @item nnimap-need-unselect-to-notice-new-mail
16190 @vindex nnimap-need-unselect-to-notice-new-mail
16192 Unselect mailboxes before looking for new mail in them. Some servers
16193 seem to need this under some circumstances; it was reported that
16199 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
16200 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
16201 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
16202 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
16203 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use @acronym{IMAP} namespace in Gnus.
16204 * Debugging IMAP:: What to do when things don't work.
16209 @node Splitting in IMAP
16210 @subsection Splitting in IMAP
16211 @cindex splitting imap mail
16213 Splitting is something Gnus users have loved and used for years, and now
16214 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
16215 @acronym{IMAP} servers have server side splitting and those that have
16216 splitting seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that
16217 @acronym{IMAP} support for Gnus has to do its own splitting.
16221 (Incidentally, people seem to have been dreaming on, and Sieve has
16222 gaining a market share and is supported by several IMAP servers.
16223 Fortunately, Gnus support it too, @xref{Sieve Commands}.)
16225 Here are the variables of interest:
16229 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
16230 @cindex splitting, crosspost
16232 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
16234 If non-@code{nil}, do crossposting if several split methods match the
16235 mail. If @code{nil}, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule}
16236 found will be used.
16238 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
16240 @item nnimap-split-inbox
16241 @cindex splitting, inbox
16243 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
16245 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @acronym{IMAP}
16246 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to @code{nil}, which means that
16247 splitting is disabled!
16250 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
16251 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
16254 No nnmail equivalent.
16256 @item nnimap-split-rule
16257 @cindex splitting, rules
16258 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
16260 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
16263 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
16264 sublist gives the name of the @acronym{IMAP} mailbox to move articles
16265 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
16266 Neither did I, we need examples.
16269 (setq nnimap-split-rule
16271 "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
16272 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
16273 ("INBOX.private" "")))
16276 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
16277 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
16278 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
16280 The first string may contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by
16281 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
16285 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
16288 The first element can also be the symbol @code{junk} to indicate that
16289 matching messages should simply be deleted. Use with care.
16291 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
16292 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
16293 containing the headers of the article. It should return a
16294 non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
16296 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
16297 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
16298 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
16299 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
16300 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
16301 them every time you fetch new mail.)
16303 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
16304 end. The first rule to make a match will ``win'', unless you have
16305 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will ``win''.
16307 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
16308 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
16309 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
16311 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it needs to.
16313 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
16314 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
16315 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
16318 (setq nnimap-split-rule
16319 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
16320 ("junk" "From:.*Simon"))))
16321 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
16322 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
16323 ("junk" my-junk-func))))))
16326 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
16327 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
16328 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
16329 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
16330 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
16331 group/function elements.
16333 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
16335 @item nnimap-split-predicate
16337 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
16339 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
16340 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
16342 This might be useful if you use another @acronym{IMAP} client to read mail in
16343 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
16344 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
16347 @item nnimap-split-fancy
16348 @cindex splitting, fancy
16349 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
16350 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
16352 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
16353 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
16354 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
16356 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
16357 nnimap back ends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
16358 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
16359 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
16364 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
16365 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
16368 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
16370 @item nnimap-split-download-body
16371 @findex nnimap-split-download-body
16372 @vindex nnimap-split-download-body
16374 Set to non-@code{nil} to download entire articles during splitting.
16375 This is generally not required, and will slow things down
16376 considerably. You may need it if you want to use an advanced
16377 splitting function that analyses the body to split the article.
16381 @node Expiring in IMAP
16382 @subsection Expiring in IMAP
16383 @cindex expiring imap mail
16385 Even though @code{nnimap} is not a proper @code{nnmail} derived back
16386 end, it supports most features in regular expiring (@pxref{Expiring
16387 Mail}). Unlike splitting in @acronym{IMAP} (@pxref{Splitting in
16388 IMAP}) it does not clone the @code{nnmail} variables (i.e., creating
16389 @var{nnimap-expiry-wait}) but reuse the @code{nnmail} variables. What
16390 follows below are the variables used by the @code{nnimap} expiry
16393 A note on how the expire mark is stored on the @acronym{IMAP} server is
16394 appropriate here as well. The expire mark is translated into a
16395 @code{imap} client specific mark, @code{gnus-expire}, and stored on the
16396 message. This means that likely only Gnus will understand and treat
16397 the @code{gnus-expire} mark properly, although other clients may allow
16398 you to view client specific flags on the message. It also means that
16399 your server must support permanent storage of client specific flags on
16400 messages. Most do, fortunately.
16404 @item nnmail-expiry-wait
16405 @item nnmail-expiry-wait-function
16407 These variables are fully supported. The expire value can be a
16408 number, the symbol @code{immediate} or @code{never}.
16410 @item nnmail-expiry-target
16412 This variable is supported, and internally implemented by calling the
16413 @code{nnmail} functions that handle this. It contains an optimization
16414 that if the destination is a @acronym{IMAP} group on the same server, the
16415 article is copied instead of appended (that is, uploaded again).
16419 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
16420 @subsection Editing IMAP ACLs
16421 @cindex editing imap acls
16422 @cindex Access Control Lists
16423 @cindex Editing @acronym{IMAP} ACLs
16424 @kindex G l (Group)
16425 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
16427 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @acronym{IMAP} for
16428 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
16429 @acronym{IMAP} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
16432 To edit an ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
16433 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with an ACL
16434 editing window with detailed instructions.
16436 Some possible uses:
16440 Giving ``anyone'' the ``lrs'' rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
16441 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
16442 follow the list without subscribing to it.
16444 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
16445 ``anyone'' posting ("p") capabilities to have ``plussing'' work (that is,
16446 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @acronym{IMAP} mailbox
16450 @node Expunging mailboxes
16451 @subsection Expunging mailboxes
16455 @cindex manual expunging
16456 @kindex G x (Group)
16457 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
16459 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
16460 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
16461 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
16463 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
16466 @node A note on namespaces
16467 @subsection A note on namespaces
16468 @cindex IMAP namespace
16471 The @acronym{IMAP} protocol has a concept called namespaces, described
16472 by the following text in the RFC:
16475 5.1.2. Mailbox Namespace Naming Convention
16477 By convention, the first hierarchical element of any mailbox name
16478 which begins with "#" identifies the "namespace" of the remainder of
16479 the name. This makes it possible to disambiguate between different
16480 types of mailbox stores, each of which have their own namespaces.
16482 For example, implementations which offer access to USENET
16483 newsgroups MAY use the "#news" namespace to partition the USENET
16484 newsgroup namespace from that of other mailboxes. Thus, the
16485 comp.mail.misc newsgroup would have an mailbox name of
16486 "#news.comp.mail.misc", and the name "comp.mail.misc" could refer
16487 to a different object (e.g. a user's private mailbox).
16490 While there is nothing in this text that warrants concern for the
16491 @acronym{IMAP} implementation in Gnus, some servers use namespace
16492 prefixes in a way that does not work with how Gnus uses mailbox names.
16494 Specifically, University of Washington's @acronym{IMAP} server uses
16495 mailbox names like @code{#driver.mbx/read-mail} which are valid only
16496 in the @sc{create} and @sc{append} commands. After the mailbox is
16497 created (or a messages is appended to a mailbox), it must be accessed
16498 without the namespace prefix, i.e. @code{read-mail}. Since Gnus do
16499 not make it possible for the user to guarantee that user entered
16500 mailbox names will only be used with the CREATE and APPEND commands,
16501 you should simply not use the namespace prefixed mailbox names in
16504 See the UoW IMAPD documentation for the @code{#driver.*/} prefix
16505 for more information on how to use the prefixes. They are a power
16506 tool and should be used only if you are sure what the effects are.
16508 @node Debugging IMAP
16509 @subsection Debugging IMAP
16510 @cindex IMAP debugging
16511 @cindex protocol dump (IMAP)
16513 @acronym{IMAP} is a complex protocol, more so than @acronym{NNTP} or
16514 @acronym{POP3}. Implementation bugs are not unlikely, and we do our
16515 best to fix them right away. If you encounter odd behaviour, chances
16516 are that either the server or Gnus is buggy.
16518 If you are familiar with network protocols in general, you will
16519 probably be able to extract some clues from the protocol dump of the
16520 exchanges between Gnus and the server. Even if you are not familiar
16521 with network protocols, when you include the protocol dump in
16522 @acronym{IMAP}-related bug reports you are helping us with data
16523 critical to solving the problem. Therefore, we strongly encourage you
16524 to include the protocol dump when reporting IMAP bugs in Gnus.
16528 Because the protocol dump, when enabled, generates lots of data, it is
16529 disabled by default. You can enable it by setting @code{imap-log} as
16536 This instructs the @code{imap.el} package to log any exchanges with
16537 the server. The log is stored in the buffer @samp{*imap-log*}. Look
16538 for error messages, which sometimes are tagged with the keyword
16539 @code{BAD}---but when submitting a bug, make sure to include all the
16542 @node Other Sources
16543 @section Other Sources
16545 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
16546 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
16550 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
16551 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
16552 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
16553 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
16554 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
16558 @node Directory Groups
16559 @subsection Directory Groups
16561 @cindex directory groups
16563 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
16564 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
16567 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
16568 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
16569 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
16570 back end to read directories. Big deal.
16572 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
16573 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
16574 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
16575 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
16576 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
16578 @code{nndir} will use @acronym{NOV} files if they are present.
16580 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
16581 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
16582 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
16583 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
16586 @node Anything Groups
16587 @subsection Anything Groups
16590 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
16591 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
16592 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
16595 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
16596 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
16597 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
16598 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
16599 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
16600 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
16601 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
16602 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
16603 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
16604 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
16607 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
16608 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
16609 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
16610 in the article buffer, just as usual.
16612 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
16613 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
16614 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
16615 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
16617 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
16618 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
16619 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
16620 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
16621 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
16622 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
16623 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
16624 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
16629 @item nneething-map-file-directory
16630 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
16631 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
16632 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
16634 @item nneething-exclude-files
16635 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
16636 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
16637 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
16639 @item nneething-include-files
16640 @vindex nneething-include-files
16641 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
16642 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
16644 @item nneething-map-file
16645 @vindex nneething-map-file
16646 Name of the map files.
16650 @node Document Groups
16651 @subsection Document Groups
16653 @cindex documentation group
16656 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
16657 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
16664 The Babyl (Rmail) mail box.
16669 The standard Unix mbox file.
16671 @cindex MMDF mail box
16673 The MMDF mail box format.
16676 Several news articles appended into a file.
16679 @cindex rnews batch files
16680 The rnews batch transport format.
16681 @cindex forwarded messages
16684 Forwarded articles.
16687 Netscape mail boxes.
16690 @acronym{MIME} multipart messages.
16692 @item standard-digest
16693 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
16696 A @acronym{MIME} digest of messages.
16698 @item lanl-gov-announce
16699 Announcement messages from LANL Gov Announce.
16701 @item rfc822-forward
16702 A message forwarded according to RFC822.
16705 The Outlook mail box.
16708 The Outlook Express dbx mail box.
16711 A bounce message from the Exim MTA.
16714 A message forwarded according to informal rules.
16717 An RFC934-forwarded message.
16723 A digest of Clarinet brief news items.
16726 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
16732 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
16733 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
16734 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
16737 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
16738 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
16739 group. And that's it.
16741 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
16742 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
16743 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
16744 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
16745 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
16746 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
16747 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
16748 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
16749 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
16750 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
16752 Virtual server variables:
16755 @item nndoc-article-type
16756 @vindex nndoc-article-type
16757 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
16758 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
16759 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
16760 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook},
16761 @code{oe-dbx}, @code{mailman}, and @code{mail-in-mail} or @code{guess}.
16763 @item nndoc-post-type
16764 @vindex nndoc-post-type
16765 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
16766 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
16771 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
16775 @node Document Server Internals
16776 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
16778 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
16779 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
16780 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
16781 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
16783 First, here's an example document type definition:
16787 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
16788 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
16791 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
16792 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
16793 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
16794 types can be defined with very few settings:
16797 @item first-article
16798 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
16799 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
16802 @item article-begin
16803 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
16804 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
16806 @item head-begin-function
16807 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
16810 @item nndoc-head-begin
16811 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
16814 @item nndoc-head-end
16815 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
16816 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
16818 @item body-begin-function
16819 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
16823 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
16826 @item body-end-function
16827 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
16831 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
16834 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
16835 regexp will be totally ignored.
16839 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
16840 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
16841 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
16842 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
16843 something that's palatable for Gnus:
16846 @item prepare-body-function
16847 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
16848 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
16849 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
16851 @item article-transform-function
16852 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
16853 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
16854 body of the article.
16856 @item generate-head-function
16857 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
16858 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
16859 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
16860 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
16864 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
16869 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
16870 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
16871 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
16872 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
16873 (head-end . "^ ?$")
16874 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
16875 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
16876 (subtype digest guess))
16879 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
16880 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
16881 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
16882 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
16883 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
16885 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
16886 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first
16887 is the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says
16888 where in the document type definition alist to put this definition.
16889 The alist is traversed sequentially, and
16890 @code{nndoc-@var{type}-type-p} is called for a given type @var{type}.
16891 So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document is of
16892 @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
16893 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it
16894 is of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
16895 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number
16896 means low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
16904 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
16905 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
16906 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
16908 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
16909 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
16910 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
16913 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
16914 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
16915 that interested in doing things properly.
16917 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
16918 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
16921 First some terminology:
16926 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
16927 get news and/or mail from.
16930 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
16931 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
16934 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
16938 @item message packets
16939 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
16940 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
16941 default, where @var{x} is a number.
16943 @item response packets
16944 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
16945 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
16946 default, where @var{x} is a number.
16956 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
16957 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
16958 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
16959 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
16962 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
16965 You put the packet in your home directory.
16968 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} back end as
16969 the native or secondary server.
16972 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
16973 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
16976 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
16980 You transfer this packet to the server.
16983 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
16986 You then repeat until you die.
16990 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
16991 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
16994 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
16995 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
16996 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
17000 @node SOUP Commands
17001 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
17003 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
17007 @kindex G s b (Group)
17008 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
17009 Pack all unread articles in the current group
17010 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
17011 process/prefix convention.
17014 @kindex G s w (Group)
17015 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
17016 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
17019 @kindex G s s (Group)
17020 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
17021 Send all replies from the replies packet
17022 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
17025 @kindex G s p (Group)
17026 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
17027 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
17030 @kindex G s r (Group)
17031 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
17032 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
17035 @kindex O s (Summary)
17036 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
17037 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
17038 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
17039 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
17044 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
17049 @item gnus-soup-directory
17050 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
17051 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
17052 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
17054 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
17055 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
17056 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
17057 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
17059 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
17060 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
17061 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
17062 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
17064 @item gnus-soup-packer
17065 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
17066 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
17067 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
17069 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
17070 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
17071 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
17072 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
17074 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
17075 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
17076 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
17078 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
17079 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
17080 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
17081 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
17087 @subsubsection SOUP Groups
17090 @code{nnsoup} is the back end for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
17091 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
17092 you can read them at leisure.
17094 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
17098 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
17099 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
17100 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
17101 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
17103 @item nnsoup-directory
17104 @vindex nnsoup-directory
17105 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
17106 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
17108 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
17109 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
17110 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
17111 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/}.
17113 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
17114 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
17115 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
17116 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
17117 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
17119 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
17120 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
17121 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
17122 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
17124 @item nnsoup-active-file
17125 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
17126 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
17127 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
17128 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
17129 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
17131 @item nnsoup-packer
17132 @vindex nnsoup-packer
17133 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
17134 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
17136 @item nnsoup-unpacker
17137 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
17138 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
17139 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
17141 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
17142 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
17143 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
17146 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
17147 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
17148 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
17151 @item nnsoup-always-save
17152 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
17153 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
17159 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
17161 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
17162 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
17163 more for that to happen.
17165 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
17166 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
17167 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
17170 In specific, this is what it does:
17173 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
17174 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
17177 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
17178 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
17179 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
17182 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
17183 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
17184 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
17187 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
17188 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
17189 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
17191 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
17197 @item nngateway-address
17198 @vindex nngateway-address
17199 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
17201 @item nngateway-header-transformation
17202 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
17203 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
17204 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
17205 transformation should be called, and defaults to
17206 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
17207 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
17210 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
17211 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
17212 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
17215 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
17218 will get this @code{To} header inserted:
17221 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
17224 The following pre-defined functions exist:
17226 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
17229 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
17230 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
17231 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
17233 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
17235 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
17236 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
17237 @code{nngateway-address}.
17245 (setq gnus-post-method
17247 "mail2news@@replay.com"
17248 (nngateway-header-transformation
17249 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
17252 So, to use this, simply say something like:
17255 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
17260 @node Combined Groups
17261 @section Combined Groups
17263 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
17267 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
17268 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
17272 @node Virtual Groups
17273 @subsection Virtual Groups
17275 @cindex virtual groups
17276 @cindex merging groups
17278 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
17281 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
17282 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
17283 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
17285 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
17286 regexp to match component groups.
17288 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
17289 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
17290 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it
17291 came. (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be
17292 shown in the virtual group.). To create an empty virtual group, run
17293 @kbd{G V} (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}) in the group buffer
17294 and edit the method regexp with @kbd{M-e}
17295 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method})
17297 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
17298 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
17301 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
17304 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
17305 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
17307 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
17308 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
17309 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
17310 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
17313 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
17316 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
17317 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
17318 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
17320 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
17321 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
17322 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
17323 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
17324 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
17326 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
17327 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
17328 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
17330 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
17331 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
17332 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
17333 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
17334 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
17335 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
17336 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
17337 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
17338 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
17339 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
17340 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
17342 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
17343 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
17344 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
17345 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
17346 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
17347 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
17348 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
17350 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
17351 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
17353 @code{nnvirtual} groups do not inherit anything but articles and marks
17354 from component groups---group parameters, for instance, are not
17358 @node Kibozed Groups
17359 @subsection Kibozed Groups
17363 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by the @acronym{OED} as ``grepping through
17364 (parts of) the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a back end that will
17365 do this for you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @acronym{NNTP} server
17366 down to a halt with useless requests! Oh happiness!
17368 @kindex G k (Group)
17369 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
17372 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
17373 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
17374 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between
17375 @code{nnkiboze} and @code{nnvirtual} end.
17377 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an
17378 @code{nnkiboze} group must have a score file to say what articles are
17379 to be included in the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
17381 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
17382 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
17383 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
17384 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time.
17385 Lots of time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the
17386 headers from all the articles in all the component groups and run them
17387 through the scoring process to determine if there are any articles in
17388 the groups that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
17390 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
17391 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
17392 @acronym{NNTP} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
17393 Stranger things have happened.
17395 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
17396 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
17398 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
17399 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
17400 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/kiboze/} by default.
17401 One contains the @acronym{NOV} header lines for all the articles in
17402 the group, and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store
17403 information on what groups have been searched through to find
17404 component articles.
17406 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
17407 their @acronym{NOV} lines removed from the @acronym{NOV} file.
17410 @node Gnus Unplugged
17411 @section Gnus Unplugged
17416 @cindex Gnus unplugged
17418 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
17419 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
17420 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
17421 read news. Believe it or not.
17423 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
17424 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
17425 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
17426 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
17427 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
17429 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
17430 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
17431 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
17432 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
17433 reading news on a machine.
17435 Setting up Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple. In
17436 fact, you don't have to configure anything as the agent is now enabled
17437 by default (@pxref{Agent Variables, gnus-agent}).
17439 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
17442 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
17443 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
17444 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
17445 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
17446 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
17447 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
17448 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
17449 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
17450 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
17451 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
17452 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
17453 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
17454 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
17459 @subsection Agent Basics
17461 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
17463 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
17464 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
17465 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
17466 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
17468 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
17469 connected to the net continuously.
17471 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
17472 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
17474 You know that Gnus gives you all the opportunity you'd ever want for
17475 shooting yourself in the foot. Some people call it flexibility. Gnus
17476 is also customizable to a great extent, which means that the user has a
17477 say on how Gnus behaves. Other newsreaders might unconditionally shoot
17478 you in your foot, but with Gnus, you have a choice!
17480 Gnus is never really in plugged or unplugged state. Rather, it applies
17481 that state to each server individually. This means that some servers
17482 can be plugged while others can be unplugged. Additionally, some
17483 servers can be ignored by the Agent altogether (which means that
17484 they're kinda like plugged always).
17486 So when you unplug the Agent and then wonder why is Gnus opening a
17487 connection to the Net, the next step to do is to look whether all
17488 servers are agentized. If there is an unagentized server, you found
17491 Another thing is the @dfn{offline} state. Sometimes, servers aren't
17492 reachable. When Gnus notices this, it asks you whether you want the
17493 server to be switched to offline state. If you say yes, then the
17494 server will behave somewhat as if it was unplugged, except that Gnus
17495 will ask you whether you want to switch it back online again.
17497 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
17502 @findex gnus-unplugged
17503 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
17504 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
17505 already fetched while in this mode.
17508 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
17509 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
17510 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
17511 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode (@pxref{Mail
17512 Source Specifiers}).
17515 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the
17516 news onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press
17517 @kbd{g} to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J s} to fetch
17518 all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus know which
17519 articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}).
17522 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
17523 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
17524 then you read the news offline.
17527 And then you go to step 2.
17530 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
17536 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
17537 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
17538 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
17539 @kbd{J a} on the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
17540 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}), or @kbd{J r} on automatically
17541 added servers you do not wish to have covered by the Agent. By default,
17542 all @code{nntp} and @code{nnimap} servers in @code{gnus-select-method} and
17543 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} are agentized.
17546 Decide on download policy. It's fairly simple once you decide whether
17547 you are going to use agent categories, topic parameters, and/or group
17548 parameters to implement your policy. If you're new to gnus, it
17549 is probably best to start with a category, @xref{Agent Categories}.
17551 Both topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) and agent categories
17552 (@pxref{Agent Categories}) provide for setting a policy that applies
17553 to multiple groups. Which you use is entirely up to you. Topic
17554 parameters do override categories so, if you mix the two, you'll have
17555 to take that into account. If you have a few groups that deviate from
17556 your policy, you can use group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to
17560 Uhm@dots{} that's it.
17564 @node Agent Categories
17565 @subsection Agent Categories
17567 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
17568 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
17569 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
17570 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
17571 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
17572 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
17573 you're interested in the articles anyway.
17575 One of the more effective methods for controlling what is to be
17576 downloaded is to create a @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all)
17577 groups to this category. Groups that do not belong in any other
17578 category belong to the @code{default} category. Gnus has its own
17579 buffer for creating and managing categories.
17581 If you prefer, you can also use group parameters (@pxref{Group
17582 Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) for an
17583 alternative approach to controlling the agent. The only real
17584 difference is that categories are specific to the agent (so there is
17585 less to learn) while group and topic parameters include the kitchen
17588 Since you can set agent parameters in several different places we have
17589 a rule to decide which source to believe. This rule specifies that
17590 the parameter sources are checked in the following order: group
17591 parameters, topic parameters, agent category, and finally customizable
17592 variables. So you can mix all of these sources to produce a wide range
17593 of behavior, just don't blame me if you don't remember where you put
17597 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
17598 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
17599 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
17603 @node Category Syntax
17604 @subsubsection Category Syntax
17606 A category consists of a name, the list of groups belonging to the
17607 category, and a number of optional parameters that override the
17608 customizable variables. The complete list of agent parameters are
17611 @cindex Agent Parameters
17613 @item agent-cat-name
17614 The name of the category.
17617 The list of groups that are in this category.
17619 @item agent-predicate
17620 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
17621 are eligible for downloading; and
17623 @item agent-score-file
17624 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
17625 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
17626 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
17628 @item agent-enable-expiration
17629 a boolean indicating whether the agent should expire old articles in
17630 this group. Most groups should be expired to conserve disk space. In
17631 fact, its probably safe to say that the gnus.* hierarchy contains the
17632 only groups that should not be expired.
17634 @item agent-days-until-old
17635 an integer indicating the number of days that the agent should wait
17636 before deciding that a read article is safe to expire.
17638 @item agent-low-score
17639 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-low-score}.
17641 @item agent-high-score
17642 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-high-score}.
17644 @item agent-length-when-short
17645 an integer that overrides the value of
17646 @code{gnus-agent-short-article}.
17648 @item agent-length-when-long
17649 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-long-article}.
17651 @item agent-enable-undownloaded-faces
17652 a symbol indicating whether the summary buffer should display
17653 undownloaded articles using the gnus-summary-*-undownloaded-face
17654 faces. Any symbol other than nil will enable the use of undownloaded
17658 The name of a category can not be changed once the category has been
17661 Each category maintains a list of groups that are exclusive members of
17662 that category. The exclusivity rule is automatically enforced, add a
17663 group to a new category and it is automatically removed from its old
17666 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
17667 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
17668 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
17669 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
17671 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
17672 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
17673 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
17675 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
17676 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
17677 operators sprinkled in between.
17679 Perhaps some examples are in order.
17681 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
17682 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
17688 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
17689 short (for some value of ``short'').
17691 Here's a more complex predicate:
17700 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
17701 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
17704 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
17705 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
17706 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
17708 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
17709 you want to do, you can write your own.
17711 When evaluating each of these predicates, the named constant will be
17712 bound to the value determined by calling
17713 @code{gnus-agent-find-parameter} on the appropriate parameter. For
17714 example, gnus-agent-short-article will be bound to
17715 @code{(gnus-agent-find-parameter group 'agent-short-article)}. This
17716 means that you can specify a predicate in your category then tune that
17717 predicate to individual groups.
17721 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
17722 lines; default 100.
17725 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
17726 lines; default 200.
17729 True iff the article has a download score less than
17730 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
17733 True iff the article has a download score greater than
17734 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
17737 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
17738 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
17739 checksum and sees whether articles match.
17748 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
17749 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
17750 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
17753 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
17754 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
17755 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
17756 something along the lines of the following:
17759 (defun my-article-old-p ()
17760 "Say whether an article is old."
17761 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
17762 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
17765 with the predicate then defined as:
17768 (not my-article-old-p)
17771 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
17772 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
17776 (require 'gnus-agent)
17777 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
17778 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
17779 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
17782 and simply specify your predicate as:
17788 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
17789 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
17790 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
17791 just don't give a damn.
17793 The above predicates apply to @emph{all} the groups which belong to the
17794 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
17795 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
17796 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in its group
17797 parameters like so:
17800 (agent-predicate . short)
17803 This is the group/topic parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
17804 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
17805 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
17807 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
17810 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
17813 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
17814 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
17815 predicate is assumed to be a list.
17818 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
17819 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
17820 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
17821 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
17822 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
17823 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
17825 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
17826 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
17827 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
17828 if it's to be specific to that group.
17830 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
17837 This has the same syntax as a normal Gnus score file except only a
17838 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
17844 Category specification
17848 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
17854 Group/Topic Parameter specification
17857 (agent-score ("from"
17858 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
17863 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
17869 These score files must @emph{only} contain the permitted scoring
17870 keywords stated above.
17876 Category specification
17879 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
17885 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
17889 Group Parameter specification
17892 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
17895 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
17900 Use @code{normal} score files
17902 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
17903 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
17904 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
17905 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
17907 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
17908 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
17909 files for a group, @emph{filtering out} those sections that do not
17910 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
17914 Category Specification
17921 Group Parameter specification
17924 (agent-score . file)
17929 @node Category Buffer
17930 @subsubsection Category Buffer
17932 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
17933 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
17934 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
17936 The following commands are available in this buffer:
17940 @kindex q (Category)
17941 @findex gnus-category-exit
17942 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
17945 @kindex e (Category)
17946 @findex gnus-category-customize-category
17947 Use a customization buffer to set all of the selected category's
17948 parameters at one time (@code{gnus-category-customize-category}).
17951 @kindex k (Category)
17952 @findex gnus-category-kill
17953 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
17956 @kindex c (Category)
17957 @findex gnus-category-copy
17958 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
17961 @kindex a (Category)
17962 @findex gnus-category-add
17963 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
17966 @kindex p (Category)
17967 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
17968 Edit the predicate of the current category
17969 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
17972 @kindex g (Category)
17973 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
17974 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
17975 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
17978 @kindex s (Category)
17979 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
17980 Edit the download score rule of the current category
17981 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
17984 @kindex l (Category)
17985 @findex gnus-category-list
17986 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
17990 @node Category Variables
17991 @subsubsection Category Variables
17994 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
17995 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
17996 Hook run in category buffers.
17998 @item gnus-category-line-format
17999 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
18000 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
18001 Variables}). Valid elements are:
18005 The name of the category.
18008 The number of groups in the category.
18011 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
18012 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
18013 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
18015 @item gnus-agent-short-article
18016 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
18017 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
18019 @item gnus-agent-long-article
18020 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
18021 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
18023 @item gnus-agent-low-score
18024 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
18025 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
18028 @item gnus-agent-high-score
18029 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
18030 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
18033 @item gnus-agent-expire-days
18034 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
18035 The number of days that a @samp{read} article must stay in the agent's
18036 local disk before becoming eligible for expiration (While the name is
18037 the same, this doesn't mean expiring the article on the server. It
18038 just means deleting the local copy of the article). What is also
18039 important to understand is that the counter starts with the time the
18040 article was written to the local disk and not the time the article was
18044 @item gnus-agent-enable-expiration
18045 @vindex gnus-agent-enable-expiration
18046 Determines whether articles in a group are, by default, expired or
18047 retained indefinitely. The default is @code{ENABLE} which means that
18048 you'll have to disable expiration when desired. On the other hand,
18049 you could set this to @code{DISABLE}. In that case, you would then
18050 have to enable expiration in selected groups.
18055 @node Agent Commands
18056 @subsection Agent Commands
18057 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-plugged
18058 @kindex J j (Agent)
18060 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
18061 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
18062 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
18066 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
18067 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
18068 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
18074 @node Group Agent Commands
18075 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
18079 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
18080 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
18081 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
18082 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
18085 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
18086 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
18087 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
18090 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
18091 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
18092 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
18093 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
18096 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
18097 @findex gnus-group-send-queue
18098 Send all sendable messages in the queue group
18099 (@code{gnus-group-send-queue}). @xref{Drafts}.
18102 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
18103 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
18104 Add the current group to an Agent category
18105 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
18106 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
18109 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
18110 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
18111 Remove the current group from its category, if any
18112 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
18113 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
18116 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
18117 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
18118 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
18124 @node Summary Agent Commands
18125 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
18129 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
18130 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
18131 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
18134 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
18135 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
18136 Remove the downloading mark from the article
18137 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
18141 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
18142 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
18143 Toggle whether to download the article
18144 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}). The download mark is @samp{%} by
18148 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
18149 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
18150 Mark all articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}) that are neither cached, downloaded, nor downloadable.
18153 @kindex J S (Agent Summary)
18154 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-group
18155 Download all eligible (@pxref{Agent Categories}) articles in this group.
18156 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-group}).
18159 @kindex J s (Agent Summary)
18160 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-series
18161 Download all processable articles in this group.
18162 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-series}).
18165 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
18166 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
18167 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
18168 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
18173 @node Server Agent Commands
18174 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
18178 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
18179 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
18180 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
18181 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
18184 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
18185 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
18186 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
18187 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
18192 @node Agent Visuals
18193 @subsection Agent Visuals
18195 If you open a summary while unplugged and, Gnus knows from the group's
18196 active range that there are more articles than the headers currently
18197 stored in the Agent, you may see some articles whose subject looks
18198 something like @samp{[Undownloaded article #####]}. These are
18199 placeholders for the missing headers. Aside from setting a mark,
18200 there is not much that can be done with one of these placeholders.
18201 When Gnus finally gets a chance to fetch the group's headers, the
18202 placeholders will automatically be replaced by the actual headers.
18203 You can configure the summary buffer's maneuvering to skip over the
18204 placeholders if you care (See @code{gnus-auto-goto-ignores}).
18206 While it may be obvious to all, the only headers and articles
18207 available while unplugged are those headers and articles that were
18208 fetched into the Agent while previously plugged. To put it another
18209 way, "If you forget to fetch something while plugged, you might have a
18210 less than satisfying unplugged session". For this reason, the Agent
18211 adds two visual effects to your summary buffer. These effects display
18212 the download status of each article so that you always know which
18213 articles will be available when unplugged.
18215 The first visual effect is the @samp{%O} spec. If you customize
18216 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} to include this specifier, you will add
18217 a single character field that indicates an article's download status.
18218 Articles that have been fetched into either the Agent or the Cache,
18219 will display @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} (defaults to @samp{+}). All
18220 other articles will display @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} (defaults to
18221 @samp{-}). If you open a group that has not been agentized, a space
18222 (@samp{ }) will be displayed.
18224 The second visual effect are the undownloaded faces. The faces, there
18225 are three indicating the article's score (low, normal, high), seem to
18226 result in a love/hate response from many Gnus users. The problem is
18227 that the face selection is controlled by a list of condition tests and
18228 face names (See @code{gnus-summary-highlight}). Each condition is
18229 tested in the order in which it appears in the list so early
18230 conditions have precedence over later conditions. All of this means
18231 that, if you tick an undownloaded article, the article will continue
18232 to be displayed in the undownloaded face rather than the ticked face.
18234 If you use the Agent as a cache (to avoid downloading the same article
18235 each time you visit it or to minimize your connection time), the
18236 undownloaded face will probably seem like a good idea. The reason
18237 being that you do all of our work (marking, reading, deleting) with
18238 downloaded articles so the normal faces always appear. For those
18239 users using the agent to improve online performance by caching the NOV
18240 database (most users since 5.10.2), the undownloaded faces may appear
18241 to be an absolutely horrible idea. The issue being that, since none
18242 of their articles have been fetched into the Agent, all of the
18243 normal faces will be obscured by the undownloaded faces.
18245 If you would like to use the undownloaded faces, you must enable the
18246 undownloaded faces by setting the @code{agent-enable-undownloaded-faces}
18247 group parameter to t. This parameter, like all other agent
18248 parameters, may be set on an Agent Category (@pxref{Agent
18249 Categories}), a Group Topic (@pxref{Topic Parameters}), or an
18250 individual group (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
18252 @node Agent as Cache
18253 @subsection Agent as Cache
18255 When Gnus is plugged, it is not efficient to download headers or
18256 articles from the server again, if they are already stored in the
18257 Agent. So, Gnus normally only downloads headers once, and stores them
18258 in the Agent. These headers are later used when generating the summary
18259 buffer, regardless of whether you are plugged or unplugged. Articles
18260 are not cached in the Agent by default though (that would potentially
18261 consume lots of disk space), but if you have already downloaded an
18262 article into the Agent, Gnus will not download the article from the
18263 server again but use the locally stored copy instead.
18265 If you so desire, you can configure the agent (see @code{gnus-agent-cache}
18266 @pxref{Agent Variables}) to always download headers and articles while
18267 plugged. Gnus will almost certainly be slower, but it will be kept
18268 synchronized with the server. That last point probably won't make any
18269 sense if you are using a nntp or nnimap back end.
18272 @subsection Agent Expiry
18274 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
18275 @findex gnus-agent-expire
18276 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
18277 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire-group
18278 @findex gnus-agent-expire-group
18279 @cindex agent expiry
18280 @cindex Gnus agent expiry
18283 The Agent back end, @code{nnagent}, doesn't handle expiry. Well, at
18284 least it doesn't handle it like other back ends. Instead, there are
18285 special @code{gnus-agent-expire} and @code{gnus-agent-expire-group}
18286 commands that will expire all read articles that are older than
18287 @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. They can be run whenever you feel
18288 that you're running out of space. Neither are particularly fast or
18289 efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to interrupt them (with
18290 @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started one of them.
18292 Note that other functions, e.g. @code{gnus-request-expire-articles},
18293 might run @code{gnus-agent-expire} for you to keep the agent
18294 synchronized with the group.
18296 The agent parameter @code{agent-enable-expiration} may be used to
18297 prevent expiration in selected groups.
18299 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
18300 If @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, the agent
18301 expiration commands will expire all articles---unread, read, ticked
18302 and dormant. If @code{nil} (which is the default), only read articles
18303 are eligible for expiry, and unread, ticked and dormant articles will
18304 be kept indefinitely.
18306 If you find that some articles eligible for expiry are never expired,
18307 perhaps some Gnus Agent files are corrupted. There's are special
18308 commands, @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} and
18309 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group}, to fix possible problems.
18311 @node Agent Regeneration
18312 @subsection Agent Regeneration
18314 @cindex agent regeneration
18315 @cindex Gnus agent regeneration
18316 @cindex regeneration
18318 The local data structures used by @code{nnagent} may become corrupted
18319 due to certain exceptional conditions. When this happens,
18320 @code{nnagent} functionality may degrade or even fail. The solution
18321 to this problem is to repair the local data structures by removing all
18322 internal inconsistencies.
18324 For example, if your connection to your server is lost while
18325 downloaded articles into the agent, the local data structures will not
18326 know about articles successfully downloaded prior to the connection
18327 failure. Running @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} or
18328 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} will update the data structures
18329 such that you don't need to download these articles a second time.
18331 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate
18332 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate
18333 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} will perform
18334 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} on every agentized group. While
18335 you can run @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} in any buffer, it is strongly
18336 recommended that you first close all summary buffers.
18338 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate-group
18339 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate-group
18340 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} uses the local copies
18341 of individual articles to repair the local @acronym{NOV}(header) database. It
18342 then updates the internal data structures that document which articles
18343 are stored locally. An optional argument will mark articles in the
18346 @node Agent and IMAP
18347 @subsection Agent and IMAP
18349 The Agent works with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
18350 since there are some conceptual differences between @acronym{NNTP} and
18351 @acronym{IMAP}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
18352 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @acronym{IMAP} Disconnected Mode client.
18354 The first thing to keep in mind is that all flags (read, ticked, etc)
18355 are kept on the @acronym{IMAP} server, rather than in @file{.newsrc} as is the
18356 case for nntp. Thus Gnus need to remember flag changes when
18357 disconnected, and synchronize these flags when you plug back in.
18359 Gnus keeps track of flag changes when reading nnimap groups under the
18360 Agent. When you plug back in, Gnus will check if you have any changed
18361 any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these with the server.
18362 The behavior is customizable by @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
18364 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
18365 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
18366 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
18367 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
18368 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
18369 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
18371 If you do not wish to synchronize flags automatically when you
18372 re-connect, you can do it manually with the
18373 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
18374 in the group buffer.
18376 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
18377 expect from a disconnected @acronym{IMAP} client, including:
18382 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
18385 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
18389 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by ``pushing''
18390 all local flags to the server, but rather incrementally update the
18391 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
18392 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on an article, quit the group and
18393 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
18394 removed from the server when you ``synchronize''. The queued flag
18395 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
18396 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
18399 @node Outgoing Messages
18400 @subsection Outgoing Messages
18402 By default, when Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail
18403 and news) are stored in the draft group ``queue'' (@pxref{Drafts}).
18404 You can view them there after posting, and edit them at will.
18406 You can control the circumstances under which outgoing mail is queued
18407 (see @code{gnus-agent-queue-mail}, @pxref{Agent Variables}). Outgoing
18408 news is always queued when Gnus is unplugged, and never otherwise.
18410 You can send the messages either from the draft group with the special
18411 commands available there, or you can use the @kbd{J S} command in the
18412 group buffer to send all the sendable messages in the draft group.
18413 Posting news will only work when Gnus is plugged, but you can send
18416 If sending mail while unplugged does not work for you and you worry
18417 about hitting @kbd{J S} by accident when unplugged, you can have Gnus
18418 ask you to confirm your action (see
18419 @code{gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue}, @pxref{Agent Variables}).
18421 @node Agent Variables
18422 @subsection Agent Variables
18427 Is the agent enabled? The default is @code{t}. When first enabled,
18428 the agent will use @code{gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods} to
18429 automatically mark some backends as agentized. You may change which
18430 backends are agentized using the agent commands in the server buffer.
18432 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
18433 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
18436 @item gnus-agent-directory
18437 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
18438 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
18439 @file{~/News/agent/}.
18441 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
18442 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
18443 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
18444 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
18445 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
18448 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
18449 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
18450 Hook run when connecting to the network.
18452 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
18453 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
18454 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
18456 @item gnus-agent-fetched-hook
18457 @vindex gnus-agent-fetched-hook
18458 Hook run when finished fetching articles.
18460 @item gnus-agent-cache
18461 @vindex gnus-agent-cache
18462 Variable to control whether use the locally stored @acronym{NOV} and
18463 articles when plugged, e.g. essentially using the Agent as a cache.
18464 The default is non-@code{nil}, which means to use the Agent as a cache.
18466 @item gnus-agent-go-online
18467 @vindex gnus-agent-go-online
18468 If @code{gnus-agent-go-online} is @code{nil}, the Agent will never
18469 automatically switch offline servers into online status. If it is
18470 @code{ask}, the default, the Agent will ask if you wish to switch
18471 offline servers into online status when you re-connect. If it has any
18472 other value, all offline servers will be automatically switched into
18475 @item gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
18476 @vindex gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
18477 If @code{gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded} is non-@code{nil},
18478 mark articles as unread after downloading. This is usually a safe
18479 thing to do as the newly downloaded article has obviously not been
18480 read. The default is t.
18482 @item gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
18483 @vindex gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
18484 If @code{gnus-agent-consider-all-articles} is non-@code{nil}, the
18485 agent will let the agent predicate decide whether articles need to be
18486 downloaded or not, for all articles. When @code{nil}, the default,
18487 the agent will only let the predicate decide whether unread articles
18488 are downloaded or not. If you enable this, you may also want to look
18489 into the agent expiry settings (@pxref{Category Variables}), so that
18490 the agent doesn't download articles which the agent will later expire,
18491 over and over again.
18493 @item gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
18494 @vindex gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
18495 The agent fetches articles into a temporary buffer prior to parsing
18496 them into individual files. To avoid exceeding the max. buffer size,
18497 the agent alternates between fetching and parsing until all articles
18498 have been fetched. @code{gnus-agent-max-fetch-size} provides a size
18499 limit to control how often the cycling occurs. A large value improves
18500 performance. A small value minimizes the time lost should the
18501 connection be lost while fetching (You may need to run
18502 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} to update the group's state.
18503 However, all articles parsed prior to loosing the connection will be
18504 available while unplugged). The default is 10M so it is unusual to
18507 @item gnus-server-unopen-status
18508 @vindex gnus-server-unopen-status
18509 Perhaps not an Agent variable, but closely related to the Agent, this
18510 variable says what will happen if Gnus cannot open a server. If the
18511 Agent is enabled, the default, @code{nil}, makes Gnus ask the user
18512 whether to deny the server or whether to unplug the agent. If the
18513 Agent is disabled, Gnus always simply deny the server. Other choices
18514 for this variable include @code{denied} and @code{offline} the latter
18515 is only valid if the Agent is used.
18517 @item gnus-auto-goto-ignores
18518 @vindex gnus-auto-goto-ignores
18519 Another variable that isn't an Agent variable, yet so closely related
18520 that most will look for it here, this variable tells the summary
18521 buffer how to maneuver around undownloaded (only headers stored in the
18522 agent) and unfetched (neither article nor headers stored) articles.
18524 The legal values are @code{nil} (maneuver to any article),
18525 @code{undownloaded} (maneuvering while unplugged ignores articles that
18526 have not been fetched), @code{always-undownloaded} (maneuvering always
18527 ignores articles that have not been fetched), @code{unfetched}
18528 (maneuvering ignores articles whose headers have not been fetched).
18530 @item gnus-agent-queue-mail
18531 @vindex gnus-agent-queue-mail
18532 When @code{gnus-agent-queue-mail} is @code{always}, Gnus will always
18533 queue mail rather than sending it straight away. When @code{t}, Gnus
18534 will queue mail when unplugged only. When @code{nil}, never queue
18535 mail. The default is @code{t}.
18537 @item gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue
18538 @vindex gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue
18539 When @code{gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue} is non-@code{nil} Gnus will
18540 prompt you to confirm that you really wish to proceed if you hit
18541 @kbd{J S} while unplugged. The default is @code{nil}.
18543 @item gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods
18544 @vindex gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods
18545 If you have never used the Agent before (or more technically, if
18546 @file{~/News/agent/lib/servers} does not exist), Gnus will
18547 automatically agentize a few servers for you. This variable control
18548 which backends should be auto-agentized. It is typically only useful
18549 to agentize remote backends. The auto-agentizing has the same effect
18550 as running @kbd{J a} on the servers (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}).
18551 If the file exist, you must manage the servers manually by adding or
18552 removing them, this variable is only applicable the first time you
18553 start Gnus. The default is @samp{(nntp nnimap)}.
18558 @node Example Setup
18559 @subsection Example Setup
18561 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
18562 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
18563 @file{~/.gnus.el} file to get started.
18566 ;;; @r{Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @acronym{NNTP}}
18567 ;;; @r{from your ISP's server.}
18568 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
18570 ;;; @r{Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from}
18571 ;;; @r{your ISP's @acronym{POP} server.}
18572 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
18574 ;;; @r{Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.}
18575 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
18577 ;;; @r{Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.}
18578 ;;; (gnus-agentize) ; @r{The obsolete setting.}
18579 ;;; (setq gnus-agent t) ; @r{Now the default.}
18582 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
18583 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
18586 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
18587 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
18588 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
18589 @acronym{NNTP} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
18590 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
18593 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
18594 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
18595 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
18596 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
18597 back all the killed groups.)
18599 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
18600 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
18601 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
18604 @node Batching Agents
18605 @subsection Batching Agents
18606 @findex gnus-agent-batch
18608 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
18609 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
18610 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
18612 You can run a complete batch command from the command line with the
18613 following incantation:
18617 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null 2>&1
18621 @node Agent Caveats
18622 @subsection Agent Caveats
18624 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
18625 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
18629 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the Agent?
18631 @strong{No}. If you want this behaviour, add
18632 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} to
18633 @code{gnus-select-article-hook}.
18635 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists in
18636 the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
18638 @strong{No}, unless @code{gnus-agent-cache} is @code{nil}.
18642 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
18643 articles; when it's plugged, it talks to your ISP and may also use the
18644 locally stored articles.
18651 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
18652 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
18653 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
18656 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
18657 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
18658 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
18659 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
18660 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
18662 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
18663 before generating the summary buffer.
18665 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
18666 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
18667 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
18669 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
18670 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
18671 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
18672 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
18675 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
18676 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
18677 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
18678 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
18679 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
18680 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
18681 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
18682 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
18683 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
18684 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
18685 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
18686 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
18687 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
18688 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
18689 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
18690 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
18694 @node Summary Score Commands
18695 @section Summary Score Commands
18696 @cindex score commands
18698 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
18699 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
18700 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
18701 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
18702 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
18704 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
18705 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
18706 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
18707 score file the current one.
18709 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
18714 @kindex V s (Summary)
18715 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
18716 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
18719 @kindex V S (Summary)
18720 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
18721 Display the score of the current article
18722 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
18725 @kindex V t (Summary)
18726 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
18727 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
18728 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}). In the @code{*Score Trace*} buffer, you
18729 may type @kbd{e} to edit score file corresponding to the score rule on
18730 current line and @kbd{f} to format (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) the
18731 score file and edit it.
18734 @kindex V w (Summary)
18735 @findex gnus-score-find-favourite-words
18736 List words used in scoring (@code{gnus-score-find-favourite-words}).
18739 @kindex V R (Summary)
18740 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
18741 Run the current summary through the scoring process
18742 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
18743 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
18744 effect you're having.
18747 @kindex V c (Summary)
18748 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
18749 Make a different score file the current
18750 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
18753 @kindex V e (Summary)
18754 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
18755 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
18756 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
18760 @kindex V f (Summary)
18761 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
18762 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
18763 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
18766 @kindex V F (Summary)
18767 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
18768 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
18769 after editing score files.
18772 @kindex V C (Summary)
18773 @findex gnus-score-customize
18774 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
18775 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
18779 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
18784 @kindex V m (Summary)
18785 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
18786 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
18787 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
18790 @kindex V x (Summary)
18791 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
18792 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
18793 expunge all articles below this score
18794 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
18797 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
18798 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
18801 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
18802 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
18806 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
18807 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
18809 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
18810 keys are available:
18814 Score on the author name.
18817 Score on the subject line.
18820 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
18823 Score on the @code{References} line.
18829 Score on the number of lines.
18832 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
18835 Score on an ``extra'' header, that is, one of those in gnus-extra-headers,
18836 if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks additional header data in overviews.
18839 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
18840 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
18841 @file{ADAPT} files.)
18850 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
18856 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
18857 what headers you are scoring on.
18869 Substring matching.
18872 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
18901 Greater than number.
18906 The fourth and usually final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e.,
18907 expiring) score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry,
18908 or whether it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score
18913 Temporary score entry.
18916 Permanent score entry.
18919 Immediately scoring.
18923 If you are scoring on `e' (extra) headers, you will then be prompted for
18924 the header name on which you wish to score. This must be a header named
18925 in gnus-extra-headers, and @samp{TAB} completion is available.
18929 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
18930 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
18931 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
18932 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
18934 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
18935 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
18936 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
18937 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
18938 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
18940 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
18941 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
18942 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
18943 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
18944 current score file.
18946 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
18947 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
18948 pretend they are keymaps or not.
18951 @node Group Score Commands
18952 @section Group Score Commands
18953 @cindex group score commands
18955 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
18960 @kindex W e (Group)
18961 @findex gnus-score-edit-all-score
18962 Edit the apply-to-all-groups all.SCORE file. You will be popped into
18963 a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score File Editing}).
18966 @kindex W f (Group)
18967 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
18968 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
18969 all the time. This command will flush the cache
18970 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
18974 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
18976 @findex gnus-batch-score
18977 @cindex batch scoring
18979 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
18983 @node Score Variables
18984 @section Score Variables
18985 @cindex score variables
18989 @item gnus-use-scoring
18990 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
18991 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
18992 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
18994 @item gnus-kill-killed
18995 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
18996 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
18997 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
18998 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
18999 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
19000 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
19001 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
19003 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
19004 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
19005 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
19006 initialized from the @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
19007 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
19009 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
19010 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
19011 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
19012 (@file{SCORE} by default.)
19014 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
19015 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
19016 @cindex score cache
19017 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
19018 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
19019 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely
19020 to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
19021 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
19022 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
19023 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
19026 @item gnus-save-score
19027 @vindex gnus-save-score
19028 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
19029 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
19030 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
19032 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
19033 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
19034 across group visits.
19036 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
19037 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
19038 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
19039 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
19040 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
19041 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
19042 manually entered data.
19044 @item gnus-summary-default-score
19045 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
19046 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
19048 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
19049 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
19050 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
19051 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
19052 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
19053 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
19055 @item gnus-score-over-mark
19056 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
19057 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
19058 default. Default is @samp{+}.
19060 @item gnus-score-below-mark
19061 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
19062 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
19063 default. Default is @samp{-}.
19065 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
19066 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
19067 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
19068 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
19070 Predefined functions available are:
19073 @item gnus-score-find-single
19074 @findex gnus-score-find-single
19075 Only apply the group's own score file.
19077 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
19078 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
19079 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
19080 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
19081 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
19082 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
19083 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
19084 then a regexp match is done.
19086 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
19087 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
19089 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
19090 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
19091 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
19092 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
19094 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
19095 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
19096 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
19097 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
19098 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
19102 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
19103 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
19104 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
19105 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
19106 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
19107 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
19108 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
19111 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
19112 overall score file, you could use the value
19114 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
19115 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
19118 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
19119 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
19120 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
19121 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
19122 are expired. It's 7 by default.
19124 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
19125 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
19126 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, temporary score entries that have
19127 been triggered (matched) will have their dates updated. (This is how Gnus
19128 controls expiry---all non-matched-entries will become too old while
19129 matched entries will stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this
19130 variable to @code{nil}, even matched entries will grow old and will
19131 have to face that oh-so grim reaper.
19133 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
19134 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
19135 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
19137 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
19138 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
19139 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be
19140 simplified for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
19141 threading---according to the current value of
19142 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions}. If the scoring entry uses
19143 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
19144 simplified in this manner.
19149 @node Score File Format
19150 @section Score File Format
19151 @cindex score file format
19153 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
19154 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
19155 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
19157 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
19161 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
19163 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
19165 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
19167 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
19172 (mark-and-expunge -10)
19176 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
19177 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
19178 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
19179 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
19183 This example demonstrates most score file elements. @xref{Advanced
19184 Scoring}, for a different approach.
19186 Even though this looks much like Lisp code, nothing here is actually
19187 @code{eval}ed. The Lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
19188 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
19190 Six keys are supported by this alist:
19195 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
19196 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
19197 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
19198 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
19199 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
19200 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
19201 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
19202 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
19203 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
19204 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
19205 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
19206 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
19207 to articles that matches these score entries.
19209 Following this key is an arbitrary number of score entries, where each
19210 score entry has one to four elements.
19214 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
19215 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
19219 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
19220 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
19221 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
19222 is successful. If this element is not present, the
19223 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
19224 instead. This is 1000 by default.
19227 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
19228 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
19229 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
19230 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
19231 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
19234 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
19235 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
19236 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
19237 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
19240 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
19241 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
19242 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
19243 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
19244 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
19245 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
19246 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
19247 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
19248 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
19249 instead, if you feel like.
19252 Just as for the standard string overview headers, if you are using
19253 gnus-extra-headers, you can score on these headers' values. In this
19254 case, there is a 5th element in the score entry, being the name of the
19255 header to be scored. The following entry is useful in your
19256 @file{all.SCORE} file in case of spam attacks from a single origin
19257 host, if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks @samp{NNTP-Posting-Host} in
19261 ("111.222.333.444" -1000 nil s
19262 "NNTP-Posting-Host")
19266 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
19267 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
19269 These predicates are true if
19272 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
19275 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
19276 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
19283 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
19284 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
19285 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
19286 it's not. I think.)
19288 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
19289 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
19290 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
19291 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
19294 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
19295 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
19296 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
19297 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
19298 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
19299 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
19300 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
19304 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
19305 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
19306 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
19307 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
19308 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
19309 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
19310 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
19311 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
19314 @item Head, Body, All
19315 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
19319 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
19320 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
19321 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
19322 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
19323 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
19324 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
19325 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
19329 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
19330 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
19331 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
19332 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
19333 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
19334 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
19335 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
19336 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
19337 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
19338 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
19339 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
19343 @cindex score file atoms
19345 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
19346 lower than this number will be marked as read.
19349 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
19350 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
19352 @item mark-and-expunge
19353 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
19354 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
19357 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
19358 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
19359 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
19360 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
19361 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
19364 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
19365 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
19368 @item exclude-files
19369 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
19370 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
19374 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
19375 ignored when handling global score files.
19378 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
19379 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
19380 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
19381 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
19384 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
19385 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
19386 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
19387 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
19389 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
19393 (mark-and-expunge -100)
19396 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
19397 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
19398 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
19399 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
19400 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
19402 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
19403 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
19404 scoring rules exist.
19407 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
19408 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
19409 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
19410 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
19411 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
19412 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
19413 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
19414 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
19415 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
19416 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
19417 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
19421 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
19422 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
19423 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
19424 file for a number of groups.
19427 @cindex local variables
19428 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(@var{var}
19429 @var{value})} pairs. Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the
19430 current summary buffer, and set to the value specified. This is a
19431 convenient, if somewhat strange, way of setting variables in some
19432 groups if you don't like hooks much. Note that the @var{value} won't
19437 @node Score File Editing
19438 @section Score File Editing
19440 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
19441 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
19442 with a mode for that.
19444 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
19445 additional commands:
19450 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
19451 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
19452 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
19453 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
19456 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
19457 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
19458 Insert the current date in numerical format
19459 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
19460 you were wondering.
19463 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
19464 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
19465 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
19466 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
19467 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
19472 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
19474 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
19475 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
19477 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f}, @kbd{V e} and
19478 @kbd{V t} to begin editing score files.
19481 @node Adaptive Scoring
19482 @section Adaptive Scoring
19483 @cindex adaptive scoring
19485 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
19486 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
19487 stupidity, to be precise.
19489 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
19490 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
19491 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
19492 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
19493 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
19494 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
19495 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
19496 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
19497 variable to @code{(word line)}.
19499 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
19500 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
19501 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
19502 might look something like this:
19505 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
19506 '((gnus-unread-mark)
19507 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
19508 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
19509 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
19510 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
19511 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
19512 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
19513 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
19514 (gnus-ancient-mark)
19515 (gnus-low-score-mark)
19516 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
19519 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
19520 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
19521 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
19522 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
19523 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
19524 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
19527 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
19528 will be applied to each article.
19530 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
19531 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{e}) will have a
19532 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
19533 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
19535 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
19536 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
19537 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
19538 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
19540 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
19541 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
19542 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
19543 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
19545 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
19546 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
19547 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
19548 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
19549 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
19550 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
19552 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
19553 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
19554 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
19556 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
19557 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
19558 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
19560 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
19561 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
19562 let you use different rules in different groups.
19564 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
19565 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
19566 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
19569 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
19570 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
19571 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
19572 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
19573 the length of the match is less than
19574 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
19575 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
19578 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
19579 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
19580 headers. If you adapt on words, the
19581 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
19582 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
19585 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
19586 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
19587 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
19588 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
19589 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
19592 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
19593 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
19594 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
19595 score with 30 points.
19597 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
19598 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
19599 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
19600 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
19601 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
19603 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
19604 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
19605 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
19606 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
19607 variable defaults to @code{nil}.
19609 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
19610 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
19611 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
19612 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
19614 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
19615 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
19616 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
19617 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
19619 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
19620 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
19621 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
19622 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
19623 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
19625 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
19626 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
19627 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
19629 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
19630 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
19631 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
19632 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
19635 @node Home Score File
19636 @section Home Score File
19638 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
19639 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
19640 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
19641 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
19643 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
19644 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
19645 could perhaps use the same home score file.
19647 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
19648 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
19653 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
19657 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
19658 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
19662 A list. The elements in this list can be:
19666 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
19667 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
19670 A function. If the function returns non-@code{nil}, the result will
19671 be used as the home score file.
19674 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
19677 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
19682 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
19685 (setq gnus-home-score-file
19686 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
19689 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
19690 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
19692 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
19694 (setq gnus-home-score-file
19695 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
19698 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
19699 Other functions include
19702 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
19703 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
19704 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
19705 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
19709 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
19710 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
19711 their own home score files:
19714 (setq gnus-home-score-file
19715 ;; @r{All groups that match the regexp @code{"\\.emacs"}}
19716 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
19717 ;; @r{All the comp groups in one score file}
19718 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
19721 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
19722 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
19723 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
19724 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
19725 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
19727 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
19728 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
19729 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
19730 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
19731 precedence over this variable.
19734 @node Followups To Yourself
19735 @section Followups To Yourself
19737 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
19738 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
19739 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
19740 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
19741 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
19742 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
19746 @item gnus-score-followup-article
19747 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
19748 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
19751 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
19752 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
19753 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
19757 @vindex message-sent-hook
19758 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
19759 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
19761 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
19765 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
19766 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
19770 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
19771 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
19774 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
19775 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
19780 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
19784 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
19785 is system-dependent.
19788 @node Scoring On Other Headers
19789 @section Scoring On Other Headers
19790 @cindex scoring on other headers
19792 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
19793 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
19794 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
19795 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
19796 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
19798 Now, there's not much you can do about this for news groups, but for
19799 mail groups, you have greater control. In @ref{To From Newsgroups},
19800 it's explained in greater detail what this mechanism does, but here's
19801 a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on how to allow scoring on the
19802 @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
19804 Put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
19807 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
19808 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
19811 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
19812 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
19813 time if you have much mail.
19815 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
19816 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
19822 @section Scoring Tips
19823 @cindex scoring tips
19829 @cindex scoring crossposts
19830 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
19831 the @code{Xref} header.
19833 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
19836 @item Multiple crossposts
19837 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
19838 more than, say, 3 groups:
19841 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
19845 @item Matching on the body
19846 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
19847 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
19848 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
19849 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
19850 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
19851 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
19852 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
19855 @item Marking as read
19856 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
19857 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
19858 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
19862 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
19864 @item Negated character classes
19865 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
19866 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
19867 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
19871 @node Reverse Scoring
19872 @section Reverse Scoring
19873 @cindex reverse scoring
19875 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
19876 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
19877 like this in your score file:
19881 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
19886 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
19887 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
19890 @node Global Score Files
19891 @section Global Score Files
19892 @cindex global score files
19894 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
19895 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
19896 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
19898 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
19899 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
19900 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
19902 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
19903 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
19904 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
19905 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
19906 files are applicable to which group.
19908 To use the score file
19909 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
19910 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
19914 (setq gnus-global-score-files
19915 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
19916 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
19919 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
19921 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
19922 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
19923 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
19924 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
19926 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
19927 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
19929 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
19930 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
19931 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
19932 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
19933 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
19934 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
19936 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
19942 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
19944 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
19946 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
19948 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
19949 lowered out of existence.
19951 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
19952 articles completely.
19955 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
19956 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
19957 old articles for a long time.
19960 @dots{} I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
19961 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
19962 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
19963 holding our breath yet?
19967 @section Kill Files
19970 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
19971 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
19972 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
19974 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
19975 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
19976 files into score files.
19978 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
19979 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
19980 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
19981 that isn't a very good idea.
19983 Normal kill files look like this:
19986 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19987 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
19991 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
19992 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
19994 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
19995 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
19998 Two summary functions for editing a @sc{gnus} kill file:
20003 @kindex M-k (Summary)
20004 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
20005 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
20008 @kindex M-K (Summary)
20009 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
20010 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
20013 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
20018 @kindex M-k (Group)
20019 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
20020 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
20023 @kindex M-K (Group)
20024 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
20025 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
20028 Kill file variables:
20031 @item gnus-kill-file-name
20032 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
20033 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
20034 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
20035 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
20036 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
20037 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
20039 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
20040 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
20041 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
20042 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
20045 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
20046 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
20047 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
20048 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
20049 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
20050 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
20051 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
20052 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
20053 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
20055 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
20056 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
20057 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
20062 @node Converting Kill Files
20063 @section Converting Kill Files
20065 @cindex converting kill files
20067 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
20068 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
20069 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
20072 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
20073 You can fetch it from
20074 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
20076 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
20077 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
20078 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
20082 @node Advanced Scoring
20083 @section Advanced Scoring
20085 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
20086 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
20087 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
20088 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
20089 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
20091 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
20095 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
20096 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
20097 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
20101 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
20102 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
20104 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
20105 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
20106 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
20107 non-@code{nil} value.
20109 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
20110 operator, and various match operators.
20117 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
20118 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
20119 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
20124 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
20125 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
20126 then this operator will return @code{false}.
20131 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
20132 logical negation of the value of its argument.
20136 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
20137 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
20138 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
20139 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
20140 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
20141 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
20142 the ancestry you want to go.
20144 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
20145 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
20146 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
20147 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
20148 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
20151 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
20152 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
20154 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
20155 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
20158 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
20159 when he's talking about Gnus:
20164 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20165 ("subject" "Gnus"))
20172 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
20176 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20183 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
20184 really don't want to read what he's written:
20188 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20189 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
20193 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
20194 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
20195 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
20202 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
20203 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
20204 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
20205 ("body" "white.*socks"))
20209 The possibilities are endless.
20212 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
20213 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
20215 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
20216 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
20217 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
20218 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
20219 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
20220 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
20221 @samp{subject}) first.
20223 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
20224 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
20235 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
20236 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
20242 ("subject" "Gnus")))
20249 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
20250 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
20255 @section Score Decays
20256 @cindex score decays
20259 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
20260 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
20261 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
20262 use them in any sensible way.
20264 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
20265 @findex gnus-decay-score
20266 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
20267 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
20268 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
20269 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
20270 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
20271 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
20272 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
20273 definition of that function:
20276 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
20277 "Decay SCORE according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
20278 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
20280 (* (if (< score 0) -1 1)
20282 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
20284 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
20285 (if (and (featurep 'xemacs)
20286 ;; XEmacs' floor can handle only the floating point
20287 ;; number below the half of the maximum integer.
20288 (> (abs n) (lsh -1 -2)))
20290 (car (split-string (number-to-string n) "\\.")))
20294 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
20295 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
20296 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
20297 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
20301 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
20304 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
20307 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
20311 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
20312 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
20313 the new score, which should be an integer.
20315 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
20316 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
20321 @include message.texi
20322 @chapter Emacs MIME
20323 @include emacs-mime.texi
20325 @include sieve.texi
20337 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
20338 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
20339 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
20340 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
20341 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
20342 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
20343 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
20344 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
20345 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
20346 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
20347 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
20348 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
20349 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
20350 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
20351 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
20352 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
20353 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
20354 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
20355 * Other modes:: Interaction with other modes.
20356 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
20360 @node Process/Prefix
20361 @section Process/Prefix
20362 @cindex process/prefix convention
20364 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
20365 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
20367 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
20368 command to be performed on.
20372 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
20373 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
20374 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
20375 with the current one.
20377 @vindex transient-mark-mode
20378 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
20379 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
20381 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
20382 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
20385 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
20386 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
20388 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
20391 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
20392 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
20393 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
20394 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
20396 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
20397 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
20398 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
20399 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
20400 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
20401 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
20402 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
20403 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
20405 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
20406 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
20407 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
20408 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
20409 expirable, you could say @kbd{M P b M-& E}.
20413 @section Interactive
20414 @cindex interaction
20418 @item gnus-novice-user
20419 @vindex gnus-novice-user
20420 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
20421 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
20422 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
20423 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
20426 @item gnus-expert-user
20427 @vindex gnus-expert-user
20428 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
20429 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
20430 matter how strange.
20432 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
20433 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
20434 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
20435 is @code{t} by default.
20437 @item gnus-interactive-exit
20438 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
20439 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
20444 @node Symbolic Prefixes
20445 @section Symbolic Prefixes
20446 @cindex symbolic prefixes
20448 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
20449 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
20450 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
20451 rule of 900 to the current article.
20453 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
20454 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
20455 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
20456 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
20457 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
20458 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
20459 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
20461 @kindex M-i (Summary)
20462 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
20463 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
20464 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
20465 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
20466 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
20467 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
20468 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
20469 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
20471 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
20472 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
20473 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
20475 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
20479 @node Formatting Variables
20480 @section Formatting Variables
20481 @cindex formatting variables
20483 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
20484 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
20485 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
20486 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
20487 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
20490 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
20491 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
20492 lots of percentages everywhere.
20495 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
20496 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
20497 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
20498 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
20499 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
20500 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
20501 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
20502 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
20505 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
20506 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
20507 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
20508 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
20509 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
20510 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
20511 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
20512 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
20514 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
20515 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
20517 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
20518 @findex gnus-update-format
20519 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
20520 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
20521 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
20522 examine the resulting Lisp code to be run to generate the line.
20526 @node Formatting Basics
20527 @subsection Formatting Basics
20529 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
20530 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
20531 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
20533 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
20534 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
20535 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
20536 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
20537 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
20540 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
20541 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
20542 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
20543 less than 4 characters wide.
20545 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
20546 @samp{%&user-date;}.
20549 @node Mode Line Formatting
20550 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
20552 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
20553 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
20554 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
20555 with the following two differences:
20560 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
20563 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
20564 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
20565 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
20566 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
20567 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
20568 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
20569 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
20574 @node Advanced Formatting
20575 @subsection Advanced Formatting
20577 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
20578 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
20579 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
20580 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
20582 These are the valid modifiers:
20587 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
20591 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
20596 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
20599 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
20604 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
20607 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
20610 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
20613 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
20619 "~(form (current-time-string))@@"
20624 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
20625 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
20626 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
20627 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
20628 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
20629 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
20630 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
20632 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
20633 last operation, padding.
20635 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
20636 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
20637 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
20638 @xref{Compilation}.
20641 @node User-Defined Specs
20642 @subsection User-Defined Specs
20644 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
20645 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
20646 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
20647 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
20648 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
20649 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
20650 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
20651 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
20652 should protect against that.
20654 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
20655 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
20657 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
20658 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
20659 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
20660 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
20664 @node Formatting Fonts
20665 @subsection Formatting Fonts
20667 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
20668 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
20669 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
20670 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
20673 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
20674 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
20675 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
20676 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
20677 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
20678 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
20680 Text inside the @samp{%<<} and @samp{%>>} specifiers will get the
20681 special @code{balloon-help} property set to
20682 @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you say @samp{%1<<}, you'll get
20683 @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The @code{gnus-balloon-face-*}
20684 variables should be either strings or symbols naming functions that
20685 return a string. When the mouse passes over text with this property
20686 set, a balloon window will appear and display the string. Please
20687 refer to @ref{Tooltips, ,Tooltips, emacs, The Emacs Manual},
20688 (in GNU Emacs) or the doc string of @code{balloon-help-mode} (in
20689 XEmacs) for more information on this. (For technical reasons, the
20690 guillemets have been approximated as @samp{<<} and @samp{>>} in this
20693 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
20696 ;; @r{Create three face types.}
20697 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
20698 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
20700 ;; @r{We want the article count to be in}
20701 ;; @r{a bold and green face. So we create}
20702 ;; @r{a new face called @code{my-green-bold}.}
20703 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
20704 ;; @r{Set the color.}
20705 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
20706 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
20708 ;; @r{Set the new & fancy format.}
20709 (setq gnus-group-line-format
20710 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
20713 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
20714 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
20716 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
20717 mode-line variables.
20719 @node Positioning Point
20720 @subsection Positioning Point
20722 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
20723 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
20724 line. You can customize this behaviour in three different ways.
20726 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
20728 @findex gnus-goto-colon
20729 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
20730 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
20732 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
20733 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%*} specifier. If you
20734 put a @samp{%*} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
20739 @subsection Tabulation
20741 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
20742 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
20743 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
20744 about lining up the following text afterwards.
20746 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs---@samp{%=}. There are two
20747 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
20749 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
20750 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
20751 This is the soft tabulator.
20753 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
20754 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
20755 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
20758 @node Wide Characters
20759 @subsection Wide Characters
20761 Fixed width fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
20762 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
20763 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
20765 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
20766 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
20767 these countries, that's not true.
20769 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
20770 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
20771 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
20772 prettier. The default value under XEmacs is @code{t} but @code{nil}
20776 @node Window Layout
20777 @section Window Layout
20778 @cindex window layout
20780 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
20782 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
20783 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
20784 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
20785 @code{t} by default.
20787 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
20788 glitches. Use at your own peril.
20790 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
20791 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
20792 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
20795 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
20796 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
20797 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
20801 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
20802 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
20803 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
20804 possible names is listed below.
20806 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
20807 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
20810 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
20814 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
20815 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
20816 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
20817 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
20818 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
20819 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
20820 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
20821 size spec per split.
20823 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
20824 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
20825 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
20826 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
20827 present) gets focus.
20829 Here's a more complicated example:
20832 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
20833 (summary 0.25 point)
20834 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
20838 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
20839 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
20840 occupy, not a percentage.
20842 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
20843 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
20844 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
20845 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
20846 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
20849 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
20852 (article (horizontal 1.0
20857 (summary 0.25 point)
20862 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
20863 @code{horizontal} thingie?
20865 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
20866 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
20867 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
20868 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
20869 the screen is to be given to this strip.
20871 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
20872 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
20873 lines from the splits.
20875 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
20880 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
20881 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
20882 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
20883 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
20884 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
20885 size = number | frame-params
20886 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
20890 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
20891 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
20892 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
20893 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
20895 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
20896 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
20897 @cindex window height
20898 @cindex window width
20899 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
20900 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
20901 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
20902 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
20903 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
20904 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
20906 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
20907 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
20908 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
20909 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
20911 @findex gnus-configure-frame
20912 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
20913 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
20914 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
20915 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
20916 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
20917 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
20918 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
20919 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
20920 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
20921 configuration list.
20924 (gnus-configure-frame
20928 (article 0.3 point))
20936 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
20937 @code{frame} split:
20940 (gnus-configure-frame
20943 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
20945 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
20946 (user-position . t)
20947 (left . -1) (top . 1))
20952 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
20953 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
20954 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
20955 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
20956 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
20957 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
20958 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
20959 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
20961 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
20962 be found in its default value.
20964 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
20965 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
20966 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
20970 (message (horizontal 1.0
20971 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
20973 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
20978 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
20979 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
20980 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
20985 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
20986 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
20987 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
20988 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
20989 (name . "Message"))
20990 (message 1.0 point))))
20993 @findex gnus-add-configuration
20994 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
20995 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
20996 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
20997 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
21000 (gnus-add-configuration
21001 '(article (vertical 1.0
21003 (summary .25 point)
21007 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
21008 @file{~/.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
21009 Gnus has been loaded.
21011 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
21012 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
21013 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
21014 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
21015 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
21017 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
21018 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
21019 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
21022 @subsection Example Window Configurations
21026 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
21027 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
21042 (gnus-add-configuration
21045 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
21047 (summary 0.16 point)
21050 (gnus-add-configuration
21053 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
21054 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
21060 @node Faces and Fonts
21061 @section Faces and Fonts
21066 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
21067 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
21068 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
21073 @section Compilation
21074 @cindex compilation
21075 @cindex byte-compilation
21077 @findex gnus-compile
21079 Remember all those line format specification variables?
21080 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
21081 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
21082 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
21083 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
21084 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
21087 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
21088 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
21089 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
21090 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
21091 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
21092 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
21093 them into the @file{~/.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
21097 @section Mode Lines
21100 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
21101 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
21102 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
21103 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
21104 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
21105 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
21106 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
21109 @cindex display-time
21111 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
21112 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
21113 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
21114 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
21115 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
21116 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
21117 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
21118 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
21121 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
21123 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
21124 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
21126 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
21127 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
21128 (length display-time-string)))))
21131 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
21132 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
21133 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
21134 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
21135 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
21138 @node Highlighting and Menus
21139 @section Highlighting and Menus
21141 @cindex highlighting
21144 @vindex gnus-visual
21145 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
21146 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
21147 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
21150 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
21151 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
21154 @item group-highlight
21155 Do highlights in the group buffer.
21156 @item summary-highlight
21157 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
21158 @item article-highlight
21159 Do highlights in the article buffer.
21161 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
21163 Create menus in the group buffer.
21165 Create menus in the summary buffers.
21167 Create menus in the article buffer.
21169 Create menus in the browse buffer.
21171 Create menus in the server buffer.
21173 Create menus in the score buffers.
21175 Create menus in all buffers.
21178 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
21179 buffers, you could say something like:
21182 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
21185 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
21188 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
21191 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
21192 in all Gnus buffers.
21194 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
21197 @item gnus-mouse-face
21198 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
21199 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
21200 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
21204 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
21208 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
21209 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
21210 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
21212 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
21213 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
21214 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
21216 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
21217 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
21218 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
21220 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
21221 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
21222 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
21224 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
21225 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
21226 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
21228 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
21229 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
21230 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
21241 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
21242 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
21243 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
21244 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
21245 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
21249 @vindex gnus-carpal
21250 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
21251 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
21252 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
21257 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
21258 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
21259 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
21261 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
21262 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
21263 Face used on buttons.
21265 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
21266 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
21267 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
21269 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
21270 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
21271 Buttons in the group buffer.
21273 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
21274 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
21275 Buttons in the summary buffer.
21277 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
21278 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
21279 Buttons in the server buffer.
21281 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
21282 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
21283 Buttons in the browse buffer.
21286 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
21287 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
21288 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
21296 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
21297 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
21298 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
21299 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
21300 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
21302 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
21303 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
21304 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
21306 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
21307 been idle for thirty minutes:
21310 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
21313 Here's a handler that scans for @acronym{PGP} headers every hour when
21317 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
21320 This @var{time} parameter and that @var{idle} parameter work together
21321 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
21322 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
21324 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
21325 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
21326 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
21327 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
21329 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
21330 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
21331 @var{idle} minutes.
21333 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
21334 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
21337 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
21338 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
21339 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
21341 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
21342 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
21343 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
21344 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
21346 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
21347 your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
21349 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
21351 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
21354 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
21355 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
21356 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
21357 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
21358 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
21359 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
21360 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
21361 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
21362 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
21363 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
21364 @file{~/.gnus.el} if you want those abilities.
21366 @findex gnus-demon-init
21367 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
21368 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
21369 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
21370 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
21371 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
21373 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
21374 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
21375 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
21384 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
21385 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
21387 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
21388 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
21389 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
21390 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
21393 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
21394 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
21395 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
21396 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
21398 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
21399 this will make spam disappear.
21401 There are some variables to customize, of course:
21404 @item gnus-use-nocem
21405 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
21406 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
21409 @item gnus-nocem-groups
21410 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
21411 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
21414 ("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
21415 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")
21418 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
21419 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
21420 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
21421 people you want to listen to. The default is
21423 ("Automoose-1" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
21424 "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo" "hweede@@snafu.de")
21426 fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
21428 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at@*
21429 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
21431 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
21432 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
21433 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
21434 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
21435 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
21436 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
21437 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
21438 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
21439 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
21440 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
21442 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
21443 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
21446 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
21449 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
21450 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
21453 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
21456 The specs are applied left-to-right.
21459 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
21460 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
21462 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
21463 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
21464 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
21465 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
21467 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
21468 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
21471 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
21473 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
21481 This might be dangerous, though.
21483 @item gnus-nocem-directory
21484 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
21485 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is@*
21486 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
21488 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
21489 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
21490 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
21491 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
21492 might then see old spam.
21494 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
21495 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
21496 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
21497 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
21498 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
21501 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
21502 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
21503 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
21504 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
21508 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
21509 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
21510 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
21511 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
21518 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
21519 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
21520 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
21522 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
21523 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
21524 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
21525 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
21526 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
21527 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
21528 @code{undo} function.
21530 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
21531 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
21532 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
21533 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
21534 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
21535 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
21536 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
21537 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
21538 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
21539 never be totally undoable.
21541 @findex gnus-undo-mode
21542 @vindex gnus-use-undo
21544 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
21545 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
21546 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
21547 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
21551 @node Predicate Specifiers
21552 @section Predicate Specifiers
21553 @cindex predicate specifiers
21555 Some Gnus variables are @dfn{predicate specifiers}. This is a special
21556 form that allows flexible specification of predicates without having
21557 to type all that much.
21559 These specifiers are lists consisting of functions, symbols and lists.
21564 (or gnus-article-unseen-p
21565 gnus-article-unread-p)
21568 The available symbols are @code{or}, @code{and} and @code{not}. The
21569 functions all take one parameter.
21571 @findex gnus-make-predicate
21572 Internally, Gnus calls @code{gnus-make-predicate} on these specifiers
21573 to create a function that can be called. This input parameter to this
21574 function will be passed along to all the functions in the predicate
21579 @section Moderation
21582 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
21583 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
21584 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
21587 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
21591 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
21594 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
21596 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
21601 You split your incoming mail by matching on
21602 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
21603 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
21606 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
21607 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
21610 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
21611 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
21615 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
21618 (setq gnus-moderated-list
21619 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
21623 @node Image Enhancements
21624 @section Image Enhancements
21626 XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21@footnote{Emacs 21 on MS Windows doesn't
21627 support images yet.}, is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has
21628 taken advantage of that.
21631 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
21632 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
21633 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
21634 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
21635 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
21643 @code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white (1 bit
21644 depth) image that's supposed to represent the author of the message.
21645 It seems to be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news
21649 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
21650 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
21651 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
21659 Gnus now uses the internal ELisp-based @code{uncompface} program for
21660 decoding an @code{X-Face} header normally in Emacs. While it doesn't
21661 require any other external program, you may feel it is slow if you are
21662 using a slow machine. In such a case, you can modify the following
21666 @item uncompface-use-external
21667 @vindex uncompface-use-external
21668 Specify which of the internal or the external decoder should be used.
21669 @code{nil} means to use the internal ELisp-based @code{uncompface}
21670 program. @code{t} means to use the external decoder. The default value
21671 is normally @code{undecided} which means to determine it by checking
21672 whether the host machine is slow, being controlled by
21673 @code{uncompface-use-external-threshold} (which see).
21675 @item uncompface-use-external-threshold
21676 @vindex uncompface-use-external-threshold
21677 A number of seconds to check whether the host machine is slow. If the
21678 host takes time larger than this value for decoding an @code{X-Face}
21679 using the internal ELisp-based @code{uncompface} program, it will be
21680 changed to using the external decoder.
21683 If the internal decoder is invalidated or if you are using XEmacs,
21684 decoding an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
21685 @samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions has), or that you
21686 have @samp{compface} installed on your system. If either is true,
21687 Gnus will default to displaying @code{X-Face} headers.
21689 The variable that controls this is the
21690 @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable. If this variable is a
21691 string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
21692 function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
21693 If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches
21694 the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
21696 The default action under Emacs 20 is to fork off the @code{display}
21697 program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For
21698 the @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
21699 like @code{compface} or @code{faces-xface} on a GNU/Linux system.} to
21702 Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image support, the default
21703 action is to display the face before the @code{From} header. (It's
21704 nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support---that
21705 will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native @code{X-Face}
21706 support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
21707 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
21708 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
21709 like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.})
21711 (Note: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
21714 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
21715 easier insertion of X-Face headers in outgoing messages.
21717 @findex gnus-random-x-face
21718 @vindex gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command
21719 @vindex gnus-x-face-directory
21720 @code{gnus-random-x-face} goes through all the @samp{pbm} files in
21721 @code{gnus-x-face-directory} and picks one at random, and then
21722 converts it to the X-Face format by using the
21723 @code{gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command} shell command. The
21724 @samp{pbm} files should be 48x48 pixels big. It returns the X-Face
21725 header data as a string.
21727 @findex gnus-insert-random-x-face-header
21728 @code{gnus-insert-random-x-face-header} calls
21729 @code{gnus-random-x-face} and inserts a @samp{X-Face} header with the
21730 randomly generated data.
21732 @findex gnus-x-face-from-file
21733 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command
21734 @code{gnus-x-face-from-file} takes a GIF file as the parameter, and then
21735 converts the file to X-Face format by using the
21736 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command} shell command.
21738 Here's how you would typically use the first function. Put something
21739 like the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
21742 (setq message-required-news-headers
21743 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21744 (list '(X-Face . gnus-random-x-face))))
21747 Using the last function would be something like this:
21750 (setq message-required-news-headers
21751 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21752 (list '(X-Face . (lambda ()
21753 (gnus-x-face-from-file
21754 "~/My-face.gif"))))))
21762 @c #### FIXME: faces and x-faces'implementations should really be harmonized.
21764 @code{Face} headers are essentially a funkier version of @code{X-Face}
21765 ones. They describe a 48x48 pixel colored image that's supposed to
21766 represent the author of the message.
21769 @findex gnus-article-display-face
21770 The contents of a @code{Face} header must be a base64 encoded PNG image.
21771 See @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/circus/face/} for the precise
21774 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
21775 easier insertion of Face headers in outgoing messages.
21777 @findex gnus-convert-png-to-face
21778 @code{gnus-convert-png-to-face} takes a 48x48 PNG image, no longer than
21779 726 bytes long, and converts it to a face.
21781 @findex gnus-face-from-file
21782 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-face-command
21783 @code{gnus-face-from-file} takes a JPEG file as the parameter, and then
21784 converts the file to Face format by using the
21785 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-face-command} shell command.
21787 Here's how you would typically use this function. Put something like the
21788 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
21791 (setq message-required-news-headers
21792 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21793 (list '(Face . (lambda ()
21794 (gnus-face-from-file "~/face.jpg"))))))
21799 @subsection Smileys
21804 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
21809 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
21810 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
21812 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
21813 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
21816 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
21819 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{8-)}, @samp{:-(} and
21820 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
21821 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
21822 text and maps that to file names.
21824 @vindex smiley-regexp-alist
21825 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist}
21826 variable. The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched;
21827 the second element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by
21828 the picture; and the third element is the name of the file to be
21831 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
21836 @item smiley-data-directory
21837 @vindex smiley-data-directory
21838 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
21840 @item gnus-smiley-file-types
21841 @vindex gnus-smiley-file-types
21842 List of suffixes on smiley file names to try.
21856 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
21857 good way to do so. It's also a great way to impress people staring
21858 over your shoulder as you read news.
21860 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
21869 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
21870 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
21871 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
21872 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
21873 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
21874 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
21875 @code{GIF} formats.
21878 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
21879 For instructions on obtaining and installing the picons databases,
21880 point your Web browser at
21881 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}.
21883 If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
21884 picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
21886 To enable displaying picons, simply make sure that
21887 @code{gnus-picon-databases} points to the directory containing the
21890 The following variables offer control over where things are located.
21894 @item gnus-picon-databases
21895 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
21896 The location of the picons database. This is a list of directories
21897 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
21898 subdirectories. Defaults to @code{("/usr/lib/picon"
21899 "/usr/local/faces")}.
21901 @item gnus-picon-news-directories
21902 @vindex gnus-picon-news-directories
21903 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
21904 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
21906 @item gnus-picon-user-directories
21907 @vindex gnus-picon-user-directories
21908 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for user
21909 faces. @code{("users" "usenix" "local" "misc")} is the default.
21911 @item gnus-picon-domain-directories
21912 @vindex gnus-picon-domain-directories
21913 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
21914 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
21915 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
21917 @item gnus-picon-file-types
21918 @vindex gnus-picon-file-types
21919 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
21920 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not built-in your Emacs.
21926 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
21929 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
21930 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
21931 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
21932 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
21933 unusual directory structure.
21935 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
21936 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
21937 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
21938 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
21940 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
21941 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
21942 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
21943 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
21944 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
21945 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
21947 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
21948 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
21949 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
21954 @subsubsection Toolbar
21958 @item gnus-use-toolbar
21959 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
21960 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
21961 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
21962 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
21964 @item gnus-group-toolbar
21965 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
21966 The toolbar in the group buffer.
21968 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
21969 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
21970 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
21972 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
21973 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
21974 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
21985 @node Fuzzy Matching
21986 @section Fuzzy Matching
21987 @cindex fuzzy matching
21989 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
21990 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
21992 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
21993 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
21994 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
21996 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
21997 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
21998 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
21999 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
22000 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
22003 @node Thwarting Email Spam
22004 @section Thwarting Email Spam
22008 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
22010 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
22011 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
22012 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
22013 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
22014 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
22015 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
22016 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
22017 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
22020 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
22021 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
22022 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
22023 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
22024 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
22025 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
22027 This is annoying. Here's what you can do about it.
22030 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
22031 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
22032 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
22033 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
22034 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
22035 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
22038 @node The problem of spam
22039 @subsection The problem of spam
22041 @cindex spam filtering approaches
22042 @cindex filtering approaches, spam
22044 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
22046 First, some background on spam.
22048 If you have access to e-mail, you are familiar with spam (technically
22049 termed @acronym{UCE}, Unsolicited Commercial E-mail). Simply put, it
22050 exists because e-mail delivery is very cheap compared to paper mail,
22051 so only a very small percentage of people need to respond to an UCE to
22052 make it worthwhile to the advertiser. Ironically, one of the most
22053 common spams is the one offering a database of e-mail addresses for
22054 further spamming. Senders of spam are usually called @emph{spammers},
22055 but terms like @emph{vermin}, @emph{scum}, @emph{sociopaths}, and
22056 @emph{morons} are in common use as well.
22058 Spam comes from a wide variety of sources. It is simply impossible to
22059 dispose of all spam without discarding useful messages. A good
22060 example is the TMDA system, which requires senders
22061 unknown to you to confirm themselves as legitimate senders before
22062 their e-mail can reach you. Without getting into the technical side
22063 of TMDA, a downside is clearly that e-mail from legitimate sources may
22064 be discarded if those sources can't or won't confirm themselves
22065 through the TMDA system. Another problem with TMDA is that it
22066 requires its users to have a basic understanding of e-mail delivery
22069 The simplest approach to filtering spam is filtering, at the mail
22070 server or when you sort through incoming mail. If you get 200 spam
22071 messages per day from @samp{random-address@@vmadmin.com}, you block
22072 @samp{vmadmin.com}. If you get 200 messages about @samp{VIAGRA}, you
22073 discard all messages with @samp{VIAGRA} in the message. If you get
22074 lots of spam from Bulgaria, for example, you try to filter all mail
22075 from Bulgarian IPs.
22077 This, unfortunately, is a great way to discard legitimate e-mail. The
22078 risks of blocking a whole country (Bulgaria, Norway, Nigeria, China,
22079 etc.) or even a continent (Asia, Africa, Europe, etc.) from contacting
22080 you should be obvious, so don't do it if you have the choice.
22082 In another instance, the very informative and useful RISKS digest has
22083 been blocked by overzealous mail filters because it @strong{contained}
22084 words that were common in spam messages. Nevertheless, in isolated
22085 cases, with great care, direct filtering of mail can be useful.
22087 Another approach to filtering e-mail is the distributed spam
22088 processing, for instance DCC implements such a system. In essence,
22089 @var{N} systems around the world agree that a machine @var{X} in
22090 Ghana, Estonia, or California is sending out spam e-mail, and these
22091 @var{N} systems enter @var{X} or the spam e-mail from @var{X} into a
22092 database. The criteria for spam detection vary---it may be the number
22093 of messages sent, the content of the messages, and so on. When a user
22094 of the distributed processing system wants to find out if a message is
22095 spam, he consults one of those @var{N} systems.
22097 Distributed spam processing works very well against spammers that send
22098 a large number of messages at once, but it requires the user to set up
22099 fairly complicated checks. There are commercial and free distributed
22100 spam processing systems. Distributed spam processing has its risks as
22101 well. For instance legitimate e-mail senders have been accused of
22102 sending spam, and their web sites and mailing lists have been shut
22103 down for some time because of the incident.
22105 The statistical approach to spam filtering is also popular. It is
22106 based on a statistical analysis of previous spam messages. Usually
22107 the analysis is a simple word frequency count, with perhaps pairs of
22108 words or 3-word combinations thrown into the mix. Statistical
22109 analysis of spam works very well in most of the cases, but it can
22110 classify legitimate e-mail as spam in some cases. It takes time to
22111 run the analysis, the full message must be analyzed, and the user has
22112 to store the database of spam analyses. Statistical analysis on the
22113 server is gaining popularity. This has the advantage of letting the
22114 user Just Read Mail, but has the disadvantage that it's harder to tell
22115 the server that it has misclassified mail.
22117 Fighting spam is not easy, no matter what anyone says. There is no
22118 magic switch that will distinguish Viagra ads from Mom's e-mails.
22119 Even people are having a hard time telling spam apart from non-spam,
22120 because spammers are actively looking to fool us into thinking they
22121 are Mom, essentially. Spamming is irritating, irresponsible, and
22122 idiotic behavior from a bunch of people who think the world owes them
22123 a favor. We hope the following sections will help you in fighting the
22126 @node Anti-Spam Basics
22127 @subsection Anti-Spam Basics
22131 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
22133 One way of dealing with spam is having Gnus split out all spam into a
22134 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
22136 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
22137 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
22138 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
22139 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
22140 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
22141 part of the mail address.)
22144 (setq message-default-news-headers
22145 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
22148 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
22149 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
22153 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
22154 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
22155 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
22160 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
22161 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
22162 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
22163 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
22165 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @acronym{SMTP} server
22166 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
22167 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
22168 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
22169 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
22170 your fancy split rule in this way:
22175 (to "larsi" "misc")
22179 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
22180 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
22181 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
22182 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
22183 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
22185 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
22186 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
22187 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
22188 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
22190 Be careful with this approach. Spammers are wise to it.
22194 @subsection SpamAssassin, Vipul's Razor, DCC, etc
22195 @cindex SpamAssassin
22196 @cindex Vipul's Razor
22199 The days where the hints in the previous section were sufficient in
22200 avoiding spam are coming to an end. There are many tools out there
22201 that claim to reduce the amount of spam you get. This section could
22202 easily become outdated fast, as new products replace old, but
22203 fortunately most of these tools seem to have similar interfaces. Even
22204 though this section will use SpamAssassin as an example, it should be
22205 easy to adapt it to most other tools.
22207 Note that this section does not involve the @code{spam.el} package,
22208 which is discussed in the next section. If you don't care for all
22209 the features of @code{spam.el}, you can make do with these simple
22212 If the tool you are using is not installed on the mail server, you
22213 need to invoke it yourself. Ideas on how to use the
22214 @code{:postscript} mail source parameter (@pxref{Mail Source
22215 Specifiers}) follow.
22219 '((file :prescript "formail -bs spamassassin < /var/mail/%u")
22223 "mv %t /tmp/foo; formail -bs spamc < /tmp/foo > %t")))
22226 Once you manage to process your incoming spool somehow, thus making
22227 the mail contain e.g.@: a header indicating it is spam, you are ready to
22228 filter it out. Using normal split methods (@pxref{Splitting Mail}):
22231 (setq nnmail-split-methods '(("spam" "^X-Spam-Flag: YES")
22235 Or using fancy split methods (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
22238 (setq nnmail-split-methods 'nnmail-split-fancy
22239 nnmail-split-fancy '(| ("X-Spam-Flag" "YES" "spam")
22243 Some people might not like the idea of piping the mail through various
22244 programs using a @code{:prescript} (if some program is buggy, you
22245 might lose all mail). If you are one of them, another solution is to
22246 call the external tools during splitting. Example fancy split method:
22249 (setq nnmail-split-fancy '(| (: kevin-spamassassin)
22251 (defun kevin-spamassassin ()
22255 (if (eq 1 (call-process-region (point-min) (point-max)
22256 "spamc" nil nil nil "-c"))
22260 Note that with the nnimap backend, message bodies will not be
22261 downloaded by default. You need to set
22262 @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to @code{t} to do that
22263 (@pxref{Splitting in IMAP}).
22265 That is about it. As some spam is likely to get through anyway, you
22266 might want to have a nifty function to call when you happen to read
22267 spam. And here is the nifty function:
22270 (defun my-gnus-raze-spam ()
22271 "Submit SPAM to Vipul's Razor, then mark it as expirable."
22273 (gnus-summary-show-raw-article)
22274 (gnus-summary-save-in-pipe "razor-report -f -d")
22275 (gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable 1))
22279 @subsection Hashcash
22282 A novel technique to fight spam is to require senders to do something
22283 costly for each message they send. This has the obvious drawback that
22284 you cannot rely on everyone in the world using this technique,
22285 since it is not part of the Internet standards, but it may be useful
22286 in smaller communities.
22288 While the tools in the previous section work well in practice, they
22289 work only because the tools are constantly maintained and updated as
22290 new form of spam appears. This means that a small percentage of spam
22291 will always get through. It also means that somewhere, someone needs
22292 to read lots of spam to update these tools. Hashcash avoids that, but
22293 instead prefers that everyone you contact through e-mail supports the
22294 scheme. You can view the two approaches as pragmatic vs dogmatic.
22295 The approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages, but as
22296 often in the real world, a combination of them is stronger than either
22297 one of them separately.
22300 The ``something costly'' is to burn CPU time, more specifically to
22301 compute a hash collision up to a certain number of bits. The
22302 resulting hashcash cookie is inserted in a @samp{X-Hashcash:}
22303 header. For more details, and for the external application
22304 @code{hashcash} you need to install to use this feature, see
22305 @uref{http://www.cypherspace.org/~adam/hashcash/}. Even more
22306 information can be found at @uref{http://www.camram.org/}.
22308 If you wish to call hashcash for each message you send, say something
22312 (require 'hashcash)
22313 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'mail-add-payment)
22316 The @file{hashcash.el} library can be found in the Gnus development
22317 contrib directory or at
22318 @uref{http://users.actrix.gen.nz/mycroft/hashcash.el}.
22320 You will need to set up some additional variables as well:
22324 @item hashcash-default-payment
22325 @vindex hashcash-default-payment
22326 This variable indicates the default number of bits the hash collision
22327 should consist of. By default this is 0, meaning nothing will be
22328 done. Suggested useful values include 17 to 29.
22330 @item hashcash-payment-alist
22331 @vindex hashcash-payment-alist
22332 Some receivers may require you to spend burn more CPU time than the
22333 default. This variable contains a list of @samp{(@var{addr}
22334 @var{amount})} cells, where @var{addr} is the receiver (email address
22335 or newsgroup) and @var{amount} is the number of bits in the collision
22336 that is needed. It can also contain @samp{(@var{addr} @var{string}
22337 @var{amount})} cells, where the @var{string} is the string to use
22338 (normally the email address or newsgroup name is used).
22342 Where the @code{hashcash} binary is installed.
22346 Currently there is no built in functionality in Gnus to verify
22347 hashcash cookies, it is expected that this is performed by your hand
22348 customized mail filtering scripts. Improvements in this area would be
22349 a useful contribution, however.
22351 @node Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
22352 @subsection Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
22353 @cindex spam filtering
22356 The idea behind @file{spam.el} is to have a control center for spam detection
22357 and filtering in Gnus. To that end, @file{spam.el} does two things: it
22358 filters new mail, and it analyzes mail known to be spam or ham.
22359 @dfn{Ham} is the name used throughout @file{spam.el} to indicate
22362 First of all, you @strong{must} run the function
22363 @code{spam-initialize} to autoload @code{spam.el} and to install the
22364 @code{spam.el} hooks. There is one exception: if you use the
22365 @code{spam-use-stat} (@pxref{spam-stat spam filtering}) setting, you
22366 should turn it on before @code{spam-initialize}:
22369 (setq spam-use-stat t) ;; if needed
22373 So, what happens when you load @file{spam.el}?
22375 First, some hooks will get installed by @code{spam-initialize}. There
22376 are some hooks for @code{spam-stat} so it can save its databases, and
22377 there are hooks so interesting things will happen when you enter and
22378 leave a group. More on the sequence of events later (@pxref{Spam
22379 ELisp Package Sequence of Events}).
22381 You get the following keyboard commands:
22391 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
22392 @code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}.
22394 Mark current article as spam, showing it with the @samp{$} mark.
22395 Whenever you see a spam article, make sure to mark its summary line
22396 with @kbd{M-d} before leaving the group. This is done automatically
22397 for unread articles in @emph{spam} groups.
22403 @findex spam-bogofilter-score
22404 @code{spam-bogofilter-score}.
22406 You must have Bogofilter installed for that command to work properly.
22412 Also, when you load @file{spam.el}, you will be able to customize its
22413 variables. Try @code{customize-group} on the @samp{spam} variable
22417 * Spam ELisp Package Sequence of Events::
22418 * Spam ELisp Package Filtering of Incoming Mail::
22419 * Spam ELisp Package Global Variables::
22420 * Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples::
22421 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
22422 * BBDB Whitelists::
22423 * Gmane Spam Reporting::
22424 * Anti-spam Hashcash Payments::
22426 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
22428 * ifile spam filtering::
22429 * spam-stat spam filtering::
22431 * Extending the Spam ELisp package::
22434 @node Spam ELisp Package Sequence of Events
22435 @subsubsection Spam ELisp Package Sequence of Events
22436 @cindex spam filtering
22437 @cindex spam filtering sequence of events
22440 You must read this section to understand how @code{spam.el} works.
22441 Do not skip, speed-read, or glance through this section.
22443 There are two @emph{contact points}, if you will, between
22444 @code{spam.el} and the rest of Gnus: checking new mail for spam, and
22447 Getting new mail is done in one of two ways. You can either split
22448 your incoming mail or you can classify new articles as ham or spam
22449 when you enter the group.
22451 Splitting incoming mail is better suited to mail backends such as
22452 @code{nnml} or @code{nnimap} where new mail appears in a single file
22453 called a @dfn{Spool File}. See @xref{Spam ELisp Package Filtering of
22456 For backends such as @code{nntp} there is no incoming mail spool, so
22457 an alternate mechanism must be used. This may also happen for
22458 backends where the server is in charge of splitting incoming mail, and
22459 Gnus does not do further splitting. The @code{spam-autodetect} and
22460 @code{spam-autodetect-methods} group parameters (accessible with
22461 @kbd{G c} and @kbd{G p} as usual), and the corresponding variables
22462 @code{gnus-spam-autodetect} and
22463 @code{gnus-spam-autodetect-methods} (accessible with @kbd{M-x
22464 customize-variable} as usual).
22466 When @code{spam-autodetect} is used, it hooks into the process of
22467 entering a group. Thus, entering a group with unseen or unread
22468 articles becomes the substitute for checking incoming mail. Whether
22469 only unseen articles or all unread articles will be processed is
22470 determined by the @code{spam-autodetect-recheck-messages}. When set
22471 to @code{t}, unread messages will be rechecked.
22473 @code{spam-autodetect} grants the user at once more and less control
22474 of spam filtering. The user will have more control over each group's
22475 spam methods, so for instance the @samp{ding} group may have
22476 @code{spam-use-BBDB} as the autodetection method, while the
22477 @samp{suspect} group may have the @code{spam-use-blacklist} and
22478 @code{spam-use-bogofilter} methods enabled. Every article detected to
22479 be spam will be marked with the spam mark @samp{$} and processed on
22480 exit from the group as normal spam. The user has less control over
22481 the @emph{sequence} of checks, as he might with @code{spam-split}.
22483 When the newly split mail goes into groups, or messages are
22484 autodetected to be ham or spam, those groups must be exited (after
22485 entering, if needed) for further spam processing to happen. It
22486 matters whether the group is considered a ham group, a spam group, or
22487 is unclassified, based on its @code{spam-content} parameter
22488 (@pxref{Spam ELisp Package Global Variables}). Spam groups have the
22489 additional characteristic that, when entered, any unseen or unread
22490 articles (depending on the @code{spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam}
22491 variable) will be marked as spam. Thus, mail split into a spam group
22492 gets automatically marked as spam when you enter the group.
22494 So, when you exit a group, the @code{spam-processors} are applied, if
22495 any are set, and the processed mail is moved to the
22496 @code{ham-process-destination} or the @code{spam-process-destination}
22497 depending on the article's classification. If the
22498 @code{ham-process-destination} or the @code{spam-process-destination},
22499 whichever is appropriate, are @code{nil}, the article is left in the
22502 If a spam is found in any group (this can be changed to only non-spam
22503 groups with @code{spam-move-spam-nonspam-groups-only}), it is
22504 processed by the active @code{spam-processors} (@pxref{Spam ELisp
22505 Package Global Variables}) when the group is exited. Furthermore, the
22506 spam is moved to the @code{spam-process-destination} (@pxref{Spam
22507 ELisp Package Global Variables}) for further training or deletion.
22508 You have to load the @code{gnus-registry.el} package and enable the
22509 @code{spam-log-to-registry} variable if you want spam to be processed
22510 no more than once. Thus, spam is detected and processed everywhere,
22511 which is what most people want. If the
22512 @code{spam-process-destination} is @code{nil}, the spam is marked as
22513 expired, which is usually the right thing to do.
22515 If spam can not be moved---because of a read-only backend such as
22516 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
22518 If a ham mail is found in a ham group, as determined by the
22519 @code{ham-marks} parameter, it is processed as ham by the active ham
22520 @code{spam-processor} when the group is exited. With the variables
22521 @code{spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups} and
22522 @code{spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups} the behavior can be further
22523 altered so ham found anywhere can be processed. You have to load the
22524 @code{gnus-registry.el} package and enable the
22525 @code{spam-log-to-registry} variable if you want ham to be processed
22526 no more than once. Thus, ham is detected and processed only when
22527 necessary, which is what most people want. More on this in
22528 @xref{Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples}.
22530 If ham can not be moved---because of a read-only backend such as
22531 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
22533 If all this seems confusing, don't worry. Soon it will be as natural
22534 as typing Lisp one-liners on a neural interface@dots{} err, sorry, that's
22535 50 years in the future yet. Just trust us, it's not so bad.
22537 @node Spam ELisp Package Filtering of Incoming Mail
22538 @subsubsection Spam ELisp Package Filtering of Incoming Mail
22539 @cindex spam filtering
22540 @cindex spam filtering incoming mail
22543 To use the @file{spam.el} facilities for incoming mail filtering, you
22544 must add the following to your fancy split list
22545 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy}:
22551 Note that the fancy split may be called @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or
22552 @code{nnimap-split-fancy}, depending on whether you use the nnmail or
22553 nnimap back ends to retrieve your mail.
22555 Also, @code{spam-split} will not modify incoming mail in any way.
22557 The @code{spam-split} function will process incoming mail and send the
22558 mail considered to be spam into the group name given by the variable
22559 @code{spam-split-group}. By default that group name is @samp{spam},
22560 but you can customize @code{spam-split-group}. Make sure the contents
22561 of @code{spam-split-group} are an @emph{unqualified} group name, for
22562 instance in an @code{nnimap} server @samp{your-server} the value
22563 @samp{spam} will turn out to be @samp{nnimap+your-server:spam}. The
22564 value @samp{nnimap+server:spam}, therefore, is wrong and will
22565 actually give you the group
22566 @samp{nnimap+your-server:nnimap+server:spam} which may or may not
22567 work depending on your server's tolerance for strange group names.
22569 You can also give @code{spam-split} a parameter,
22570 e.g. @code{spam-use-regex-headers} or @code{"maybe-spam"}. Why is
22573 Take these split rules (with @code{spam-use-regex-headers} and
22574 @code{spam-use-blackholes} set):
22577 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
22578 (any "ding" "ding")
22580 ;; @r{default mailbox}
22584 Now, the problem is that you want all ding messages to make it to the
22585 ding folder. But that will let obvious spam (for example, spam
22586 detected by SpamAssassin, and @code{spam-use-regex-headers}) through,
22587 when it's sent to the ding list. On the other hand, some messages to
22588 the ding list are from a mail server in the blackhole list, so the
22589 invocation of @code{spam-split} can't be before the ding rule.
22591 You can let SpamAssassin headers supersede ding rules, but all other
22592 @code{spam-split} rules (including a second invocation of the
22593 regex-headers check) will be after the ding rule:
22598 ;; @r{all spam detected by @code{spam-use-regex-headers} goes to @samp{regex-spam}}
22599 (: spam-split "regex-spam" 'spam-use-regex-headers)
22600 (any "ding" "ding")
22601 ;; @r{all other spam detected by spam-split goes to @code{spam-split-group}}
22603 ;; @r{default mailbox}
22607 This lets you invoke specific @code{spam-split} checks depending on
22608 your particular needs, and to target the results of those checks to a
22609 particular spam group. You don't have to throw all mail into all the
22610 spam tests. Another reason why this is nice is that messages to
22611 mailing lists you have rules for don't have to have resource-intensive
22612 blackhole checks performed on them. You could also specify different
22613 spam checks for your nnmail split vs. your nnimap split. Go crazy.
22615 You should still have specific checks such as
22616 @code{spam-use-regex-headers} set to @code{t}, even if you
22617 specifically invoke @code{spam-split} with the check. The reason is
22618 that when loading @file{spam.el}, some conditional loading is done
22619 depending on what @code{spam-use-xyz} variables you have set. This
22620 is usually not critical, though.
22622 @emph{Note for IMAP users}
22624 The boolean variable @code{nnimap-split-download-body} needs to be
22625 set, if you want to split based on the whole message instead of just
22626 the headers. By default, the nnimap back end will only retrieve the
22627 message headers. If you use @code{spam-check-bogofilter},
22628 @code{spam-check-ifile}, or @code{spam-check-stat} (the splitters that
22629 can benefit from the full message body), you should set this variable.
22630 It is not set by default because it will slow @acronym{IMAP} down, and
22631 that is not an appropriate decision to make on behalf of the user.
22633 @xref{Splitting in IMAP}.
22635 @emph{TODO: spam.el needs to provide a uniform way of training all the
22636 statistical databases. Some have that functionality built-in, others
22639 @node Spam ELisp Package Global Variables
22640 @subsubsection Spam ELisp Package Global Variables
22641 @cindex spam filtering
22642 @cindex spam filtering variables
22643 @cindex spam variables
22646 @vindex gnus-spam-process-newsgroups
22647 The concepts of ham processors and spam processors are very important.
22648 Ham processors and spam processors for a group can be set with the
22649 @code{spam-process} group parameter, or the
22650 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. Ham processors take
22651 mail known to be non-spam (@emph{ham}) and process it in some way so
22652 that later similar mail will also be considered non-spam. Spam
22653 processors take mail known to be spam and process it so similar spam
22654 will be detected later.
22656 The format of the spam or ham processor entry used to be a symbol,
22657 but now it is a @sc{cons} cell. See the individual spam processor entries
22658 for more information.
22660 @vindex gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents
22661 Gnus learns from the spam you get. You have to collect your spam in
22662 one or more spam groups, and set or customize the variable
22663 @code{spam-junk-mailgroups} as appropriate. You can also declare
22664 groups to contain spam by setting their group parameter
22665 @code{spam-contents} to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam}, or
22666 by customizing the corresponding variable
22667 @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}. The @code{spam-contents} group
22668 parameter and the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} variable can
22669 also be used to declare groups as @emph{ham} groups if you set their
22670 classification to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-ham}. If
22671 groups are not classified by means of @code{spam-junk-mailgroups},
22672 @code{spam-contents}, or @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}, they are
22673 considered @emph{unclassified}. All groups are unclassified by
22676 @vindex gnus-spam-mark
22678 In spam groups, all messages are considered to be spam by default:
22679 they get the @samp{$} mark (@code{gnus-spam-mark}) when you enter the
22680 group. If you have seen a message, had it marked as spam, then
22681 unmarked it, it won't be marked as spam when you enter the group
22682 thereafter. You can disable that behavior, so all unread messages
22683 will get the @samp{$} mark, if you set the
22684 @code{spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam} parameter to @code{nil}. You
22685 should remove the @samp{$} mark when you are in the group summary
22686 buffer for every message that is not spam after all. To remove the
22687 @samp{$} mark, you can use @kbd{M-u} to ``unread'' the article, or
22688 @kbd{d} for declaring it read the non-spam way. When you leave a
22689 group, all spam-marked (@samp{$}) articles are sent to a spam
22690 processor which will study them as spam samples.
22692 Messages may also be deleted in various other ways, and unless
22693 @code{ham-marks} group parameter gets overridden below, marks @samp{R}
22694 and @samp{r} for default read or explicit delete, marks @samp{X} and
22695 @samp{K} for automatic or explicit kills, as well as mark @samp{Y} for
22696 low scores, are all considered to be associated with articles which
22697 are not spam. This assumption might be false, in particular if you
22698 use kill files or score files as means for detecting genuine spam, you
22699 should then adjust the @code{ham-marks} group parameter.
22702 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
22703 marks you want to consider ham. By default, the list contains the
22704 deleted, read, killed, kill-filed, and low-score marks (the idea is
22705 that these articles have been read, but are not spam). It can be
22706 useful to also include the tick mark in the ham marks. It is not
22707 recommended to make the unread mark a ham mark, because it normally
22708 indicates a lack of classification. But you can do it, and we'll be
22713 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
22714 marks you want to consider spam. By default, the list contains only
22715 the spam mark. It is not recommended to change that, but you can if
22716 you really want to.
22719 When you leave @emph{any} group, regardless of its
22720 @code{spam-contents} classification, all spam-marked articles are sent
22721 to a spam processor, which will study these as spam samples. If you
22722 explicit kill a lot, you might sometimes end up with articles marked
22723 @samp{K} which you never saw, and which might accidentally contain
22724 spam. Best is to make sure that real spam is marked with @samp{$},
22727 @vindex gnus-ham-process-destinations
22728 When you leave a @emph{spam} group, all spam-marked articles are
22729 marked as expired after processing with the spam processor. This is
22730 not done for @emph{unclassified} or @emph{ham} groups. Also, any
22731 @strong{ham} articles in a spam group will be moved to a location
22732 determined by either the @code{ham-process-destination} group
22733 parameter or a match in the @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}
22734 variable, which is a list of regular expressions matched with group
22735 names (it's easiest to customize this variable with @kbd{M-x
22736 customize-variable @key{RET} gnus-ham-process-destinations}). Each
22737 newsgroup specification has the format @code{(@var{regexp}
22738 @var{processor})} in a standard Lisp list, if you prefer to customize
22739 the variable manually. The ultimate location is a group name or
22740 names. If the @code{ham-process-destination} parameter is not set,
22741 ham articles are left in place. If the
22742 @code{spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group} parameter is
22743 set, the ham articles are marked as unread before being moved.
22745 If ham can not be moved---because of a read-only backend such as
22746 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
22748 Note that you can use multiples destinations per group or regular
22749 expression! This enables you to send your ham to a regular mail
22750 group and to a @emph{ham training} group.
22752 When you leave a @emph{ham} group, all ham-marked articles are sent to
22753 a ham processor, which will study these as non-spam samples.
22755 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups
22756 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups} is
22757 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in spam groups
22758 to be processed. Normally this is not done, you are expected instead
22759 to send your ham to a ham group and process it there.
22761 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups
22762 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups} is
22763 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in non-ham (spam
22764 or unclassified) groups to be processed. Normally this is not done,
22765 you are expected instead to send your ham to a ham group and process
22768 @vindex gnus-spam-process-destinations
22769 When you leave a @emph{ham} or @emph{unclassified} group, all
22770 @strong{spam} articles are moved to a location determined by either
22771 the @code{spam-process-destination} group parameter or a match in the
22772 @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations} variable, which is a list of
22773 regular expressions matched with group names (it's easiest to
22774 customize this variable with @kbd{M-x customize-variable @key{RET}
22775 gnus-spam-process-destinations}). Each newsgroup specification has
22776 the repeated format @code{(@var{regexp} @var{group})} and they are all
22777 in a standard Lisp list, if you prefer to customize the variable
22778 manually. The ultimate location is a group name or names. If the
22779 @code{spam-process-destination} parameter is not set, the spam
22780 articles are only expired. The group name is fully qualified, meaning
22781 that if you see @samp{nntp:servername} before the group name in the
22782 group buffer then you need it here as well.
22784 If spam can not be moved---because of a read-only backend such as
22785 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
22787 Note that you can use multiples destinations per group or regular
22788 expression! This enables you to send your spam to multiple @emph{spam
22791 @vindex spam-log-to-registry
22792 The problem with processing ham and spam is that Gnus doesn't track
22793 this processing by default. Enable the @code{spam-log-to-registry}
22794 variable so @code{spam.el} will use @code{gnus-registry.el} to track
22795 what articles have been processed, and avoid processing articles
22796 multiple times. Keep in mind that if you limit the number of registry
22797 entries, this won't work as well as it does without a limit.
22799 @vindex spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam
22800 Set this variable if you want only unseen articles in spam groups to
22801 be marked as spam. By default, it is set. If you set it to
22802 @code{nil}, unread articles will also be marked as spam.
22804 @vindex spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group
22805 Set this variable if you want ham to be unmarked before it is moved
22806 out of the spam group. This is very useful when you use something
22807 like the tick mark @samp{!} to mark ham---the article will be placed
22808 in your @code{ham-process-destination}, unmarked as if it came fresh
22809 from the mail server.
22811 @vindex spam-autodetect-recheck-messages
22812 When autodetecting spam, this variable tells @code{spam.el} whether
22813 only unseen articles or all unread articles should be checked for
22814 spam. It is recommended that you leave it off.
22816 @node Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples
22817 @subsubsection Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples
22818 @cindex spam filtering
22819 @cindex spam filtering configuration examples
22820 @cindex spam configuration examples
22823 @subsubheading Ted's setup
22825 From Ted Zlatanov <tzz@@lifelogs.com>.
22827 ;; @r{for @code{gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent} and spam autodetection}
22828 ;; @r{see @file{gnus-registry.el} for more information}
22829 (gnus-registry-initialize)
22832 ;; @r{I like @kbd{C-s} for marking spam}
22833 (define-key gnus-summary-mode-map "\C-s" 'gnus-summary-mark-as-spam)
22836 spam-log-to-registry t ; @r{for spam autodetection}
22838 spam-use-regex-headers t ; @r{catch X-Spam-Flag (SpamAssassin)}
22839 ;; @r{all groups with @samp{spam} in the name contain spam}
22840 gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents
22841 '(("spam" gnus-group-spam-classification-spam))
22842 ;; @r{see documentation for these}
22843 spam-move-spam-nonspam-groups-only nil
22844 spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam t
22845 spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group t
22846 nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
22847 ;; @r{understand what this does before you copy it to your own setup!}
22848 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
22849 ;; @r{trace references to parents and put in their group}
22850 (: gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent)
22851 ;; @r{this will catch server-side SpamAssassin tags}
22852 (: spam-split 'spam-use-regex-headers)
22853 (any "ding" "ding")
22854 ;; @r{note that spam by default will go to @samp{spam}}
22856 ;; @r{default mailbox}
22859 ;; @r{my parameters, set with @kbd{G p}}
22861 ;; @r{all nnml groups, and all nnimap groups except}
22862 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train} and}
22863 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:spam}: any spam goes to nnimap training,}
22864 ;; @r{because it must have been detected manually}
22866 ((spam-process-destination . "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train"))
22868 ;; @r{all @acronym{NNTP} groups}
22869 ;; @r{autodetect spam with the blacklist and ham with the BBDB}
22870 ((spam-autodetect-methods spam-use-blacklist spam-use-BBDB)
22871 ;; @r{send all spam to the training group}
22872 (spam-process-destination . "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train"))
22874 ;; @r{only some @acronym{NNTP} groups, where I want to autodetect spam}
22875 ((spam-autodetect . t))
22877 ;; @r{my nnimap @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:spam} group}
22879 ;; @r{this is a spam group}
22880 ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-spam)
22882 ;; @r{any spam (which happens when I enter for all unseen messages,}
22883 ;; @r{because of the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} setting above), goes to}
22884 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train} unless I mark it as ham}
22886 (spam-process-destination "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train")
22888 ;; @r{any ham goes to my @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:mail} folder, but}
22889 ;; @r{also to my @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:trainham} folder for training}
22891 (ham-process-destination "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:mail"
22892 "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:trainham")
22893 ;; @r{in this group, only @samp{!} marks are ham}
22895 (gnus-ticked-mark))
22896 ;; @r{remembers senders in the blacklist on the way out---this is}
22897 ;; @r{definitely not needed, it just makes me feel better}
22898 (spam-process (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist)))
22900 ;; @r{Later, on the @acronym{IMAP} server I use the @samp{train} group for training}
22901 ;; @r{SpamAssassin to recognize spam, and the @samp{trainham} group fora}
22902 ;; @r{recognizing ham---but Gnus has nothing to do with it.}
22906 @subsubheading Using @file{spam.el} on an IMAP server with a statistical filter on the server
22907 From Reiner Steib <reiner.steib@@gmx.de>.
22909 My provider has set up bogofilter (in combination with @acronym{DCC}) on
22910 the mail server (@acronym{IMAP}). Recognized spam goes to
22911 @samp{spam.detected}, the rest goes through the normal filter rules,
22912 i.e. to @samp{some.folder} or to @samp{INBOX}. Training on false
22913 positives or negatives is done by copying or moving the article to
22914 @samp{training.ham} or @samp{training.spam} respectively. A cron job on
22915 the server feeds those to bogofilter with the suitable ham or spam
22916 options and deletes them from the @samp{training.ham} and
22917 @samp{training.spam} folders.
22919 With the following entries in @code{gnus-parameters}, @code{spam.el}
22920 does most of the job for me:
22923 ("nnimap:spam\\.detected"
22924 (gnus-article-sort-functions '(gnus-article-sort-by-chars))
22925 (ham-process-destination "nnimap:INBOX" "nnimap:training.ham")
22926 (spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-spam))
22927 ("nnimap:\\(INBOX\\|other-folders\\)"
22928 (spam-process-destination . "nnimap:training.spam")
22929 (spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham))
22934 @item @b{The Spam folder:}
22936 In the folder @samp{spam.detected}, I have to check for false positives
22937 (i.e. legitimate mails, that were wrongly judged as spam by
22938 bogofilter or DCC).
22940 Because of the @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam} entry, all
22941 messages are marked as spam (with @code{$}). When I find a false
22942 positive, I mark the message with some other ham mark (@code{ham-marks},
22943 @ref{Spam ELisp Package Global Variables}). On group exit, those
22944 messages are copied to both groups, @samp{INBOX} (where I want to have
22945 the article) and @samp{training.ham} (for training bogofilter) and
22946 deleted from the @samp{spam.detected} folder.
22948 The @code{gnus-article-sort-by-chars} entry simplifies detection of
22949 false positives for me. I receive lots of worms (sweN, @dots{}), that all
22950 have a similar size. Grouping them by size (i.e. chars) makes finding
22951 other false positives easier. (Of course worms aren't @i{spam}
22952 (@acronym{UCE}, @acronym{UBE}) strictly speaking. Anyhow, bogofilter is
22953 an excellent tool for filtering those unwanted mails for me.)
22955 @item @b{Ham folders:}
22957 In my ham folders, I just hit @kbd{S x}
22958 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}) whenever I see an unrecognized spam
22959 mail (false negative). On group exit, those messages are moved to
22960 @samp{training.ham}.
22963 @subsubheading Reporting spam articles in Gmane groups with @code{spam-report.el}
22965 From Reiner Steib <reiner.steib@@gmx.de>.
22967 With following entry in @code{gnus-parameters}, @kbd{S x}
22968 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}) marks articles in @code{gmane.*}
22969 groups as spam and reports the to Gmane at group exit:
22973 (spam-process (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane)))
22976 Additionally, I use @code{(setq spam-report-gmane-use-article-number nil)}
22977 because I don't read the groups directly from news.gmane.org, but
22978 through my local news server (leafnode). I.e. the article numbers are
22979 not the same as on news.gmane.org, thus @code{spam-report.el} has to check
22980 the @code{X-Report-Spam} header to find the correct number.
22982 @node Blacklists and Whitelists
22983 @subsubsection Blacklists and Whitelists
22984 @cindex spam filtering
22985 @cindex whitelists, spam filtering
22986 @cindex blacklists, spam filtering
22989 @defvar spam-use-blacklist
22991 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use blacklists when
22992 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are in the blacklist
22993 will be sent to the @code{spam-split-group}. This is an explicit
22994 filter, meaning that it acts only on mail senders @emph{declared} to
22999 @defvar spam-use-whitelist
23001 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists when
23002 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are not in the
23003 whitelist will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
23004 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the whitelist, their
23005 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
23009 @defvar spam-use-whitelist-exclusive
23011 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists as an
23012 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
23013 unless the sender is in the whitelist. Use with care.
23017 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist
23019 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23020 customizing the group parameters or the
23021 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23022 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
23023 spam-marked articles will be added to the blacklist.
23027 Instead of the obsolete
23028 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist}, it is recommended
23029 that you use @code{'(spam spam-use-blacklist)}. Everything will work
23030 the same way, we promise.
23034 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist
23036 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23037 customizing the group parameters or the
23038 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23039 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
23040 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
23041 whitelist. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam}
23042 or @emph{unclassified} groups.
23046 Instead of the obsolete
23047 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist}, it is recommended
23048 that you use @code{'(ham spam-use-whitelist)}. Everything will work
23049 the same way, we promise.
23053 Blacklists are lists of regular expressions matching addresses you
23054 consider to be spam senders. For instance, to block mail from any
23055 sender at @samp{vmadmin.com}, you can put @samp{vmadmin.com} in your
23056 blacklist. You start out with an empty blacklist. Blacklist entries
23057 use the Emacs regular expression syntax.
23059 Conversely, whitelists tell Gnus what addresses are considered
23060 legitimate. All messages from whitelisted addresses are considered
23061 non-spam. Also see @ref{BBDB Whitelists}. Whitelist entries use the
23062 Emacs regular expression syntax.
23064 The blacklist and whitelist file locations can be customized with the
23065 @code{spam-directory} variable (@file{~/News/spam} by default), or
23066 the @code{spam-whitelist} and @code{spam-blacklist} variables
23067 directly. The whitelist and blacklist files will by default be in the
23068 @code{spam-directory} directory, named @file{whitelist} and
23069 @file{blacklist} respectively.
23071 @node BBDB Whitelists
23072 @subsubsection BBDB Whitelists
23073 @cindex spam filtering
23074 @cindex BBDB whitelists, spam filtering
23075 @cindex BBDB, spam filtering
23078 @defvar spam-use-BBDB
23080 Analogous to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
23081 Whitelists}), but uses the BBDB as the source of whitelisted
23082 addresses, without regular expressions. You must have the BBDB loaded
23083 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} to work properly. Messages whose senders are
23084 not in the BBDB will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
23085 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the BBDB, their
23086 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
23090 @defvar spam-use-BBDB-exclusive
23092 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use the BBDB as an
23093 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
23094 unless the sender is in the BBDB. Use with care. Only sender
23095 addresses in the BBDB will be allowed through; all others will be
23096 classified as spammers.
23100 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB
23102 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23103 customizing the group parameters or the
23104 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23105 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
23106 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
23107 BBDB. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam}
23108 or @emph{unclassified} groups.
23112 Instead of the obsolete
23113 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB}, it is recommended
23114 that you use @code{'(ham spam-use-BBDB)}. Everything will work
23115 the same way, we promise.
23119 @node Gmane Spam Reporting
23120 @subsubsection Gmane Spam Reporting
23121 @cindex spam reporting
23122 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
23123 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
23126 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane
23128 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23129 customizing the group parameters or the
23130 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23131 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
23132 articles groups will be reported to the Gmane administrators via a
23135 Gmane can be found at @uref{http://gmane.org}.
23139 Instead of the obsolete
23140 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane}, it is recommended
23141 that you use @code{'(spam spam-use-gmane)}. Everything will work the
23142 same way, we promise.
23146 @defvar spam-report-gmane-use-article-number
23148 This variable is @code{t} by default. Set it to @code{nil} if you are
23149 running your own news server, for instance, and the local article
23150 numbers don't correspond to the Gmane article numbers. When
23151 @code{spam-report-gmane-use-article-number} is @code{nil},
23152 @code{spam-report.el} will use the @code{X-Report-Spam} header that
23157 @node Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
23158 @subsubsection Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
23159 @cindex spam filtering
23160 @cindex hashcash, spam filtering
23163 @defvar spam-use-hashcash
23165 Similar to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
23166 Whitelists}), but uses hashcash tokens for whitelisting messages
23167 instead of the sender address. You must have the @code{hashcash.el}
23168 package loaded for @code{spam-use-hashcash} to work properly.
23169 Messages without a hashcash payment token will be sent to the next
23170 spam-split rule. This is an explicit filter, meaning that unless a
23171 hashcash token is found, the messages are not assumed to be spam or
23177 @subsubsection Blackholes
23178 @cindex spam filtering
23179 @cindex blackholes, spam filtering
23182 @defvar spam-use-blackholes
23184 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus consult the
23185 blackhole-type distributed spam processing systems (DCC, for instance)
23186 when you set this option. The variable @code{spam-blackhole-servers}
23187 holds the list of blackhole servers Gnus will consult. The current
23188 list is fairly comprehensive, but make sure to let us know if it
23189 contains outdated servers.
23191 The blackhole check uses the @code{dig.el} package, but you can tell
23192 @file{spam.el} to use @code{dns.el} instead for better performance if
23193 you set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil}. It is not recommended at
23194 this time to set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil} despite the
23195 possible performance improvements, because some users may be unable to
23196 use it, but you can try it and see if it works for you.
23200 @defvar spam-blackhole-servers
23202 The list of servers to consult for blackhole checks.
23206 @defvar spam-blackhole-good-server-regex
23208 A regular expression for IPs that should not be checked against the
23209 blackhole server list. When set to @code{nil}, it has no effect.
23213 @defvar spam-use-dig
23215 Use the @code{dig.el} package instead of the @code{dns.el} package.
23216 The default setting of @code{t} is recommended.
23220 Blackhole checks are done only on incoming mail. There is no spam or
23221 ham processor for blackholes.
23223 @node Regular Expressions Header Matching
23224 @subsubsection Regular Expressions Header Matching
23225 @cindex spam filtering
23226 @cindex regular expressions header matching, spam filtering
23229 @defvar spam-use-regex-headers
23231 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus check the
23232 message headers against lists of regular expressions when you set this
23233 option. The variables @code{spam-regex-headers-spam} and
23234 @code{spam-regex-headers-ham} hold the list of regular expressions.
23235 Gnus will check against the message headers to determine if the
23236 message is spam or ham, respectively.
23240 @defvar spam-regex-headers-spam
23242 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
23243 the message, positively identify it as spam.
23247 @defvar spam-regex-headers-ham
23249 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
23250 the message, positively identify it as ham.
23254 Regular expression header checks are done only on incoming mail.
23255 There is no specific spam or ham processor for regular expressions.
23258 @subsubsection Bogofilter
23259 @cindex spam filtering
23260 @cindex bogofilter, spam filtering
23263 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter
23265 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
23268 With a minimum of care for associating the @samp{$} mark for spam
23269 articles only, Bogofilter training all gets fairly automatic. You
23270 should do this until you get a few hundreds of articles in each
23271 category, spam or not. The command @kbd{S t} in summary mode, either
23272 for debugging or for curiosity, shows the @emph{spamicity} score of
23273 the current article (between 0.0 and 1.0).
23275 Bogofilter determines if a message is spam based on a specific
23276 threshold. That threshold can be customized, consult the Bogofilter
23279 If the @code{bogofilter} executable is not in your path, Bogofilter
23280 processing will be turned off.
23282 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}.
23286 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter-headers
23288 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
23289 speedy Bogofilter, looking only at the message headers. It works
23290 similarly to @code{spam-use-bogofilter}, but the @code{X-Bogosity} header
23291 must be in the message already. Normally you would do this with a
23292 procmail recipe or something similar; consult the Bogofilter
23293 installation documents for details.
23295 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter}.
23299 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter
23300 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23301 customizing the group parameters or the
23302 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23303 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles
23304 will be added to the Bogofilter spam database.
23308 Instead of the obsolete
23309 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter}, it is recommended
23310 that you use @code{'(spam spam-use-bogofilter)}. Everything will work
23311 the same way, we promise.
23314 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter
23315 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23316 customizing the group parameters or the
23317 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23318 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
23319 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the Bogofilter database
23320 of non-spam messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in
23321 @emph{spam} or @emph{unclassified} groups.
23325 Instead of the obsolete
23326 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter}, it is recommended
23327 that you use @code{'(ham spam-use-bogofilter)}. Everything will work
23328 the same way, we promise.
23331 @defvar spam-bogofilter-database-directory
23333 This is the directory where Bogofilter will store its databases. It
23334 is not specified by default, so Bogofilter will use its own default
23335 database directory.
23339 The Bogofilter mail classifier is similar to @command{ifile} in intent and
23340 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
23341 @code{spam-use-bogofilter} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}
23342 variables to indicate to spam-split that Bogofilter should either be
23343 used, or has already been used on the article. The 0.9.2.1 version of
23344 Bogofilter was used to test this functionality.
23346 @node ifile spam filtering
23347 @subsubsection ifile spam filtering
23348 @cindex spam filtering
23349 @cindex ifile, spam filtering
23352 @defvar spam-use-ifile
23354 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use @command{ifile}, a
23355 statistical analyzer similar to Bogofilter.
23359 @defvar spam-ifile-all-categories
23361 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-use-ifile} to give you all
23362 the ifile categories, not just spam/non-spam. If you use this, make
23363 sure you train ifile as described in its documentation.
23367 @defvar spam-ifile-spam-category
23369 This is the category of spam messages as far as ifile is concerned.
23370 The actual string used is irrelevant, but you probably want to leave
23371 the default value of @samp{spam}.
23374 @defvar spam-ifile-database-path
23376 This is the filename for the ifile database. It is not specified by
23377 default, so ifile will use its own default database name.
23381 The ifile mail classifier is similar to Bogofilter in intent and
23382 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
23383 @code{spam-use-ifile} variable to indicate to spam-split that ifile
23384 should be used. The 1.2.1 version of ifile was used to test this
23387 @node spam-stat spam filtering
23388 @subsubsection spam-stat spam filtering
23389 @cindex spam filtering
23390 @cindex spam-stat, spam filtering
23394 @xref{Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat}.
23396 @defvar spam-use-stat
23398 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use
23399 spam-stat.el, an Emacs Lisp statistical analyzer.
23403 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat
23404 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23405 customizing the group parameters or the
23406 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23407 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
23408 articles will be added to the spam-stat database of spam messages.
23412 Instead of the obsolete
23413 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat}, it is recommended
23414 that you use @code{'(spam spam-use-stat)}. Everything will work
23415 the same way, we promise.
23418 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat
23419 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23420 customizing the group parameters or the
23421 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23422 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
23423 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the spam-stat database
23424 of non-spam messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in
23425 @emph{spam} or @emph{unclassified} groups.
23429 Instead of the obsolete
23430 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat}, it is recommended
23431 that you use @code{'(ham spam-use-stat)}. Everything will work
23432 the same way, we promise.
23435 This enables @file{spam.el} to cooperate with @file{spam-stat.el}.
23436 @file{spam-stat.el} provides an internal (Lisp-only) spam database,
23437 which unlike ifile or Bogofilter does not require external programs.
23438 A spam and a ham processor, and the @code{spam-use-stat} variable for
23439 @code{spam-split} are provided.
23442 @subsubsection Using SpamOracle with Gnus
23443 @cindex spam filtering
23447 An easy way to filter out spam is to use SpamOracle. SpamOracle is an
23448 statistical mail filtering tool written by Xavier Leroy and needs to be
23449 installed separately.
23451 There are several ways to use SpamOracle with Gnus. In all cases, your
23452 mail is piped through SpamOracle in its @emph{mark} mode. SpamOracle will
23453 then enter an @samp{X-Spam} header indicating whether it regards the
23454 mail as a spam mail or not.
23456 One possibility is to run SpamOracle as a @code{:prescript} from the
23457 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}, (@pxref{SpamAssassin}). This method has
23458 the advantage that the user can see the @emph{X-Spam} headers.
23460 The easiest method is to make @file{spam.el} (@pxref{Filtering Spam
23461 Using The Spam ELisp Package}) call SpamOracle.
23463 @vindex spam-use-spamoracle
23464 To enable SpamOracle usage by @file{spam.el}, set the variable
23465 @code{spam-use-spamoracle} to @code{t} and configure the
23466 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy} as described in
23467 the section @xref{Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package}. In
23468 this example the @samp{INBOX} of an nnimap server is filtered using
23469 SpamOracle. Mails recognized as spam mails will be moved to
23470 @code{spam-split-group}, @samp{Junk} in this case. Ham messages stay
23474 (setq spam-use-spamoracle t
23475 spam-split-group "Junk"
23476 nnimap-split-inbox '("INBOX")
23477 nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
23478 nnimap-split-fancy '(| (: spam-split) "INBOX"))
23481 @defvar spam-use-spamoracle
23482 Set to @code{t} if you want Gnus to enable spam filtering using
23486 @defvar spam-spamoracle-binary
23487 Gnus uses the SpamOracle binary called @file{spamoracle} found in the
23488 user's PATH. Using the variable @code{spam-spamoracle-binary}, this
23492 @defvar spam-spamoracle-database
23493 By default, SpamOracle uses the file @file{~/.spamoracle.db} as a database to
23494 store its analyses. This is controlled by the variable
23495 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} which defaults to @code{nil}. That means
23496 the default SpamOracle database will be used. In case you want your
23497 database to live somewhere special, set
23498 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} to this path.
23501 SpamOracle employs a statistical algorithm to determine whether a
23502 message is spam or ham. In order to get good results, meaning few
23503 false hits or misses, SpamOracle needs training. SpamOracle learns the
23504 characteristics of your spam mails. Using the @emph{add} mode
23505 (training mode) one has to feed good (ham) and spam mails to
23506 SpamOracle. This can be done by pressing @kbd{|} in the Summary buffer
23507 and pipe the mail to a SpamOracle process or using @file{spam.el}'s
23508 spam- and ham-processors, which is much more convenient. For a
23509 detailed description of spam- and ham-processors, @xref{Filtering Spam
23510 Using The Spam ELisp Package}.
23512 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle
23513 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23514 customizing the group parameter or the
23515 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
23516 to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles will be
23517 sent to SpamOracle as spam samples.
23521 Instead of the obsolete
23522 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle}, it is recommended
23523 that you use @code{'(spam spam-use-spamoracle)}. Everything will work
23524 the same way, we promise.
23527 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle
23528 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23529 customizing the group parameter or the
23530 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
23531 to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked articles in
23532 @emph{ham} groups will be sent to the SpamOracle as samples of ham
23533 messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam} or
23534 @emph{unclassified} groups.
23538 Instead of the obsolete
23539 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle}, it is recommended
23540 that you use @code{'(ham spam-use-spamoracle)}. Everything will work
23541 the same way, we promise.
23544 @emph{Example:} These are the Group Parameters of a group that has been
23545 classified as a ham group, meaning that it should only contain ham
23548 ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham)
23549 (spam-process ((ham spam-use-spamoracle)
23550 (spam spam-use-spamoracle))))
23552 For this group the @code{spam-use-spamoracle} is installed for both
23553 ham and spam processing. If the group contains spam message
23554 (e.g. because SpamOracle has not had enough sample messages yet) and
23555 the user marks some messages as spam messages, these messages will be
23556 processed by SpamOracle. The processor sends the messages to
23557 SpamOracle as new samples for spam.
23559 @node Extending the Spam ELisp package
23560 @subsubsection Extending the Spam ELisp package
23561 @cindex spam filtering
23562 @cindex spam elisp package, extending
23563 @cindex extending the spam elisp package
23565 Say you want to add a new back end called blackbox. For filtering
23566 incoming mail, provide the following:
23574 (defvar spam-use-blackbox nil
23575 "True if blackbox should be used.")
23580 (spam-use-blackbox . spam-check-blackbox)
23582 to @code{spam-list-of-checks}.
23586 (gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-blackbox ham spam-use-blackbox)
23587 (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blackbox spam spam-use-blackbox)
23590 to @code{spam-list-of-processors}.
23594 (spam-use-blackbox spam-blackbox-register-routine
23596 spam-blackbox-unregister-routine
23600 to @code{spam-registration-functions}. Write the register/unregister
23601 routines using the bogofilter register/unregister routines as a
23602 start, or other restister/unregister routines more appropriate to
23608 Write the @code{spam-check-blackbox} function. It should return
23609 @samp{nil} or @code{spam-split-group}, observing the other
23610 conventions. See the existing @code{spam-check-*} functions for
23611 examples of what you can do, and stick to the template unless you
23612 fully understand the reasons why you aren't.
23614 Make sure to add @code{spam-use-blackbox} to
23615 @code{spam-list-of-statistical-checks} if Blackbox is a statistical
23616 mail analyzer that needs the full message body to operate.
23620 For processing spam and ham messages, provide the following:
23627 Note you don't have to provide a spam or a ham processor. Only
23628 provide them if Blackbox supports spam or ham processing.
23630 Also, ham and spam processors are being phased out as single
23631 variables. Instead the form @code{'(spam spam-use-blackbox)} or
23632 @code{'(ham spam-use-blackbox)} is favored. For now, spam/ham
23633 processor variables are still around but they won't be for long.
23636 (defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox-spam"
23637 "The Blackbox summary exit spam processor.
23638 Only applicable to spam groups.")
23640 (defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox-ham"
23641 "The whitelist summary exit ham processor.
23642 Only applicable to non-spam (unclassified and ham) groups.")
23651 (const :tag "Spam: Blackbox" (spam spam-use-blackbox))
23652 (const :tag "Ham: Blackbox" (ham spam-use-blackbox))
23654 to the @code{spam-process} group parameter in @code{gnus.el}. Make
23655 sure you do it twice, once for the parameter and once for the
23656 variable customization.
23660 (variable-item spam-use-blackbox)
23662 to the @code{spam-autodetect-methods} group parameter in
23668 @node Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
23669 @subsection Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
23670 @cindex Paul Graham
23671 @cindex Graham, Paul
23672 @cindex naive Bayesian spam filtering
23673 @cindex Bayesian spam filtering, naive
23674 @cindex spam filtering, naive Bayesian
23676 Paul Graham has written an excellent essay about spam filtering using
23677 statistics: @uref{http://www.paulgraham.com/spam.html,A Plan for
23678 Spam}. In it he describes the inherent deficiency of rule-based
23679 filtering as used by SpamAssassin, for example: Somebody has to write
23680 the rules, and everybody else has to install these rules. You are
23681 always late. It would be much better, he argues, to filter mail based
23682 on whether it somehow resembles spam or non-spam. One way to measure
23683 this is word distribution. He then goes on to describe a solution
23684 that checks whether a new mail resembles any of your other spam mails
23687 The basic idea is this: Create a two collections of your mail, one
23688 with spam, one with non-spam. Count how often each word appears in
23689 either collection, weight this by the total number of mails in the
23690 collections, and store this information in a dictionary. For every
23691 word in a new mail, determine its probability to belong to a spam or a
23692 non-spam mail. Use the 15 most conspicuous words, compute the total
23693 probability of the mail being spam. If this probability is higher
23694 than a certain threshold, the mail is considered to be spam.
23696 Gnus supports this kind of filtering. But it needs some setting up.
23697 First, you need two collections of your mail, one with spam, one with
23698 non-spam. Then you need to create a dictionary using these two
23699 collections, and save it. And last but not least, you need to use
23700 this dictionary in your fancy mail splitting rules.
23703 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
23704 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
23705 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
23708 @node Creating a spam-stat dictionary
23709 @subsubsection Creating a spam-stat dictionary
23711 Before you can begin to filter spam based on statistics, you must
23712 create these statistics based on two mail collections, one with spam,
23713 one with non-spam. These statistics are then stored in a dictionary
23714 for later use. In order for these statistics to be meaningful, you
23715 need several hundred emails in both collections.
23717 Gnus currently supports only the nnml back end for automated dictionary
23718 creation. The nnml back end stores all mails in a directory, one file
23719 per mail. Use the following:
23721 @defun spam-stat-process-spam-directory
23722 Create spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every file
23723 is treated as one spam mail.
23726 @defun spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory
23727 Create non-spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every
23728 file is treated as one non-spam mail.
23731 Usually you would call @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory} on a
23732 directory such as @file{~/Mail/mail/spam} (this usually corresponds
23733 the the group @samp{nnml:mail.spam}), and you would call
23734 @code{spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory} on a directory such as
23735 @file{~/Mail/mail/misc} (this usually corresponds the the group
23736 @samp{nnml:mail.misc}).
23738 When you are using @acronym{IMAP}, you won't have the mails available
23739 locally, so that will not work. One solution is to use the Gnus Agent
23740 to cache the articles. Then you can use directories such as
23741 @file{"~/News/agent/nnimap/mail.yourisp.com/personal_spam"} for
23742 @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory}. @xref{Agent as Cache}.
23745 This variable holds the hash-table with all the statistics---the
23746 dictionary we have been talking about. For every word in either
23747 collection, this hash-table stores a vector describing how often the
23748 word appeared in spam and often it appeared in non-spam mails.
23751 If you want to regenerate the statistics from scratch, you need to
23752 reset the dictionary.
23754 @defun spam-stat-reset
23755 Reset the @code{spam-stat} hash-table, deleting all the statistics.
23758 When you are done, you must save the dictionary. The dictionary may
23759 be rather large. If you will not update the dictionary incrementally
23760 (instead, you will recreate it once a month, for example), then you
23761 can reduce the size of the dictionary by deleting all words that did
23762 not appear often enough or that do not clearly belong to only spam or
23763 only non-spam mails.
23765 @defun spam-stat-reduce-size
23766 Reduce the size of the dictionary. Use this only if you do not want
23767 to update the dictionary incrementally.
23770 @defun spam-stat-save
23771 Save the dictionary.
23774 @defvar spam-stat-file
23775 The filename used to store the dictionary. This defaults to
23776 @file{~/.spam-stat.el}.
23779 @node Splitting mail using spam-stat
23780 @subsubsection Splitting mail using spam-stat
23782 In order to use @code{spam-stat} to split your mail, you need to add the
23783 following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23786 (require 'spam-stat)
23790 This will load the necessary Gnus code, and the dictionary you
23793 Next, you need to adapt your fancy splitting rules: You need to
23794 determine how to use @code{spam-stat}. The following examples are for
23795 the nnml back end. Using the nnimap back end works just as well. Just
23796 use @code{nnimap-split-fancy} instead of @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
23798 In the simplest case, you only have two groups, @samp{mail.misc} and
23799 @samp{mail.spam}. The following expression says that mail is either
23800 spam or it should go into @samp{mail.misc}. If it is spam, then
23801 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will return @samp{mail.spam}.
23804 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
23805 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
23809 @defvar spam-stat-split-fancy-spam-group
23810 The group to use for spam. Default is @samp{mail.spam}.
23813 If you also filter mail with specific subjects into other groups, use
23814 the following expression. Only mails not matching the regular
23815 expression are considered potential spam.
23818 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
23819 `(| ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
23820 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
23824 If you want to filter for spam first, then you must be careful when
23825 creating the dictionary. Note that @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} must
23826 consider both mails in @samp{mail.emacs} and in @samp{mail.misc} as
23827 non-spam, therefore both should be in your collection of non-spam
23828 mails, when creating the dictionary!
23831 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
23832 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
23833 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
23837 You can combine this with traditional filtering. Here, we move all
23838 HTML-only mails into the @samp{mail.spam.filtered} group. Note that since
23839 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will never see them, the mails in
23840 @samp{mail.spam.filtered} should be neither in your collection of spam mails,
23841 nor in your collection of non-spam mails, when creating the
23845 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
23846 `(| ("Content-Type" "text/html" "mail.spam.filtered")
23847 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
23848 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
23853 @node Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
23854 @subsubsection Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
23856 The main interface to using @code{spam-stat}, are the following functions:
23858 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-spam
23859 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new spam mail.
23860 Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
23863 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-no-spam
23864 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new non-spam
23865 mail. Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
23868 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-spam
23869 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be normal
23870 mail but spam. Use this to change the status of a mail that has
23871 already been processed as non-spam.
23874 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-non-spam
23875 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be spam but
23876 normal mail. Use this to change the status of a mail that has already
23877 been processed as spam.
23880 @defun spam-stat-save
23881 Save the hash table to the file. The filename used is stored in the
23882 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
23885 @defun spam-stat-load
23886 Load the hash table from a file. The filename used is stored in the
23887 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
23890 @defun spam-stat-score-word
23891 Return the spam score for a word.
23894 @defun spam-stat-score-buffer
23895 Return the spam score for a buffer.
23898 @defun spam-stat-split-fancy
23899 Use this function for fancy mail splitting. Add the rule @samp{(:
23900 spam-stat-split-fancy)} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
23903 Make sure you load the dictionary before using it. This requires the
23904 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23907 (require 'spam-stat)
23911 Typical test will involve calls to the following functions:
23914 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
23915 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
23916 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
23917 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
23918 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
23919 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
23920 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
23921 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
23922 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
23923 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
23924 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
23925 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
23926 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
23927 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
23930 Here is how you would create your dictionary:
23933 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
23934 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
23935 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
23936 Repeat for any other non-spam group you need...
23937 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
23938 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
23942 @section Interaction with other modes
23947 @code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} provided some useful functions for dired
23948 buffers. It is enabled with
23950 (add-hook 'dired-mode-hook 'turn-on-gnus-dired-mode)
23955 @findex gnus-dired-attach
23956 Send dired's marked files as an attachment (@code{gnus-dired-attach}).
23957 You will be prompted for a message buffer.
23960 @findex gnus-dired-find-file-mailcap
23961 Visit a file according to the appropriate mailcap entry
23962 (@code{gnus-dired-find-file-mailcap}). With prefix, open file in a new
23966 @findex gnus-dired-print
23967 Print file according to the mailcap entry (@code{gnus-dired-print}). If
23968 there is no print command, print in a PostScript image.
23971 @node Various Various
23972 @section Various Various
23978 @item gnus-home-directory
23979 @vindex gnus-home-directory
23980 All Gnus file and directory variables will be initialized from this
23981 variable, which defaults to @file{~/}.
23983 @item gnus-directory
23984 @vindex gnus-directory
23985 Most Gnus storage file and directory variables will be initialized from
23986 this variable, which defaults to the @env{SAVEDIR} environment
23987 variable, or @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
23989 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{~/.gnus.el} file is read.
23990 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
23991 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
23992 @file{~/.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
23994 @item gnus-default-directory
23995 @vindex gnus-default-directory
23996 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
23997 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
23998 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
23999 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
24000 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
24001 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
24004 @vindex gnus-verbose
24005 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
24006 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
24007 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
24008 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
24009 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
24011 @item gnus-verbose-backends
24012 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
24013 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
24014 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
24016 @item nnheader-max-head-length
24017 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
24018 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
24019 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
24020 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
24021 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
24022 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
24023 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
24024 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
24025 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
24027 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
24028 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
24029 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
24030 read when doing the operation described above.
24032 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
24033 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
24035 @cindex invalid characters in file names
24036 @cindex characters in file names
24037 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
24038 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
24039 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
24043 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
24048 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
24049 Windows (phooey) systems.
24051 @item gnus-hidden-properties
24052 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
24053 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
24054 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
24055 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
24057 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
24058 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
24059 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
24060 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
24061 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
24063 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
24064 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
24065 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
24067 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
24068 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
24070 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
24071 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
24072 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
24073 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
24076 @acronym{IMAP} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
24084 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
24085 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
24087 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
24089 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
24095 Not because of victories @*
24098 but for the common sunshine,@*
24100 the largess of the spring.
24104 but for the day's work done@*
24105 as well as I was able;@*
24106 not for a seat upon the dais@*
24107 but at the common table.@*
24112 @chapter Appendices
24115 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
24116 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
24117 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
24118 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
24119 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
24120 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
24121 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
24122 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
24123 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
24130 @cindex installing under XEmacs
24132 XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
24133 whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
24134 requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{mail-lib}, @samp{xemacs-base},
24135 @samp{eterm}, @samp{sh-script}, @samp{net-utils}, @samp{os-utils},
24136 @samp{dired}, @samp{mh-e}, @samp{sieve}, @samp{ps-print}, @samp{w3},
24137 @samp{pgg}, @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{ecrypto}, and @samp{sasl}.
24144 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
24145 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
24147 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
24148 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
24149 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
24150 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
24151 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
24153 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
24154 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
24155 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
24156 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
24157 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
24158 appropriate name, don't you think?)
24160 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
24161 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
24162 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
24163 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
24166 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
24167 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
24168 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
24169 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
24170 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
24171 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
24172 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
24173 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
24174 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
24178 @node Gnus Versions
24179 @subsection Gnus Versions
24181 @cindex September Gnus
24183 @cindex Quassia Gnus
24184 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
24187 @cindex Gnus versions
24189 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
24190 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
24191 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
24193 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
24194 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
24196 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
24197 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
24199 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
24200 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
24202 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
24203 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
24206 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun.
24208 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
24209 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
24210 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'' -- don't panic. Don't let it know
24211 that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever you do, don't
24212 run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach. Find a proper
24213 released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
24216 @node Other Gnus Versions
24217 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
24220 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
24221 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
24222 Japan. It's based on a library called @acronym{SEMI}, which provides
24223 @acronym{MIME} capabilities.
24225 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
24226 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
24227 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
24228 @acronym{MIME} and multilingualization things, especially important for
24235 What's the point of Gnus?
24237 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
24238 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
24239 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
24240 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
24241 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
24242 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
24243 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
24244 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
24245 keep track of millions of people who post?
24247 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
24248 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
24249 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
24250 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
24251 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
24252 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
24253 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
24254 every one of you to explore and invent.
24256 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
24257 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
24260 @node Compatibility
24261 @subsection Compatibility
24263 @cindex compatibility
24264 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
24265 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
24266 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
24271 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
24275 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
24278 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
24281 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
24282 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
24283 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
24284 important variables have their values copied into their global
24285 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
24286 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
24288 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
24289 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
24290 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
24291 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
24292 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
24296 @cindex highlighting
24297 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
24298 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
24299 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
24300 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
24301 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
24302 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
24305 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
24306 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
24307 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
24308 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
24310 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
24311 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
24312 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
24313 to stop doing it the old way.
24315 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
24317 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
24319 @cindex reporting bugs
24321 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
24322 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
24323 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
24325 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
24326 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
24327 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
24328 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
24333 @subsection Conformity
24335 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
24336 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
24344 There are no known breaches of this standard.
24348 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
24350 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
24351 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
24352 We do have some breaches to this one.
24358 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
24359 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
24360 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
24361 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
24362 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
24367 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
24368 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
24369 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
24370 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
24372 @item MIME - RFC 2045-2049 etc
24373 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
24374 All the various @acronym{MIME} RFCs are supported.
24376 @item Disposition Notifications - RFC 2298
24377 Message Mode is able to request notifications from the receiver.
24379 @item PGP - RFC 1991 and RFC 2440
24382 RFC 1991 is the original @acronym{PGP} message specification,
24383 published as an informational RFC. RFC 2440 was the follow-up, now
24384 called Open PGP, and put on the Standards Track. Both document a
24385 non-@acronym{MIME} aware @acronym{PGP} format. Gnus supports both
24386 encoding (signing and encryption) and decoding (verification and
24389 @item PGP/MIME - RFC 2015/3156
24390 RFC 2015 (superseded by 3156 which references RFC 2440 instead of RFC
24391 1991) describes the @acronym{MIME}-wrapping around the RF 1991/2440 format.
24392 Gnus supports both encoding and decoding.
24394 @item S/MIME - RFC 2633
24395 RFC 2633 describes the @acronym{S/MIME} format.
24397 @item IMAP - RFC 1730/2060, RFC 2195, RFC 2086, RFC 2359, RFC 2595, RFC 1731
24398 RFC 1730 is @acronym{IMAP} version 4, updated somewhat by RFC 2060
24399 (@acronym{IMAP} 4 revision 1). RFC 2195 describes CRAM-MD5
24400 authentication for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2086 describes access control
24401 lists (ACLs) for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2359 describes a @acronym{IMAP}
24402 protocol enhancement. RFC 2595 describes the proper @acronym{TLS}
24403 integration (STARTTLS) with @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 1731 describes the
24404 GSSAPI/Kerberos4 mechanisms for @acronym{IMAP}.
24408 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
24409 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
24414 @subsection Emacsen
24420 Gnus should work on:
24428 XEmacs 21.4 and up.
24432 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
24433 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
24436 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
24437 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
24438 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
24442 @node Gnus Development
24443 @subsection Gnus Development
24445 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
24446 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
24447 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
24448 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
24449 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
24450 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
24451 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
24452 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
24454 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
24455 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
24456 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
24457 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
24458 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
24461 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
24462 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
24463 In particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
24464 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
24465 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
24467 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
24468 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
24469 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
24470 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
24471 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
24472 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
24473 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
24474 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
24475 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
24476 can't be assumed to do so.
24481 @subsection Contributors
24482 @cindex contributors
24484 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
24485 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
24486 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
24487 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
24488 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
24489 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
24490 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
24491 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
24492 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
24493 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
24495 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for@dots{} oops,
24501 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
24504 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
24505 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @acronym{MIME} and
24506 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
24507 functionality and stuff.
24510 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
24511 well as numerous other things).
24514 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
24517 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
24520 Justin Sheehy---the @acronym{FAQ} maintainer.
24523 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
24526 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
24527 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
24530 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
24533 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section.
24536 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
24539 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
24542 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
24545 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
24548 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
24549 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
24552 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
24555 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
24558 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
24561 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
24565 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
24568 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
24571 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
24574 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
24575 well as autoconf support.
24579 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
24580 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
24582 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
24597 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
24599 Katsumi Yamaoka, @c Yamaoka
24603 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
24613 Alexei V. Barantsev,
24628 Massimo Campostrini,
24633 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
24634 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
24638 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
24641 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
24647 Michael Welsh Duggan,
24652 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
24656 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
24664 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
24666 Michelangelo Grigni,
24670 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
24672 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c Hayashi
24674 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
24681 François Felix Ingrand,
24682 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c Ichikawa
24683 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
24685 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
24695 Peter Skov Knudsen,
24696 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
24698 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
24699 Thor Kristoffersen,
24702 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
24720 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
24721 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
24728 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
24733 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
24737 John McClary Prevost,
24743 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
24748 Christian von Roques,
24751 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
24758 Philippe Schnoebelen,
24760 Randal L. Schwartz,
24774 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
24779 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
24799 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
24800 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
24801 (550kB and counting).
24803 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
24806 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
24807 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
24811 @subsection New Features
24812 @cindex new features
24815 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
24816 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
24817 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
24818 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
24819 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
24820 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10.
24821 * No Gnus:: Lars, FIXME!
24824 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
24825 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
24826 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
24829 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
24831 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
24836 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
24837 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
24840 Local spool and several @acronym{NNTP} servers can be used at once
24841 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
24844 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
24847 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
24848 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
24849 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
24852 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
24853 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
24854 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
24855 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
24858 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
24859 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
24862 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
24863 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
24864 (@pxref{The Active File}).
24867 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
24868 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
24871 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
24872 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
24873 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
24876 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
24877 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
24878 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
24881 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{~/.gnus.el}) to avoid
24882 cluttering up the @file{.emacs} file.
24885 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
24886 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
24889 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
24890 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
24893 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
24894 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
24897 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
24898 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
24901 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
24902 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
24905 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
24908 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
24909 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
24912 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
24913 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
24916 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
24917 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
24920 Gnus can fetch @acronym{FAQ}s and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
24923 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
24924 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
24927 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
24931 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
24935 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
24936 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
24939 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
24945 @node September Gnus
24946 @subsubsection September Gnus
24950 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
24954 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
24959 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
24960 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
24964 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
24965 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
24969 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
24973 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
24974 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
24977 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
24981 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions.
24984 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
24987 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
24990 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
24994 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
24995 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
24998 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
25002 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
25006 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
25010 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
25014 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
25017 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
25018 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
25021 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
25025 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
25026 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
25029 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
25032 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
25033 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
25034 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
25037 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
25041 The Gnus cache is much faster.
25044 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
25048 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
25049 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
25052 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
25053 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
25056 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
25057 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
25060 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
25061 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
25062 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
25065 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
25066 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
25069 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
25072 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
25075 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
25078 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
25081 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
25082 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
25085 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
25089 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
25092 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
25097 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
25100 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
25104 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
25107 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
25111 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
25114 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
25117 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
25118 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
25121 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
25122 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
25126 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
25127 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
25130 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
25134 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
25135 buffer to allow easier treatment.
25138 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
25141 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
25145 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
25149 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
25150 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
25153 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
25157 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
25158 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
25161 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
25162 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
25165 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
25169 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
25172 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
25175 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
25181 @subsubsection Red Gnus
25183 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
25187 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
25194 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
25197 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
25198 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
25201 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
25202 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
25206 Article washing status can be displayed in the
25207 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
25210 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
25213 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
25214 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
25217 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
25221 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
25222 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
25226 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
25227 Server Internals}).
25230 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
25234 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
25237 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
25238 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
25241 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
25242 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
25243 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
25246 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
25247 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
25250 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
25251 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
25254 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
25258 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
25259 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
25262 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
25263 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
25266 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
25270 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
25273 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
25277 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
25278 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
25281 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
25282 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
25285 A new command for reading collections of documents
25286 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
25287 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
25290 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
25294 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @acronym{NNTP}
25295 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
25298 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
25299 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
25300 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
25303 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
25304 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
25308 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
25312 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
25316 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
25321 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
25325 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
25329 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
25330 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
25333 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
25339 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
25341 New features in Gnus 5.6:
25346 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
25347 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added.
25348 @xref{Gnus Unplugged}, for the full story.
25351 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
25352 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
25353 group, which is created automatically.
25356 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
25360 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
25363 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
25364 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
25367 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
25371 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
25374 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
25375 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
25378 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
25381 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. @xref{Symbolic Prefixes}, for
25385 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
25386 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the @file{all.SCORE} file.
25389 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
25390 control over simplification.
25393 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
25396 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
25400 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
25403 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
25406 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
25407 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
25408 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
25411 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
25412 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
25415 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
25419 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
25420 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
25423 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
25424 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @acronym{NNTP} servers.
25427 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
25431 A history of where mails have been split is available.
25434 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
25437 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
25438 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
25441 A new function for citing in Message has been
25442 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
25445 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
25448 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
25452 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
25453 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
25456 The ``lapsed date'' article header can be kept continually
25457 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
25460 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
25463 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
25467 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
25468 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
25470 New features in Gnus 5.8:
25475 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
25476 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
25478 If you used procmail like in
25481 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
25482 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
25483 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
25484 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
25487 this now has changed to
25491 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
25495 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}.
25498 Gnus is now a @acronym{MIME}-capable reader. This affects many parts of
25499 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
25502 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
25503 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
25506 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
25507 called to position point.
25510 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
25511 summary buffers and @acronym{NOV} files.
25514 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
25515 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
25518 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
25519 subtly different manner.
25522 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
25523 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
25524 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
25527 Gnus can now read @acronym{IMAP} mail via @code{nnimap}.
25532 @subsubsection Oort Gnus
25535 New features in Gnus 5.10:
25540 @code{gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group} can be called interactively,
25544 In draft groups, @kbd{e} is now bound to @code{gnus-draft-edit-message}.
25545 Use @kbd{B w} for @code{gnus-summary-edit-article} instead.
25548 The revised Gnus @acronym{FAQ} is included in the manual,
25549 @xref{Frequently Asked Questions}.
25552 Upgrading from previous (stable) version if you have used Oort.
25554 If you have tried Oort (the unstable Gnus branch leading to this
25555 release) but went back to a stable version, be careful when upgrading to
25556 this version. In particular, you will probably want to remove all
25557 @file{.marks} (nnml) and @file{.mrk} (nnfolder) files, so that flags are
25558 read from your @file{.newsrc.eld} instead of from the
25559 @file{.marks}/@file{.mrk} file where this release store flags. See a
25560 later entry for more information about marks. Note that downgrading
25561 isn't save in general.
25566 More buttons for URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man
25567 pages and Emacs or Gnus related references. @xref{Article Buttons}. The
25568 variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} can be used to control the
25569 appearance of all article buttons. @xref{Article Button Levels}.
25574 @code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} (see @ref{Other modes}) installs key
25575 bindings in dired buffers to send a file as an attachment, open a file
25576 using the appropriate mailcap entry, and print a file using the mailcap
25580 Gnus can display RSS newsfeeds as a newsgroup. @xref{RSS}.
25583 Single-part yenc encoded attachments can be decoded.
25588 The picons code has been reimplemented to work in GNU Emacs---some of
25589 the previous options have been removed or renamed.
25591 Picons are small ``personal icons'' representing users, domain and
25592 newsgroups, which can be displayed in the Article buffer.
25596 If the new option @code{gnus-treat-body-boundary} is non-@code{nil}, a
25597 boundary line is drawn at the end of the headers.
25600 Retrieval of charters and control messages
25602 There are new commands for fetching newsgroup charters (@kbd{H c}) and
25603 control messages (@kbd{H C}).
25608 You can delay the sending of a message with @kbd{C-c C-j} in the Message
25609 buffer. The messages are delivered at specified time. This is useful
25610 for sending yourself reminders. @xref{Delayed Articles}.
25613 If @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled, attachments are automatically
25614 decompressed when activated.
25617 If the new option @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is non-@code{nil},
25618 the nnml back end allows compressed message files.
25621 Signed article headers (X-PGP-Sig) can be verified with @kbd{W p}.
25624 The Summary Buffer uses an arrow in the fringe to indicate the current
25625 article. Use @code{(setq gnus-summary-display-arrow nil)} to disable it.
25628 Warn about email replies to news
25630 Do you often find yourself replying to news by email by mistake? Then
25631 the new option @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} is just the thing for
25635 If the new option @code{gnus-summary-display-while-building} is
25636 non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer is shown and updated as it's being
25640 The new @code{recent} mark @samp{.} indicates newly arrived messages (as
25641 opposed to old but unread messages).
25644 The new option @code{gnus-gcc-mark-as-read} automatically marks
25645 Gcc articles as read.
25648 The nndoc back end now supports mailman digests and exim bounces.
25651 Gnus supports RFC 2369 mailing list headers, and adds a number of
25652 related commands in mailing list groups. @xref{Mailing List}.
25655 The Date header can be displayed in a format that can be read aloud
25656 in English. @xref{Article Date}.
25659 The envelope sender address can be customized when using Sendmail.
25660 @xref{Mail Variables, Mail Variables,, message, Message Manual}.
25663 diffs are automatically highlighted in groups matching
25664 @code{mm-uu-diff-groups-regexp}
25667 @acronym{TLS} wrapper shipped with Gnus
25669 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is now supported in @acronym{IMAP} and
25670 @acronym{NNTP} via @file{tls.el} and GNUTLS. The old
25671 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} support via (external third party)
25672 @file{ssl.el} and OpenSSL still works.
25675 New @file{make.bat} for compiling and installing Gnus under MS Windows
25677 Use @file{make.bat} if you want to install Gnus under MS Windows, the
25678 first argument to the batch-program should be the directory where
25679 @file{xemacs.exe} respectively @file{emacs.exe} is located, iff you want
25680 to install Gnus after compiling it, give @file{make.bat} @code{/copy} as
25681 the second parameter.
25683 @file{make.bat} has been rewritten from scratch, it now features
25684 automatic recognition of XEmacs and GNU Emacs, generates
25685 @file{gnus-load.el}, checks if errors occur while compilation and
25686 generation of info files and reports them at the end of the build
25687 process. It now uses @code{makeinfo} if it is available and falls
25688 back to @file{infohack.el} otherwise. @file{make.bat} should now
25689 install all files which are necessary to run Gnus and be generally a
25690 complete replacement for the @code{configure; make; make install}
25691 cycle used under Unix systems.
25693 The new @file{make.bat} makes @file{make-x.bat} superfluous, so it has
25697 Support for non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names
25699 Message supports non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To: and
25700 Cc: and will query you whether to perform encoding when you try to
25701 send a message. The variable @code{message-use-idna} controls this.
25702 Gnus will also decode non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To:
25703 and Cc: when you view a message. The variable @code{gnus-use-idna}
25707 Better handling of Microsoft citation styles
25709 Gnus now tries to recognize the mangled header block that some Microsoft
25710 mailers use to indicate that the rest of the message is a citation, even
25711 though it is not quoted in any way. The variable
25712 @code{gnus-cite-unsightly-citation-regexp} matches the start of these
25716 @code{gnus-article-skip-boring}
25718 If you set @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} to @code{t}, then Gnus will
25719 not scroll down to show you a page that contains only boring text,
25720 which by default means cited text and signature. You can customize
25721 what is skippable using @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}.
25723 This feature is especially useful if you read many articles that
25724 consist of a little new content at the top with a long, untrimmed
25725 message cited below.
25728 The format spec @code{%C} for positioning point has changed to @code{%*}.
25731 The new variable @code{gnus-parameters} can be used to set group parameters.
25733 Earlier this was done only via @kbd{G p} (or @kbd{G c}), which stored
25734 the parameters in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, but via this variable you can
25735 enjoy the powers of customize, and simplified backups since you set the
25736 variable in @file{~/.emacs} instead of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. The
25737 variable maps regular expressions matching group names to group
25740 (setq gnus-parameters
25742 (gnus-show-threads nil)
25743 (gnus-use-scoring nil))
25744 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
25745 (to-group . "\\1"))))
25749 Smileys (@samp{:-)}, @samp{;-)} etc) are now iconized for Emacs too.
25751 Put @code{(setq gnus-treat-display-smileys nil)} in @file{~/.emacs} to
25755 Gnus no longer generate the Sender: header automatically.
25757 Earlier it was generated iff the user configurable email address was
25758 different from the Gnus guessed default user address. As the guessing
25759 algorithm is rarely correct these days, and (more controversially) the
25760 only use of the Sender: header was to check if you are entitled to
25761 cancel/supersede news (which is now solved by Cancel Locks instead,
25762 see another entry), generation of the header has been disabled by
25763 default. See the variables @code{message-required-headers},
25764 @code{message-required-news-headers}, and
25765 @code{message-required-mail-headers}.
25768 Features from third party @file{message-utils.el} added to @file{message.el}.
25770 Message now asks if you wish to remove @samp{(was: <old subject>)} from
25771 subject lines (see @code{message-subject-trailing-was-query}). @kbd{C-c
25772 M-m} and @kbd{C-c M-f} inserts markers indicating included text.
25773 @kbd{C-c C-f a} adds a X-No-Archive: header. @kbd{C-c C-f x} inserts
25774 appropriate headers and a note in the body for cross-postings and
25775 followups (see the variables @code{message-cross-post-@var{*}}).
25778 References and X-Draft-Headers are no longer generated when you start
25779 composing messages and @code{message-generate-headers-first} is
25783 Improved anti-spam features.
25785 Gnus is now able to take out spam from your mail and news streams
25786 using a wide variety of programs and filter rules. Among the supported
25787 methods are RBL blocklists, bogofilter and white/blacklists. Hooks
25788 for easy use of external packages such as SpamAssassin and Hashcash
25789 are also new. @xref{Thwarting Email Spam}.
25792 Easy inclusion of X-Faces headers.
25795 Face headers handling.
25798 In the summary buffer, the new command @kbd{/ N} inserts new messages
25799 and @kbd{/ o} inserts old messages.
25802 Gnus decodes morse encoded messages if you press @kbd{W m}.
25805 Unread count correct in nnimap groups.
25807 The estimated number of unread articles in the group buffer should now
25808 be correct for nnimap groups. This is achieved by calling
25809 @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} from the
25810 @code{gnus-setup-news-hook} (called on startup) and
25811 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook}. (called after getting new
25812 mail). If you have modified those variables from the default, you may
25813 want to add @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} again. If
25814 you were happy with the estimate and want to save some (minimal) time
25815 when getting new mail, remove the function.
25818 Group Carbon Copy (GCC) quoting
25820 To support groups that contains SPC and other weird characters, groups
25821 are quoted before they are placed in the Gcc: header. This means
25822 variables such as @code{gnus-message-archive-group} should no longer
25823 contain quote characters to make groups containing SPC work. Also, if
25824 you are using the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar} (indicating Gcc
25825 into two groups) you must change it to return the list
25826 @code{("nnml:foo" "nnml:bar")}, otherwise the Gcc: line will be quoted
25827 incorrectly. Note that returning the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar}
25828 was incorrect earlier, it just didn't generate any problems since it
25829 was inserted directly.
25832 @file{~/News/overview/} not used.
25834 As a result of the following change, the @file{~/News/overview/}
25835 directory is not used any more. You can safely delete the entire
25841 The Gnus Agent has seen a major updated and is now enabled by default,
25842 and all nntp and nnimap servers from @code{gnus-select-method} and
25843 @code{gnus-secondary-select-method} are agentized by default. Earlier
25844 only the server in @code{gnus-select-method} was agentized by the
25845 default, and the agent was disabled by default. When the agent is
25846 enabled, headers are now also retrieved from the Agent cache instead
25847 of the back ends when possible. Earlier this only happened in the
25848 unplugged state. You can enroll or remove servers with @kbd{J a} and
25849 @kbd{J r} in the server buffer. Gnus will not download articles into
25850 the Agent cache, unless you instruct it to do so, though, by using
25851 @kbd{J u} or @kbd{J s} from the Group buffer. You revert to the old
25852 behaviour of having the Agent disabled with @code{(setq gnus-agent
25853 nil)}. Note that putting @code{(gnus-agentize)} in @file{~/.gnus.el}
25854 is not needed any more.
25857 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}
25859 The default value changed to @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%)
25860 %s\n}. Moreover @code{gnus-extra-headers},
25861 @code{nnmail-extra-headers} and @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses}
25862 changed their default so that the users name will be replaced by the
25863 recipient's name or the group name posting to for @acronym{NNTP}
25867 @file{deuglify.el} (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article})
25869 A new file from Raymond Scholz @email{rscholz@@zonix.de} for deuglifying
25870 broken Outlook (Express) articles.
25873 @code{(require 'gnus-load)}
25875 If you use a stand-alone Gnus distribution, you'd better add
25876 @code{(require 'gnus-load)} into your @file{~/.emacs} after adding the Gnus
25877 lisp directory into load-path.
25879 File @file{gnus-load.el} contains autoload commands, functions and variables,
25880 some of which may not be included in distributions of Emacsen.
25883 @code{gnus-slave-unplugged}
25885 A new command which starts Gnus offline in slave mode.
25888 @code{message-insinuate-rmail}
25890 Adding @code{(message-insinuate-rmail)} and @code{(setq
25891 mail-user-agent 'gnus-user-agent)} in @file{.emacs} convinces Rmail to
25892 compose, reply and forward messages in message-mode, where you can
25893 enjoy the power of @acronym{MML}.
25896 @code{message-minibuffer-local-map}
25898 The line below enables BBDB in resending a message:
25900 (define-key message-minibuffer-local-map [(tab)]
25901 'bbdb-complete-name)
25905 Externalizing and deleting of attachments.
25907 If @code{gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments} or
25908 @code{message-fcc-externalize-attachments} is non-@code{nil}, attach
25909 local files as external parts.
25911 The command @code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip} (bound to @kbd{C-o}
25912 on @acronym{MIME} buttons) saves a part and replaces the part with an
25913 external one. @code{gnus-mime-delete-part} (bound to @kbd{d} on
25914 @acronym{MIME} buttons) removes a part. It works only on back ends
25915 that support editing.
25918 @code{gnus-default-charset}
25920 The default value is determined from the
25921 @code{current-language-environment} variable, instead of
25922 @code{iso-8859-1}. Also the @samp{.*} item in
25923 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} is removed.
25926 @code{gnus-posting-styles}
25928 Add a new format of match like
25930 ((header "to" "larsi.*org")
25931 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
25933 The old format like the lines below is obsolete, but still accepted.
25935 (header "to" "larsi.*org"
25936 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
25940 @code{message-ignored-news-headers} and @code{message-ignored-mail-headers}
25942 @samp{X-Draft-From} and @samp{X-Gnus-Agent-Meta-Information} have been
25943 added into these two variables. If you customized those, perhaps you
25944 need add those two headers too.
25947 Gnus reads the @acronym{NOV} and articles in the Agent if plugged.
25949 If one reads an article while plugged, and the article already exists
25950 in the Agent, it won't get downloaded once more. @code{(setq
25951 gnus-agent-cache nil)} reverts to the old behavior.
25954 Gnus supports the ``format=flowed'' (RFC 2646) parameter. On
25955 composing messages, it is enabled by @code{use-hard-newlines}.
25956 Decoding format=flowed was present but not documented in earlier
25960 Gnus supports the generation of RFC 2298 Disposition Notification requests.
25962 This is invoked with the @kbd{C-c M-n} key binding from message mode.
25965 Gnus supports Maildir groups.
25967 Gnus includes a new back end @file{nnmaildir.el}. @xref{Maildir}.
25970 Printing capabilities are enhanced.
25972 Gnus supports Muttprint natively with @kbd{O P} from the Summary and
25973 Article buffers. Also, each individual @acronym{MIME} part can be
25974 printed using @kbd{p} on the @acronym{MIME} button.
25977 Message supports the Importance: (RFC 2156) header.
25979 In the message buffer, @kbd{C-c C-f C-i} or @kbd{C-c C-u} cycles through
25983 Gnus supports Cancel Locks in News.
25985 This means a header @samp{Cancel-Lock} is inserted in news posting. It is
25986 used to determine if you wrote an article or not (for canceling and
25987 superseding). Gnus generates a random password string the first time
25988 you post a message, and saves it in your @file{~/.emacs} using the Custom
25989 system. While the variable is called @code{canlock-password}, it is not
25990 security sensitive data. Publishing your canlock string on the web
25991 will not allow anyone to be able to anything she could not already do.
25992 The behaviour can be changed by customizing @code{message-insert-canlock}.
25995 Gnus supports server-side mail filtering using Sieve.
25997 Sieve rules can be added as Group Parameters for groups, and the
25998 complete Sieve script is generated using @kbd{D g} from the Group
25999 buffer, and then uploaded to the server using @kbd{C-c C-l} in the
26000 generated Sieve buffer. @xref{Sieve Commands}, and the new Sieve
26001 manual @ref{Top, , Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
26004 Extended format specs.
26006 Format spec @samp{%&user-date;} is added into
26007 @code{gnus-summary-line-format-alist}. Also, user defined extended
26008 format specs are supported. The extended format specs look like
26009 @samp{%u&foo;}, which invokes function
26010 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{foo}}. Because @samp{&} is used as the
26011 escape character, old user defined format @samp{%u&} is no longer supported.
26014 @kbd{/ *} (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}) is rewritten.
26016 It was aliased to @kbd{Y c}
26017 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}). The new function filters
26018 out other articles.
26020 @item Some limiting commands accept a @kbd{C-u} prefix to negate the match.
26022 If @kbd{C-u} is used on subject, author or extra headers, i.e., @kbd{/
26023 s}, @kbd{/ a}, and @kbd{/ x}
26024 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-@{subject,author,extra@}}) respectively, the
26025 result will be to display all articles that do not match the expression.
26028 Group names are treated as UTF-8 by default.
26030 This is supposedly what USEFOR wanted to migrate to. See
26031 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist} and
26032 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist} for customization.
26035 The nnml and nnfolder back ends store marks for each groups.
26037 This makes it possible to take backup of nnml/nnfolder servers/groups
26038 separately of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, while preserving marks. It also
26039 makes it possible to share articles and marks between users (without
26040 sharing the @file{~/.newsrc.eld} file) within e.g. a department. It
26041 works by storing the marks stored in @file{~/.newsrc.eld} in a per-group
26042 file @file{.marks} (for nnml) and @file{@var{groupname}.mrk} (for
26043 nnfolder, named @var{groupname}). If the nnml/nnfolder is moved to
26044 another machine, Gnus will automatically use the @file{.marks} or
26045 @file{.mrk} file instead of the information in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
26046 The new server variables @code{nnml-marks-is-evil} and
26047 @code{nnfolder-marks-is-evil} can be used to disable this feature.
26050 The menu bar item (in Group and Summary buffer) named ``Misc'' has
26051 been renamed to ``Gnus''.
26054 The menu bar item (in Message mode) named ``@acronym{MML}'' has been
26055 renamed to ``Attachments''. Note that this menu also contains security
26056 related stuff, like signing and encryption (@pxref{Security, Security,,
26057 message, Message Manual}).
26060 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} and
26061 @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
26063 The regexps in these variables are compared with full group names
26064 instead of real group names in 5.8. Users who customize these
26065 variables should change those regexps accordingly. For example:
26067 ("^han\\>" euc-kr) -> ("\\(^\\|:\\)han\\>" euc-kr)
26071 Gnus supports @acronym{PGP} (RFC 1991/2440), @acronym{PGP/MIME} (RFC
26072 2015/3156) and @acronym{S/MIME} (RFC 2630-2633).
26074 It needs an external @acronym{S/MIME} and OpenPGP implementation, but no
26075 additional Lisp libraries. This add several menu items to the
26076 Attachments menu, and @kbd{C-c RET} key bindings, when composing
26077 messages. This also obsoletes @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook}.
26080 Gnus inlines external parts (message/external).
26083 @acronym{MML} (Mime compose) prefix changed from @kbd{M-m} to @kbd{C-c
26086 This change was made to avoid conflict with the standard binding of
26087 @code{back-to-indentation}, which is also useful in message mode.
26090 The default for @code{message-forward-show-mml} changed to symbol @code{best}.
26092 The behaviour for the @code{best} value is to show @acronym{MML} (i.e.,
26093 convert to @acronym{MIME}) when appropriate. @acronym{MML} will not be
26094 used when forwarding signed or encrypted messages, as the conversion
26095 invalidate the digital signature.
26099 @subsubsection No Gnus
26102 New features in No Gnus:
26103 @c FIXME: Gnus 5.12?
26105 @include gnus-news.texi
26111 @section The Manual
26115 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
26116 either @code{texi2dvi}
26118 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
26119 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
26121 to get what you hold in your hands now.
26123 The following conventions have been used:
26128 This is a @samp{string}
26131 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
26134 This is a @file{file}
26137 This is a @code{symbol}
26141 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
26145 (setq flargnoze "yes")
26148 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
26151 (setq flumphel 'yes)
26154 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
26155 ever get them confused.
26159 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
26160 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
26161 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
26162 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
26163 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
26164 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
26165 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
26171 @node On Writing Manuals
26172 @section On Writing Manuals
26174 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
26175 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
26176 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
26177 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
26178 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
26179 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
26182 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
26183 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
26184 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
26187 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
26188 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
26193 @section Terminology
26195 @cindex terminology
26200 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
26201 News is generally fetched from a nearby @acronym{NNTP} server, and is
26202 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
26203 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
26204 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
26208 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
26209 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
26210 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
26211 not posting, and replying is not following up.
26215 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
26219 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
26224 Gnus considers mail and news to be mostly the same, really. The only
26225 difference is how to access the actual articles. News articles are
26226 commonly fetched via the protocol @acronym{NNTP}, whereas mail
26227 messages could be read from a file on the local disk. The internal
26228 architecture of Gnus thus comprises a ``front end'' and a number of
26229 ``back ends''. Internally, when you enter a group (by hitting
26230 @key{RET}, say), you thereby invoke a function in the front end in
26231 Gnus. The front end then ``talks'' to a back end and says things like
26232 ``Give me the list of articles in the foo group'' or ``Show me article
26235 So a back end mainly defines either a protocol (the @code{nntp} back
26236 end accesses news via @acronym{NNTP}, the @code{nnimap} back end
26237 accesses mail via @acronym{IMAP}) or a file format and directory
26238 layout (the @code{nnspool} back end accesses news via the common
26239 ``spool directory'' format, the @code{nnml} back end access mail via a
26240 file format and directory layout that's quite similar).
26242 Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this is all
26243 done by the back ends. A back end is a collection of functions to
26244 access the articles.
26246 However, sometimes the term ``back end'' is also used where ``server''
26247 would have been more appropriate. And then there is the term ``select
26248 method'' which can mean either. The Gnus terminology can be quite
26253 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
26254 default, way of getting news.
26258 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
26259 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends for getting
26264 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
26265 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
26269 A message that has been posted as news.
26272 @cindex mail message
26273 A message that has been mailed.
26277 A mail message or news article
26281 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
26286 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
26291 A line from the head of an article.
26295 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
26296 collection of @acronym{NOV} lines.
26298 @item @acronym{NOV}
26299 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
26300 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
26301 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
26302 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
26303 normal @sc{head} format.
26307 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
26308 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
26309 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
26310 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
26311 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
26312 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
26314 @item killed groups
26315 @cindex killed groups
26316 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
26317 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
26319 @item zombie groups
26320 @cindex zombie groups
26321 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
26324 @cindex active file
26325 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
26326 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
26327 is rather large, as you might surmise.
26330 @cindex bogus groups
26331 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
26332 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
26333 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
26336 @cindex activating groups
26337 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
26338 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
26339 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
26343 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
26345 @item select method
26346 @cindex select method
26347 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
26350 @item virtual server
26351 @cindex virtual server
26352 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
26353 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
26354 whole is a virtual server.
26358 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
26359 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
26362 @item ephemeral groups
26363 @cindex ephemeral groups
26364 @cindex temporary groups
26365 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
26366 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
26367 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
26370 @cindex solid groups
26371 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
26372 group buffer are solid groups.
26374 @item sparse articles
26375 @cindex sparse articles
26376 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
26377 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
26381 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
26382 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
26386 @cindex thread root
26387 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
26388 articles in the thread.
26392 An article that has responses.
26396 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
26400 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
26401 specified by RFC 1153.
26404 @cindex splitting, terminolgy
26405 @cindex mail sorting
26406 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
26407 The action of sorting your emails according to certain rules. Sometimes
26408 incorrectly called mail filtering.
26414 @node Customization
26415 @section Customization
26416 @cindex general customization
26418 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
26419 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
26420 for some quite common situations.
26423 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
26424 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
26425 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
26426 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
26430 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
26431 @subsection Slow/Expensive NNTP Connection
26433 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
26434 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
26435 Gnus has to get from the @acronym{NNTP} server.
26439 @item gnus-read-active-file
26440 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
26441 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
26442 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
26443 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
26444 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
26446 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
26447 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
26448 the @acronym{NNTP} server will not be very fast. Not all @acronym{NNTP} servers
26449 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
26453 @node Slow Terminal Connection
26454 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
26456 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
26457 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
26458 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
26462 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
26463 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
26464 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
26465 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
26466 horizontal and vertical recentering.
26468 @item gnus-visible-headers
26469 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
26470 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
26471 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
26472 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
26474 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
26476 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
26477 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
26478 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
26481 @item gnus-use-full-window
26482 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
26483 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
26484 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
26485 want to read them anyway.
26487 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
26488 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
26492 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
26493 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
26494 lines, which might save some time.
26498 @node Little Disk Space
26499 @subsection Little Disk Space
26502 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
26503 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
26507 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
26508 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
26509 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
26510 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
26513 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
26514 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
26515 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
26516 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
26519 @item gnus-save-killed-list
26520 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
26521 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
26522 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
26523 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
26529 @subsection Slow Machine
26530 @cindex slow machine
26532 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
26533 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
26535 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
26536 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
26538 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
26539 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
26540 summary buffer faster.
26542 Gnus uses the internal ELisp-based @code{uncompface} program for
26543 decoding an @code{X-Face} header normally in Emacs. If you feel it is
26544 slow, set @code{uncompface-use-external} to @code{t}. @xref{X-Face}.
26548 @node Troubleshooting
26549 @section Troubleshooting
26550 @cindex troubleshooting
26552 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
26560 Make sure your computer is switched on.
26563 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
26564 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
26568 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
26569 like @samp{Gnus v5.10.6} you have the right files loaded. Otherwise
26570 you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
26573 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a
26574 @acronym{FAQ} and a how-to.
26577 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
26578 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
26579 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
26580 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
26581 something like that.
26584 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
26587 @cindex reporting bugs
26589 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
26591 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
26592 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
26593 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
26594 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
26596 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
26597 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
26598 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
26599 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
26602 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
26603 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
26604 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
26605 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
26606 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
26607 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
26609 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
26610 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
26611 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
26615 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
26616 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
26619 If you want to debug your problem further before reporting, possibly
26620 in order to solve the problem yourself and send a patch, you can use
26621 edebug. Debugging Lisp code is documented in the Elisp manual
26622 (@pxref{Debugging, , Debugging Lisp Programs, elisp, The GNU Emacs
26623 Lisp Reference Manual}). To get you started with edebug, consider if
26624 you discover some weird behaviour when pressing @kbd{c}, the first
26625 step is to do @kbd{C-h k c} and click on the hyperlink (Emacs only) in
26626 the documentation buffer that leads you to the function definition,
26627 then press @kbd{M-x edebug-defun RET} with point inside that function,
26628 return to Gnus and press @kbd{c} to invoke the code. You will be
26629 placed in the lisp buffer and can single step using @kbd{SPC} and
26630 evaluate expressions using @kbd{M-:} or inspect variables using
26631 @kbd{C-h v}, abort execution with @kbd{q}, and resume execution with
26632 @kbd{c} or @kbd{g}.
26637 Sometimes, a problem do not directly generate an elisp error but
26638 manifests itself by causing Gnus to be very slow. In these cases, you
26639 can use @kbd{M-x toggle-debug-on-quit} and press @kbd{C-g} when things are
26640 slow, and then try to analyze the backtrace (repeating the procedure
26641 helps isolating the real problem areas).
26643 A fancier approach is to use the elisp profiler, ELP. The profiler is
26644 (or should be) fully documented elsewhere, but to get you started
26645 there are a few steps that need to be followed. First, instrument the
26646 part of Gnus you are interested in for profiling, e.g. @kbd{M-x
26647 elp-instrument-package RET gnus} or @kbd{M-x elp-instrument-package
26648 RET message}. Then perform the operation that is slow and press
26649 @kbd{M-x elp-results}. You will then see which operations that takes
26650 time, and can debug them further. If the entire operation takes much
26651 longer than the time spent in the slowest function in the profiler
26652 output, you probably profiled the wrong part of Gnus. To reset
26653 profiling statistics, use @kbd{M-x elp-reset-all}. @kbd{M-x
26654 elp-restore-all} is supposed to remove profiling, but given the
26655 complexities and dynamic code generation in Gnus, it might not always
26658 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
26659 @cindex ding mailing list
26660 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
26661 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful. You can also ask on
26662 @email{ding@@gnus.org, the ding mailing list}. Write to
26663 @email{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
26667 @node Gnus Reference Guide
26668 @section Gnus Reference Guide
26670 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
26671 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
26672 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
26673 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
26676 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
26677 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
26678 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
26679 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
26680 and general methods of operation.
26683 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
26684 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
26685 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
26686 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
26687 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
26688 * Group Info:: The group info format.
26689 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
26690 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
26691 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
26695 @node Gnus Utility Functions
26696 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
26697 @cindex Gnus utility functions
26698 @cindex utility functions
26700 @cindex internal variables
26702 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
26703 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
26704 Below is a list of the most common ones.
26708 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
26709 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
26710 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
26712 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
26713 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
26714 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
26716 @item gnus-group-real-name
26717 @findex gnus-group-real-name
26718 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
26721 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
26722 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
26723 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
26724 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
26726 @item gnus-get-info
26727 @findex gnus-get-info
26728 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
26730 @item gnus-group-unread
26731 @findex gnus-group-unread
26732 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
26736 @findex gnus-active
26737 The active entry for @var{group}.
26739 @item gnus-set-active
26740 @findex gnus-set-active
26741 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
26743 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
26744 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
26745 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
26748 @item gnus-continuum-version
26749 @findex gnus-continuum-version
26750 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
26751 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
26754 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
26755 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
26756 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
26758 @item gnus-news-group-p
26759 @findex gnus-news-group-p
26760 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
26762 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
26763 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
26764 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
26766 @item gnus-server-to-method
26767 @findex gnus-server-to-method
26768 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
26770 @item gnus-server-equal
26771 @findex gnus-server-equal
26772 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
26774 @item gnus-group-native-p
26775 @findex gnus-group-native-p
26776 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
26778 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
26779 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
26780 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
26782 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
26783 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
26784 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
26786 @item gnus-group-find-parameter
26787 @findex gnus-group-find-parameter
26788 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
26789 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
26791 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
26792 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
26793 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
26795 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
26796 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
26797 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
26799 @item gnus-check-backend-function
26800 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
26801 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
26802 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
26805 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
26809 @item gnus-read-method
26810 @findex gnus-read-method
26811 Prompts the user for a select method.
26816 @node Back End Interface
26817 @subsection Back End Interface
26819 Gnus doesn't know anything about @acronym{NNTP}, spools, mail or virtual
26820 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
26821 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
26822 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
26823 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
26824 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
26826 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
26827 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
26828 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
26829 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
26830 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
26831 been opened, the function should fail.
26833 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
26834 name. Take this example:
26838 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
26839 (nntp-port-number 4324))
26842 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
26843 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
26845 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
26846 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
26847 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
26849 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
26850 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
26851 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
26853 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
26854 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
26855 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
26856 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
26857 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
26858 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
26861 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
26862 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
26863 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
26864 ---they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
26867 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
26868 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
26869 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
26870 possible for later articles to ``re-use'' older article numbers without
26871 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
26872 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
26873 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
26874 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
26875 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
26876 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
26878 The previous paragraph already mentions all the ``hard'' restrictions that
26879 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
26880 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
26881 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
26882 the ``no-reuse'' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
26883 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
26884 of numbers as long as possible.
26886 Note that by convention, back ends are named @code{nnsomething}, but
26887 Gnus also comes with some @code{nnnotbackends}, such as
26888 @file{nnheader.el}, @file{nnmail.el} and @file{nnoo.el}.
26890 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
26893 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
26896 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
26897 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
26898 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
26899 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
26900 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
26901 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
26905 @node Required Back End Functions
26906 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
26910 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
26912 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
26913 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
26914 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
26915 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
26917 The result data should either be HEADs or @acronym{NOV} lines, and the result
26918 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
26919 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
26920 of HEADs and @acronym{NOV} lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
26922 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching ``extra
26923 headers'', in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
26924 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
26925 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
26926 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
26927 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
26928 number, do maximum fetches.
26930 Here's an example HEAD:
26933 221 1056 Article retrieved.
26934 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
26935 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
26936 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
26937 Subject: Re: Something very droll
26938 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
26939 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
26941 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
26942 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
26943 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
26947 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
26948 these in the data buffer.
26950 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
26954 head = error / valid-head
26955 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
26956 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
26957 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
26958 header = <text> eol
26962 (The version of BNF used here is the one used in RFC822.)
26964 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
26965 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
26969 nov-buffer = *nov-line
26970 nov-line = field 7*8[ <TAB> field ] eol
26971 field = <text except TAB>
26974 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
26978 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
26980 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
26981 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
26983 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
26984 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
26985 server. In fact, it should do so.
26987 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
26988 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
26991 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
26993 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
26994 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
26997 There should be no data returned.
27000 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
27002 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
27003 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
27004 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
27005 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
27007 There should be no data returned.
27010 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
27012 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
27013 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
27014 non-@code{nil} value. This function should under no circumstances
27015 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
27017 There should be no data returned.
27020 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
27022 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
27024 There should be no data returned.
27027 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
27029 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
27030 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
27031 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
27032 it would be nice if that were possible.
27034 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
27035 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
27036 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
27037 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
27038 into its article buffer.
27040 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
27041 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
27042 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
27043 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
27044 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
27045 on successful article retrieval.
27048 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
27050 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
27051 making @var{group} the current group.
27053 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
27056 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
27059 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
27062 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
27063 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
27064 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
27065 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
27066 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
27067 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
27068 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
27069 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader. If the group contains no
27070 articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1 and the
27074 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
27075 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
27076 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
27080 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
27082 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
27083 a no-op on most back ends.
27085 There should be no data returned.
27088 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
27090 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
27093 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
27096 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
27097 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
27100 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
27101 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag. If the group
27102 contains no articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1
27103 and the highest as 0.
27106 active-file = *active-line
27107 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
27109 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
27112 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
27113 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
27114 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
27117 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
27119 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
27120 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
27121 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
27122 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
27123 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
27124 clear if the posting could not be completed.
27126 There should be no result data from this function.
27131 @node Optional Back End Functions
27132 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
27136 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
27138 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
27139 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
27140 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
27142 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
27143 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
27144 former is in the same format as the data from
27145 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
27146 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
27149 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
27153 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
27155 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
27156 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all
27157 the information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
27158 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
27159 should return a non-@code{nil} value.
27161 There should be no result data from this function.
27164 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
27166 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
27167 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
27168 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
27169 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
27170 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
27171 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
27172 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
27173 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
27175 There should be no result data from this function.
27178 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
27180 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
27181 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
27182 @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @acronym{IMAP}) however carry
27183 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
27184 propagate the mark information to the server.
27186 @var{action} is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
27189 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
27192 @var{range} is a range of articles you wish to update marks on.
27193 @var{action} is @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove
27194 marks (preserving all marks not mentioned). @var{mark} is a list of
27195 marks; where each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are
27196 @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
27197 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend},
27198 @code{forward} and @code{recent}, but your back end should, if
27199 possible, not limit itself to these.
27201 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
27202 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
27203 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
27204 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
27206 An example action list:
27209 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
27210 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
27211 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
27214 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
27215 mark on (currently not used for anything).
27217 There should be no result data from this function.
27219 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
27221 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
27222 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
27223 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
27224 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
27225 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
27227 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
27228 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
27229 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
27232 There should be no result data from this function.
27235 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
27237 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
27238 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
27239 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query
27240 the @acronym{POP} server when this function is invoked. The
27241 @var{group} doesn't have to be heeded---if the back end decides that
27242 it is too much work just scanning for a single group, it may do a
27243 total scan of all groups. It would be nice, however, to keep things
27244 local if that's practical.
27246 There should be no result data from this function.
27249 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
27251 The result data from this function should be a description of
27255 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
27257 description = <text>
27260 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
27262 The result data from this function should be the description of all
27263 groups available on the server.
27266 description-buffer = *description-line
27270 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
27272 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
27273 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
27274 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
27275 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
27276 in the active buffer format.
27278 It is okay for this function to return ``too many'' groups; some back ends
27279 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
27280 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
27281 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
27282 many groups, so @code{nnml} and the like are probably safe. But for
27283 back ends like @code{nntp}, where the groups have been created by the
27284 server, it is quite likely that there can be many groups.
27287 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
27289 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
27291 There should be no return data.
27294 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
27296 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
27297 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
27298 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
27299 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
27300 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
27303 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
27306 There should be no result data returned.
27309 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM &optional LAST)
27311 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
27312 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
27314 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
27315 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
27316 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
27317 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
27318 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
27319 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
27321 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
27322 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
27325 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
27326 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
27328 There should be no data returned.
27331 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
27333 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
27334 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
27335 this function in short order.
27337 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
27338 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
27340 The group should exist before the back end is asked to accept the
27341 article for that group.
27343 There should be no data returned.
27346 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
27348 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
27349 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
27351 There should be no data returned.
27354 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
27356 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
27357 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
27358 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
27360 There should be no data returned.
27363 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
27365 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
27366 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
27368 There should be no data returned.
27373 @node Error Messaging
27374 @subsubsection Error Messaging
27376 @findex nnheader-report
27377 @findex nnheader-get-report
27378 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
27379 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
27380 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
27381 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
27382 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
27383 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
27386 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
27388 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
27391 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
27392 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
27393 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
27394 takes one argument---the server symbol.
27396 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
27397 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
27398 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
27401 @node Writing New Back Ends
27402 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
27404 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
27405 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
27406 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
27407 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
27408 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
27411 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
27412 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
27413 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
27415 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
27416 package called @code{nnoo}.
27418 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
27419 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
27425 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
27426 parameters. For instance:
27429 (nnoo-declare nndir
27433 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
27434 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
27437 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
27438 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
27439 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
27441 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
27442 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
27443 a function in those back ends.
27446 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
27447 "Where nndir will look for groups."
27448 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
27451 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
27452 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
27453 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
27455 @item nnoo-define-basics
27456 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
27460 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
27464 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
27465 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
27466 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
27468 @item nnoo-map-functions
27469 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
27470 functions from the parent back ends.
27473 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
27474 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
27475 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
27478 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
27479 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
27480 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
27481 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
27484 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
27485 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
27486 haven't already been defined.
27492 nnmh-request-newgroups)
27496 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
27497 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
27498 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
27503 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
27506 ;;; @r{nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus}
27507 ;; @r{Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.}
27511 (require 'nnheader)
27515 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
27517 (nnoo-declare nndir
27520 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
27521 "Where nndir will look for groups."
27522 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
27524 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
27525 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
27528 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
27530 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
27531 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
27532 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
27534 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
27535 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
27537 ;;; @r{Interface functions.}
27539 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
27541 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
27542 (setq nndir-directory
27543 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
27545 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
27546 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
27547 (push `(nndir-current-group
27548 ,(file-name-nondirectory
27549 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
27551 (push `(nndir-top-directory
27552 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
27554 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
27556 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
27557 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
27558 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
27559 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
27560 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
27564 nnmh-status-message
27566 nnmh-request-newgroups))
27572 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
27573 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
27575 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
27576 @findex gnus-declare-backend
27577 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
27578 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
27579 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
27581 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
27582 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
27587 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
27590 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
27592 The abilities can be:
27596 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
27598 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
27600 This back end supports both mail and news.
27602 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
27605 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
27606 articles and groups.
27608 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
27609 true for almost all back ends.
27610 @item prompt-address
27611 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
27612 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
27613 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
27617 @node Mail-like Back Ends
27618 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
27620 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
27621 back ends is the heavy dependence by most of the mail back ends on
27622 common functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the
27623 definition of @code{nnml-request-scan}:
27626 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
27627 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
27628 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
27631 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
27632 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
27635 This function takes four parameters.
27639 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
27642 @item exit-function
27643 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
27645 @item temp-directory
27646 Where the temporary files should be stored.
27649 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
27650 performed for one group only.
27653 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
27654 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
27655 find the article number assigned to this article.
27657 The function also uses the following variables:
27658 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
27659 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
27660 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
27661 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
27665 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
27666 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
27670 @node Score File Syntax
27671 @subsection Score File Syntax
27673 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
27674 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
27675 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
27677 Here's a typical score file:
27681 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
27688 BNF definition of a score file:
27691 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
27692 element = rule / atom
27693 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
27694 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
27695 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
27696 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
27698 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
27699 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
27700 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
27701 date-header = "date"
27702 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
27703 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
27704 score = "nil" / <integer>
27705 date = "nil" / <natural number>
27706 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
27707 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
27708 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
27709 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
27710 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
27711 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
27712 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
27713 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
27714 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
27715 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
27716 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
27717 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
27718 exclude-files / read-only / touched
27719 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
27720 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
27721 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
27722 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
27723 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
27724 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
27725 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
27726 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
27727 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
27728 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
27729 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
27730 eval = "eval" space <form>
27731 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
27734 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
27737 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
27738 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
27739 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
27740 one looong line, then that's ok.
27742 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
27743 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
27747 @subsection Headers
27749 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
27750 corresponds to the @acronym{NOV} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
27751 almost suspect that the author looked at the @acronym{NOV} specification and
27752 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
27754 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
27755 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
27756 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
27757 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
27758 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
27759 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
27760 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
27762 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
27763 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
27764 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
27765 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
27766 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
27768 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
27769 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
27775 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
27776 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
27778 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
27779 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
27780 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
27781 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
27783 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
27787 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
27790 is transformed into
27793 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
27796 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
27797 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
27800 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
27803 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
27804 is slightly tricky:
27807 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
27813 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
27816 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
27822 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
27829 and is equal to the previous range.
27831 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
27832 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
27833 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
27837 range = simple-range / normal-range
27838 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
27839 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
27840 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
27841 number *[ " " contents ]
27844 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
27845 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
27846 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
27847 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
27848 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
27853 @subsection Group Info
27855 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
27856 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
27857 describes the group.
27859 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
27860 second is a more complex one:
27863 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
27865 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
27866 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
27868 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
27871 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
27872 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
27873 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
27874 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
27875 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
27876 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
27877 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
27878 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
27879 this section is about.
27881 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
27882 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
27883 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
27885 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
27888 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
27889 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
27890 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
27891 group = quote <string> quote
27892 ralevel = rank / level
27893 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
27894 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
27895 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
27897 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
27898 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
27899 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
27900 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
27903 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
27904 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
27907 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
27908 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
27911 @item gnus-info-group
27912 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
27913 @findex gnus-info-group
27914 @findex gnus-info-set-group
27915 Get/set the group name.
27917 @item gnus-info-rank
27918 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
27919 @findex gnus-info-rank
27920 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
27921 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
27923 @item gnus-info-level
27924 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
27925 @findex gnus-info-level
27926 @findex gnus-info-set-level
27927 Get/set the group level.
27929 @item gnus-info-score
27930 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
27931 @findex gnus-info-score
27932 @findex gnus-info-set-score
27933 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
27935 @item gnus-info-read
27936 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
27937 @findex gnus-info-read
27938 @findex gnus-info-set-read
27939 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
27941 @item gnus-info-marks
27942 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
27943 @findex gnus-info-marks
27944 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
27945 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
27947 @item gnus-info-method
27948 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
27949 @findex gnus-info-method
27950 @findex gnus-info-set-method
27951 Get/set the group select method.
27953 @item gnus-info-params
27954 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
27955 @findex gnus-info-params
27956 @findex gnus-info-set-params
27957 Get/set the group parameters.
27960 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
27961 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
27963 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
27964 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
27965 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
27966 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
27969 @node Extended Interactive
27970 @subsection Extended Interactive
27971 @cindex interactive
27972 @findex gnus-interactive
27974 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
27975 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
27976 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
27979 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
27980 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
27985 The best thing to do would have been to implement
27986 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
27987 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
27988 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
27989 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
27990 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
27991 @code{interactive}.
27993 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
27998 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
27999 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
28003 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
28004 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
28005 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
28008 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
28012 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
28016 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
28022 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
28023 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
28027 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
28028 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
28029 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
28031 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
28032 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
28033 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
28034 Gnus, that's very useful.
28036 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
28037 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
28038 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
28039 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
28040 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
28041 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
28042 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
28043 following function:
28046 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
28050 (,function ,@@args))
28054 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
28055 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
28056 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
28059 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
28060 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
28061 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
28063 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
28064 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
28065 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
28068 @node Various File Formats
28069 @subsection Various File Formats
28072 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
28073 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
28077 @node Active File Format
28078 @subsubsection Active File Format
28080 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
28081 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
28084 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
28087 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
28088 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
28089 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
28090 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
28091 no.general 1000 900 y
28094 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
28097 active = *group-line
28098 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
28099 group = <non-white-space string>
28101 high-number = <non-negative integer>
28102 low-number = <positive integer>
28103 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
28106 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
28107 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
28110 @node Newsgroups File Format
28111 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
28113 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
28114 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
28115 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
28118 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
28119 Here's the definition:
28123 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
28124 group = <non-white-space string>
28126 description = <string>
28131 @node Emacs for Heathens
28132 @section Emacs for Heathens
28134 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
28135 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
28136 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
28137 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
28138 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
28139 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
28140 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
28144 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
28145 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
28150 @subsection Keystrokes
28154 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
28157 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
28160 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
28161 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
28162 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
28163 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
28164 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
28165 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
28167 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
28168 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
28169 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
28170 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
28171 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
28172 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
28173 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
28175 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
28176 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
28177 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
28178 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
28179 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
28180 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
28181 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
28183 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
28184 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
28185 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
28186 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
28187 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
28193 @subsection Emacs Lisp
28195 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
28196 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
28197 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
28198 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
28200 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
28201 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
28202 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
28203 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
28204 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
28205 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
28206 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
28209 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
28210 write the following:
28213 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
28216 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
28217 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
28218 you can go and fill your @file{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
28221 If you have put that thing in your @file{.emacs} file, it will be read
28222 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
28223 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
28224 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
28225 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
28227 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
28228 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
28229 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
28233 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
28237 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
28240 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
28241 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
28244 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
28247 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
28248 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
28251 @include gnus-faq.texi
28271 @c Local Variables: