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4 @settitle Pterodactyl Gnus 0.85 Manual
9 @c * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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265 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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274 Copyright \copyright{} 1995,96,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
276 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
277 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
278 are preserved on all copies.
280 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
281 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
282 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
283 permission notice identical to this one.
285 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
286 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
295 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
297 Copyright (C) 1995,96,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
299 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
300 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
301 are preserved on all copies.
304 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
305 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
306 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
307 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
310 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
311 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
312 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
313 permission notice identical to this one.
315 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
316 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
322 @title Pterodactyl Gnus 0.85 Manual
324 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
327 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
328 Copyright @copyright{} 1995,96,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
330 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
331 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
332 are preserved on all copies.
334 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
335 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
336 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
337 permission notice identical to this one.
339 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
340 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
349 @top The Gnus Newsreader
353 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
354 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
355 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
358 This manual corresponds to Pterodactyl Gnus 0.85.
369 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
370 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
372 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
373 being accused of plagiarism:
375 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
376 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
377 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you can
378 even read news with it!
380 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
381 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
382 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
383 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
384 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
391 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
392 * The Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
393 * The Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
394 * The Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
395 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
396 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
397 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
398 * Various:: General purpose settings.
399 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
400 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
401 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
402 * Key Index:: Key Index.
406 @chapter Starting Gnus
411 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
412 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
415 @findex gnus-other-frame
416 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
417 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
418 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
420 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
421 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
422 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
424 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
425 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
428 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
429 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
430 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
431 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
432 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
433 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
434 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
435 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
436 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
437 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
438 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
442 @node Finding the News
443 @section Finding the News
446 @vindex gnus-select-method
448 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
449 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
450 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
451 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
454 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
455 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
458 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
461 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
464 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
467 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
468 certainly be much faster.
470 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
472 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
473 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
474 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
475 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
476 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
477 that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
479 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
480 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
481 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
482 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
484 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
485 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
486 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
487 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
488 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
489 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
490 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
491 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
492 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
495 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
497 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
498 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
499 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
500 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
501 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
502 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
504 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
506 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
507 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
508 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
509 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
510 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
511 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
514 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
515 would typically set this variable to
518 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
523 @section The First Time
524 @cindex first time usage
526 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
527 be subscribed by default.
529 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
530 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
531 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
532 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
535 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
536 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
537 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
539 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
540 help you with most common problems.
542 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
543 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
547 @node The Server is Down
548 @section The Server is Down
549 @cindex server errors
551 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
552 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
553 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
555 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
556 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
557 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
558 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
559 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
560 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
561 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
563 @findex gnus-no-server
564 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
566 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
567 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
568 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
569 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
570 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
571 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
576 @section Slave Gnusae
579 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
580 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
581 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
582 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
584 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
587 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
588 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
589 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
590 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
591 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
592 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
593 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
595 Anyways, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
596 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
597 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
598 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
599 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
600 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
601 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
602 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
604 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
605 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
608 @node Fetching a Group
609 @section Fetching a Group
610 @cindex fetching a group
612 @findex gnus-fetch-group
613 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
614 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
615 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
616 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
617 It takes the group name as a parameter.
625 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
626 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
627 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
628 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
629 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
630 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
631 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
632 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the backends for new groups even
633 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
636 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
637 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
638 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
642 @node Checking New Groups
643 @subsection Checking New Groups
645 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
646 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
647 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
648 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
649 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
650 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
651 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
652 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
653 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
654 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
656 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
657 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
658 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
659 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
660 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
661 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
662 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
663 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
664 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
665 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
666 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
668 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
669 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
670 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
671 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
672 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
673 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
676 @node Subscription Methods
677 @subsection Subscription Methods
679 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
680 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
681 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
683 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
684 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
686 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
690 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
691 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
692 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
693 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
694 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
696 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
697 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
698 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
699 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
701 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
702 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
703 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
705 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
706 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
707 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
708 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
709 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
710 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
711 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
712 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
713 up. Or something like that.
715 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
716 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
717 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
718 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
719 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
721 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
722 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
727 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
728 A closely related variable is
729 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
730 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
731 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
732 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
735 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
736 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
737 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
738 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
741 @node Filtering New Groups
742 @subsection Filtering New Groups
744 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
745 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
746 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
749 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
752 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
753 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
754 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
755 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
756 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
757 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
758 subscribing these groups.
759 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
760 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
762 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
763 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
764 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
765 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
766 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
767 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
768 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
769 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
771 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
772 Yet another variable that meddles here is
773 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
774 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
775 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
776 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
777 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
778 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
779 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
780 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
782 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
783 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
786 @node Changing Servers
787 @section Changing Servers
788 @cindex changing servers
790 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
791 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
792 very flaky and you want to use another.
794 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
795 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
799 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
800 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
801 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
802 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
805 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
806 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
807 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
808 functions more than absolutely necessary.
810 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
811 @findex gnus-change-server
812 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
813 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
814 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
815 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
816 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
818 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
819 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
820 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
821 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
822 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
824 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
825 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
826 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
827 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
828 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
829 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
831 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
832 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
833 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
837 @section Startup Files
838 @cindex startup files
843 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
844 information is traditionally stored in this file.
846 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
847 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
848 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
849 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
850 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
851 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
852 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
854 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
855 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
856 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
857 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
858 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
859 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
861 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
862 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
863 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
864 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
865 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
866 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
867 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
868 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
869 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
870 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
872 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
873 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
874 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
875 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
876 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
877 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
878 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
879 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
880 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
881 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
882 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
883 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
885 @vindex gnus-startup-file
886 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
887 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
888 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
890 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
891 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
892 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
893 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
894 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
895 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
896 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
897 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
898 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
899 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
902 (defun turn-off-backup ()
903 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
905 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
906 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
909 @vindex gnus-init-file
910 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
911 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
912 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
913 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
914 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
915 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
916 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
917 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
918 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
927 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
928 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
929 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
930 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
931 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
934 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
935 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
938 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
939 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
940 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
942 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
943 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
944 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
945 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
946 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
947 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
949 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
950 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
951 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
954 @node The Active File
955 @section The Active File
957 @cindex ignored groups
959 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
960 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
961 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
963 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
964 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
965 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
966 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
967 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
968 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
969 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
972 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
973 @c if you set it to anything else.
975 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
977 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
978 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
979 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
981 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
982 you actually subscribe to.
984 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
985 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
986 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
987 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
989 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
990 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
991 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
992 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
993 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
994 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
996 Some news servers (Leafnode and old versions of INN, for instance) do
997 not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these servers, @code{nil}
998 is probably the most effficient value for this variable.
1000 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1001 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1002 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1003 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1004 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1005 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1007 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1008 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1010 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1011 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1013 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1014 secondary select methods.
1017 @node Startup Variables
1018 @section Startup Variables
1022 @item gnus-load-hook
1023 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1024 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1025 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1026 times you start Gnus.
1028 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1029 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1030 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1032 @item gnus-startup-hook
1033 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1034 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1036 @item gnus-started-hook
1037 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1038 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1041 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1042 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1043 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1044 generating the group buffer.
1046 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1047 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1048 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1049 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1050 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1051 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1052 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1053 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1055 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1056 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1057 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1058 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1059 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1060 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1062 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1063 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1064 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1066 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1067 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1068 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1070 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1071 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1072 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1073 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1078 @node The Group Buffer
1079 @chapter The Group Buffer
1080 @cindex group buffer
1082 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1083 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1084 long as Gnus is active.
1088 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1089 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group.ps,height=9cm}}
1090 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1091 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1092 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1093 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1094 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1095 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1101 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1102 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1103 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1104 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1105 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1106 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1107 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1108 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1109 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1110 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1111 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1112 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1113 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1114 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1115 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1116 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1117 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1121 @node Group Buffer Format
1122 @section Group Buffer Format
1125 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1126 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1127 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1131 @node Group Line Specification
1132 @subsection Group Line Specification
1133 @cindex group buffer format
1135 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1136 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1138 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1141 25: news.announce.newusers
1142 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1147 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1148 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1149 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1150 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1152 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1153 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1154 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1155 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1156 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1157 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1159 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1161 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1162 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
1163 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
1164 never examined by Gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
1167 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1168 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1169 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1171 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1176 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1179 Whether the group is subscribed.
1182 Level of subscribedness.
1185 Number of unread articles.
1188 Number of dormant articles.
1191 Number of ticked articles.
1194 Number of read articles.
1197 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1198 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1201 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1204 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1213 Newsgroup description.
1216 @samp{m} if moderated.
1219 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1228 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1232 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1235 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1236 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1237 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1238 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1239 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.emacs.gnus}.
1242 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1244 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1248 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1252 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1253 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1254 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1255 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1256 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1257 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1262 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1263 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1264 group, or a bogus native group.
1267 @node Group Modeline Specification
1268 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1269 @cindex group modeline
1271 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1272 The mode line can be changed by setting
1273 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1274 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1278 The native news server.
1280 The native select method.
1284 @node Group Highlighting
1285 @subsection Group Highlighting
1286 @cindex highlighting
1287 @cindex group highlighting
1289 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1290 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1291 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1292 that look like @var{(form . face)}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1293 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1295 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1299 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-1
1300 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))))
1301 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-2
1302 '((t (:foreground "SeaGreen" :bold t))))
1303 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-3
1304 '((t (:foreground "SpringGreen" :bold t))))
1305 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-4
1306 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))))
1307 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-5
1308 '((t (:foreground "SkyBlue" :bold t))))
1310 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1311 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1312 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1313 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1314 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1315 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1318 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1320 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1327 The number of unread articles in the group.
1331 Whether the group is a mail group.
1333 The level of the group.
1335 The score of the group.
1337 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1339 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1340 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1342 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1343 topic being inserted.
1346 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1347 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1348 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1350 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1351 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1352 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1353 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1354 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1357 @node Group Maneuvering
1358 @section Group Maneuvering
1359 @cindex group movement
1361 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1362 expected, hopefully.
1368 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1369 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1370 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1376 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1377 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1378 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1382 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1383 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1387 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1388 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1392 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1393 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1394 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1398 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1399 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1400 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1403 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1409 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1410 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1411 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1416 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1417 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1418 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1422 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1423 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1424 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1427 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1428 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1429 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1430 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1434 @node Selecting a Group
1435 @section Selecting a Group
1436 @cindex group selection
1441 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1442 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1443 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1444 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1445 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1446 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1447 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
1448 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
1449 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
1450 negative, Gnus fetches the @var{abs(N)} oldest articles.
1454 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1455 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1456 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1457 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1458 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1462 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1463 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1464 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1465 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1466 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1467 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1468 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
1469 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
1470 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
1471 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
1474 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
1475 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1476 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
1477 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1478 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1481 @kindex M-C-RET (Group)
1482 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
1483 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
1484 doing any processing of its contents
1485 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
1486 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
1487 manner will have no permanent effects.
1491 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1492 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
1493 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
1494 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
1495 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
1496 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
1497 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
1498 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
1501 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
1502 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
1503 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
1504 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
1509 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
1510 full summary buffer.
1513 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
1516 Select the highest scored article in the group when entering the
1521 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function will
1522 be called to place point on a subject line, and/or select some article.
1523 Useful functions include:
1526 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-subject
1527 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article, but
1528 don't select the article.
1530 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-article
1531 Select the first unread article.
1533 @item gnus-summary-best-unread-article
1534 Select the highest-scored unread article.
1538 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
1539 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
1540 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
1544 @node Subscription Commands
1545 @section Subscription Commands
1546 @cindex subscription
1554 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
1555 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
1556 Toggle subscription to the current group
1557 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
1563 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
1564 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
1565 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
1566 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
1572 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
1573 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
1574 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
1580 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
1581 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
1584 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
1585 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
1586 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
1587 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
1588 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
1594 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
1595 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
1599 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
1600 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
1603 @kindex S C-k (Group)
1604 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
1605 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
1606 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
1607 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
1608 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
1609 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
1610 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
1611 @file{.newsrc} file.
1615 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1625 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
1626 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
1627 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
1628 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
1629 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
1630 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
1635 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
1636 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
1637 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
1641 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1642 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
1643 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1645 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1646 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1647 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1648 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
1649 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
1650 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
1657 @section Group Levels
1661 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
1662 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
1663 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
1664 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
1665 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1667 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
1673 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
1674 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
1675 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
1676 prompted for a level.
1679 @vindex gnus-level-killed
1680 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
1681 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
1682 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
1683 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
1684 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
1685 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
1686 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
1687 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
1688 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
1689 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
1690 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
1691 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
1692 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
1693 reasons of efficiency.
1695 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
1696 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
1698 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
1699 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
1700 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
1702 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
1703 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
1704 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
1705 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
1706 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
1707 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
1708 relevant valid ranges.
1710 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
1711 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
1712 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
1713 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
1714 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
1715 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
1718 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
1719 All groups with a level less than or equal to
1720 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
1723 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
1724 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
1725 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
1726 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
1729 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
1730 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
1731 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
1732 use this level as the ``work'' level.
1734 @vindex gnus-activate-level
1735 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
1736 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
1737 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
1738 to 5. The default is 6.
1742 @section Group Score
1747 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
1748 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
1749 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
1752 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
1753 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
1754 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
1755 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
1756 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
1757 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
1758 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
1759 least significant part.))
1761 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
1762 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
1763 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
1764 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
1765 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
1766 action after each summary exit, you can add
1767 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
1768 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
1769 slow things down somewhat.
1772 @node Marking Groups
1773 @section Marking Groups
1774 @cindex marking groups
1776 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
1777 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
1778 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
1779 bidding on those groups.
1781 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
1782 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
1783 with the process mark and then execute the command.
1791 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
1792 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
1798 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
1799 Remove the mark from the current group
1800 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
1804 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
1805 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
1809 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
1810 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
1814 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
1815 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
1819 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
1820 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
1821 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
1824 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
1826 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
1827 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
1828 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
1829 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
1830 the command to be executed.
1833 @node Foreign Groups
1834 @section Foreign Groups
1835 @cindex foreign groups
1837 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
1838 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
1839 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
1840 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
1847 @findex gnus-group-make-group
1848 @cindex making groups
1849 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
1850 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
1851 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
1855 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
1856 @cindex renaming groups
1857 Rename the current group to something else
1858 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
1859 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
1865 @findex gnus-group-customize
1866 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
1870 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
1871 @cindex renaming groups
1872 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
1873 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
1877 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
1878 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
1879 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
1883 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
1884 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
1885 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
1889 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
1891 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
1892 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
1897 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
1898 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
1902 @cindex (ding) archive
1903 @cindex archive group
1904 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
1905 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
1906 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
1907 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
1908 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
1909 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
1910 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
1914 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
1916 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
1917 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
1918 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
1919 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
1923 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
1925 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
1926 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
1927 @xref{Anything Groups}.
1931 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
1932 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
1934 Make a group based on some file or other
1935 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1936 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
1937 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
1938 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs},
1939 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{nsmail} and @code{forward}.
1940 If you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
1941 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
1945 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
1946 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
1947 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
1948 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
1952 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
1957 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
1958 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1959 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
1960 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
1961 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
1962 @xref{Web Searches}.
1964 If you use the @code{dejanews} search engine, you can limit the search
1965 to a particular group by using a match string like
1966 @samp{~g alt.sysadmin.recovery shaving}.
1969 @kindex G DEL (Group)
1970 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
1971 This function will delete the current group
1972 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
1973 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
1974 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
1975 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
1976 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
1980 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
1981 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
1982 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
1986 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
1987 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
1988 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
1991 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
1994 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
1995 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
1996 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
1997 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
1998 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
1999 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2003 @node Group Parameters
2004 @section Group Parameters
2005 @cindex group parameters
2007 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2008 Here's an example group parameter list:
2011 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2015 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
2016 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2017 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2018 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2020 The following group parameters can be used:
2025 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2028 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2031 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2032 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2033 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2034 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2035 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2037 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2038 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2039 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2040 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2041 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2042 list address instead.
2046 Address used when doing a @kbd{a} in that group.
2049 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2052 It is totally ignored
2053 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2054 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2056 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2057 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2058 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2059 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2060 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2062 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2063 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2064 sending the message.
2068 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2069 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2070 of whether it has any unread articles.
2072 @item broken-reply-to
2073 @cindex broken-reply-to
2074 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2075 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2076 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2077 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2078 broken behavior. So there!
2082 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2083 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2087 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2088 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2089 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2094 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2095 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2096 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2097 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2098 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2099 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2100 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2104 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2105 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2106 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2109 @cindex total-expire
2110 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2111 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2112 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2113 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2118 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2119 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
2120 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
2121 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
2122 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
2123 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2126 @cindex score file group parameter
2127 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2128 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2129 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2132 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2133 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2134 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2135 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2138 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2139 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2140 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2141 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2144 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2145 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2149 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2152 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2157 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")}
2158 are arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by
2159 Gnus, but provide a place for you to store information on particular
2163 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2164 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2165 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2167 @item @var{(variable form)}
2168 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2169 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2170 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2171 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2172 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2173 @code{eval}ed there.
2175 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2176 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2177 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2178 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2179 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2182 You can store additional posting style information for this group only
2183 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2184 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2185 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2186 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2188 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2189 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2190 like this in the group parameters:
2195 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2200 Use the @kbd{G p} command to edit group parameters of a group. You
2201 might also be interested in reading about topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
2205 @node Listing Groups
2206 @section Listing Groups
2207 @cindex group listing
2209 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2217 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2218 List all groups that have unread articles
2219 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2220 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2221 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2222 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2229 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2230 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2231 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
2232 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
2233 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
2234 unsubscribed groups).
2238 @findex gnus-group-list-level
2239 List all unread groups on a specific level
2240 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
2241 with no unread articles.
2245 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
2246 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
2247 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
2248 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
2253 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
2254 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
2258 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
2259 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
2260 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2264 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2265 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2269 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2270 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
2271 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2272 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2273 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2274 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
2275 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
2276 Take the output with some grains of salt.
2280 @findex gnus-group-apropos
2281 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
2282 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
2286 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
2287 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
2288 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
2292 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2293 @cindex visible group parameter
2294 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
2295 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
2296 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
2297 get the same effect.
2299 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
2300 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
2301 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
2302 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
2303 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
2306 @node Sorting Groups
2307 @section Sorting Groups
2308 @cindex sorting groups
2310 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
2311 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
2312 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
2313 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
2314 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
2315 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
2320 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2321 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2322 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
2324 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2325 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2326 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
2328 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
2329 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
2330 Sort by group level.
2332 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
2333 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
2334 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
2336 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2337 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2338 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
2339 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
2341 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2342 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2343 Sort by number of unread articles.
2345 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
2346 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
2347 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
2352 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
2353 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
2357 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
2358 some sorting criteria:
2362 @kindex G S a (Group)
2363 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2364 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
2365 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2368 @kindex G S u (Group)
2369 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
2370 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
2371 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2374 @kindex G S l (Group)
2375 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
2376 Sort the group buffer by group level
2377 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
2380 @kindex G S v (Group)
2381 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
2382 Sort the group buffer by group score
2383 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2386 @kindex G S r (Group)
2387 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
2388 Sort the group buffer by group rank
2389 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2392 @kindex G S m (Group)
2393 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
2394 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
2395 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
2399 All the commands below obeys the process/prefix convention
2400 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2402 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
2403 commands will sort in reverse order.
2405 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
2409 @kindex G P a (Group)
2410 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
2411 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
2412 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
2415 @kindex G P u (Group)
2416 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
2417 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
2418 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
2421 @kindex G P l (Group)
2422 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
2423 Sort the groups by group level
2424 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
2427 @kindex G P v (Group)
2428 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
2429 Sort the groups by group score
2430 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2433 @kindex G P r (Group)
2434 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
2435 Sort the groups by group rank
2436 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2439 @kindex G P m (Group)
2440 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
2441 Sort the groups alphabetically by backend name
2442 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
2448 @node Group Maintenance
2449 @section Group Maintenance
2450 @cindex bogus groups
2455 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
2456 Find bogus groups and delete them
2457 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
2461 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
2462 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
2463 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
2464 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
2465 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
2469 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
2470 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
2471 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
2472 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
2475 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
2476 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
2477 Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
2478 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
2483 @node Browse Foreign Server
2484 @section Browse Foreign Server
2485 @cindex foreign servers
2486 @cindex browsing servers
2491 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
2492 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
2493 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
2494 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
2497 @findex gnus-browse-mode
2498 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
2499 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
2500 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
2502 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
2507 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2508 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2512 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2513 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2516 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
2517 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
2518 Enter the current group and display the first article
2519 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
2522 @kindex RET (Browse)
2523 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
2524 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
2528 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
2529 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
2530 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2536 @findex gnus-browse-exit
2537 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
2541 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
2542 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
2543 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
2548 @section Exiting Gnus
2549 @cindex exiting Gnus
2551 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
2556 @findex gnus-group-suspend
2557 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
2558 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
2559 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
2563 @findex gnus-group-exit
2564 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
2565 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
2569 @findex gnus-group-quit
2570 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
2571 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
2574 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
2575 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
2576 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
2577 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
2578 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
2583 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
2584 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
2585 trying to customize meta-variables.
2590 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
2591 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
2592 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
2598 @section Group Topics
2601 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
2602 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
2603 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
2604 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
2605 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
2606 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
2610 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
2611 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group-topic.ps,height=9cm}}
2622 2: alt.religion.emacs
2625 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2627 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2628 13: comp.sources.unix
2631 @findex gnus-topic-mode
2633 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
2634 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
2635 is a toggling command.)
2637 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
2638 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
2639 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
2640 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
2643 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
2644 the hook for the group mode:
2647 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
2651 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
2652 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
2653 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
2654 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
2655 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
2659 @node Topic Variables
2660 @subsection Topic Variables
2661 @cindex topic variables
2663 Now, if you select a topic, it will fold/unfold that topic, which is
2664 really neat, I think.
2666 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
2667 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
2668 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
2681 Number of groups in the topic.
2683 Number of unread articles in the topic.
2685 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
2688 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
2689 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
2690 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
2693 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
2694 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
2696 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
2697 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
2698 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
2701 @node Topic Commands
2702 @subsection Topic Commands
2703 @cindex topic commands
2705 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
2706 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
2707 definitions slightly.
2713 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
2714 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
2715 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
2719 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
2720 Move the current group to some other topic
2721 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2722 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2726 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
2727 Copy the current group to some other topic
2728 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2729 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2733 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
2734 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
2735 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
2736 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
2737 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
2738 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
2739 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
2742 This command uses the process/prefix convention
2743 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2747 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
2748 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2749 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
2753 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
2754 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2755 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
2759 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
2760 Toggle hiding empty topics
2761 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
2765 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
2766 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
2767 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
2770 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
2771 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
2772 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
2773 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
2777 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
2779 @findex gnus-topic-indent
2780 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2781 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
2782 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
2785 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
2786 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
2787 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2788 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
2792 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
2794 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
2795 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
2796 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
2797 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
2798 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
2799 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
2802 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
2803 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
2804 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the expiry
2805 process (if any) (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}).
2809 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
2810 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
2811 topic will be removed along with the topic.
2815 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
2816 Yank the previously killed group or topic
2817 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
2822 @findex gnus-topic-rename
2823 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
2826 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
2827 @findex gnus-topic-delete
2828 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
2832 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
2833 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
2834 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
2838 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
2839 @cindex group parameters
2840 @cindex topic parameters
2842 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
2843 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
2849 @subsection Topic Sorting
2850 @cindex topic sorting
2852 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
2858 @kindex T S a (Topic)
2859 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2860 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
2861 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2864 @kindex T S u (Topic)
2865 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
2866 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
2867 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2870 @kindex T S l (Topic)
2871 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
2872 Sort the current topic by group level
2873 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
2876 @kindex T S v (Topic)
2877 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
2878 Sort the current topic by group score
2879 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2882 @kindex T S r (Topic)
2883 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
2884 Sort the current topic by group rank
2885 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2888 @kindex T S m (Topic)
2889 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
2890 Sort the current topic alphabetically by backend name
2891 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
2895 @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group sorting.
2898 @node Topic Topology
2899 @subsection Topic Topology
2900 @cindex topic topology
2903 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
2909 2: alt.religion.emacs
2912 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2914 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2915 13: comp.sources.unix
2918 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
2919 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
2920 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
2925 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
2926 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
2930 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
2931 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
2932 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
2933 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
2934 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
2935 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
2937 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
2938 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
2939 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
2942 @node Topic Parameters
2943 @subsection Topic Parameters
2944 @cindex topic parameters
2946 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
2947 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
2948 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
2950 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
2951 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
2952 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
2953 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
2959 2: alt.religion.emacs
2963 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2965 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2966 13: comp.sources.unix
2970 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
2971 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
2972 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
2973 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
2974 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
2975 . "religion.SCORE")}.
2977 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
2978 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
2979 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
2980 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
2981 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
2983 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
2984 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
2985 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
2986 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
2987 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
2988 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
2989 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
2990 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
2993 @node Misc Group Stuff
2994 @section Misc Group Stuff
2997 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
2998 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
2999 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
3000 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
3007 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3008 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3009 @xref{The Server Buffer}.
3013 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3014 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a
3015 prefix, the current group name will be used as the default.
3019 @findex gnus-group-mail
3020 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
3024 Variables for the group buffer:
3028 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
3029 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
3030 is called after the group buffer has been
3033 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
3034 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3035 is called after the group buffer is
3036 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
3039 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
3040 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3041 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
3042 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
3044 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3045 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3046 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
3047 whether they are empty or not.
3052 @node Scanning New Messages
3053 @subsection Scanning New Messages
3054 @cindex new messages
3055 @cindex scanning new news
3061 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
3062 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
3063 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
3064 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
3065 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
3066 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
3071 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
3072 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
3073 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
3074 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
3075 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
3076 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
3077 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
3079 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
3080 @cindex activating groups
3082 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
3083 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
3088 @findex gnus-group-restart
3089 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
3090 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
3091 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
3095 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
3096 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
3098 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
3099 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
3103 @node Group Information
3104 @subsection Group Information
3105 @cindex group information
3106 @cindex information on groups
3113 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
3114 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
3117 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
3118 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
3119 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
3120 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
3121 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
3122 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
3123 for fetching the file.
3125 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
3126 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
3130 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
3132 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
3133 @cindex describing groups
3134 @cindex group description
3135 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
3136 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
3137 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
3141 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
3142 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
3143 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
3150 @findex gnus-version
3151 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
3155 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
3156 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
3159 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
3162 @findex gnus-info-find-node
3163 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
3167 @node Group Timestamp
3168 @subsection Group Timestamp
3170 @cindex group timestamps
3172 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
3173 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
3174 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
3177 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
3180 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
3182 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
3183 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
3186 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3187 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
3190 This will result in lines looking like:
3193 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
3194 0: custom 19961002T012713
3197 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
3198 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
3202 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3203 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
3208 @subsection File Commands
3209 @cindex file commands
3215 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
3216 @vindex gnus-init-file
3217 @cindex reading init file
3218 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
3219 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
3223 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
3224 @cindex saving .newsrc
3225 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
3226 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
3227 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
3230 @c @kindex Z (Group)
3231 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
3232 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
3237 @node The Summary Buffer
3238 @chapter The Summary Buffer
3239 @cindex summary buffer
3241 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
3242 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
3244 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
3245 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
3247 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
3250 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
3251 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
3252 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
3253 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
3254 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
3255 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
3256 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
3257 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
3258 * Threading:: How threads are made.
3259 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
3260 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
3261 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
3262 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
3263 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
3264 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
3265 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
3266 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
3267 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
3268 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
3269 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
3270 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
3271 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
3272 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
3273 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
3274 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
3275 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
3276 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
3277 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
3278 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
3282 @node Summary Buffer Format
3283 @section Summary Buffer Format
3284 @cindex summary buffer format
3288 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
3289 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary.ps,width=7.5cm}}
3290 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-article.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
3296 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
3297 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
3298 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
3299 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
3302 @findex mail-extract-address-components
3303 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
3304 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
3305 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
3306 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
3307 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
3308 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
3309 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
3310 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
3311 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
3312 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
3315 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
3316 'mail-extract-address-components)
3319 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
3320 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
3321 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
3322 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
3325 @node Summary Buffer Lines
3326 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
3328 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3329 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
3330 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
3331 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
3332 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3334 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
3336 The following format specification characters are understood:
3344 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
3345 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
3346 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
3348 Full @code{From} header.
3350 The name (from the @code{From} header).
3352 The name, code @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header
3353 (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
3355 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
3356 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
3357 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
3358 may be more thorough.
3360 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
3363 Number of lines in the article.
3365 Number of characters in the article.
3367 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3369 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
3370 pushes everything after it off the screen).
3372 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
3373 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3375 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
3376 for adopted articles.
3378 One space for each thread level.
3380 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
3385 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
3386 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
3390 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
3392 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
3393 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
3394 default level. If the difference between
3395 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
3396 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
3404 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
3406 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
3412 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
3413 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
3415 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
3416 article has any children.
3422 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
3423 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
3424 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
3425 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
3426 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
3427 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
3430 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
3431 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
3432 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
3433 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
3434 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
3435 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
3437 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
3438 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
3440 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
3443 @node To From Newsgroups
3444 @subsection To From Newsgroups
3448 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
3449 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
3450 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
3451 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
3452 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
3456 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
3457 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
3458 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
3462 (setq gnus-extra-headers
3463 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
3466 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
3467 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
3470 @findex gnus-extra-header
3471 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
3472 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
3473 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
3476 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
3480 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
3481 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
3482 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
3483 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
3484 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
3485 headers are used instead.
3489 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
3490 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
3491 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files. If
3492 you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after changing
3495 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3496 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
3497 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
3498 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
3500 In summary, you'd typically do something like the following:
3503 (setq gnus-extra-headers
3505 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
3506 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
3507 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20f%]%) %s\n")
3508 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
3512 Now, this is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
3513 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
3520 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
3521 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
3524 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
3525 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
3527 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
3528 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
3529 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
3530 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
3532 Here are the elements you can play with:
3538 Unprefixed group name.
3540 Current article number.
3542 Current article score.
3546 Number of unread articles in this group.
3548 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
3551 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
3552 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
3553 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
3554 and no unselected ones.
3556 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
3557 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
3559 Subject of the current article.
3561 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
3563 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
3565 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3567 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3569 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
3571 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
3575 @node Summary Highlighting
3576 @subsection Summary Highlighting
3580 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3581 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3582 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
3583 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
3584 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3586 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
3587 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
3588 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
3589 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3591 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
3592 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
3593 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
3594 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
3596 @item gnus-summary-highlight
3597 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
3598 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
3599 list where the elements are of the format @var{(FORM . FACE)}. If you
3600 would, for instance, like ticked articles to be italic and high-scored
3601 articles to be bold, you could set this variable to something like
3603 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
3604 ((> score default) . bold))
3606 As you may have guessed, if @var{FORM} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
3607 @var{FACE} will be applied to the line.
3611 @node Summary Maneuvering
3612 @section Summary Maneuvering
3613 @cindex summary movement
3615 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
3616 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
3618 None of these commands select articles.
3623 @kindex M-n (Summary)
3624 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
3625 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
3626 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
3627 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
3631 @kindex M-p (Summary)
3632 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
3633 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
3634 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
3635 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
3640 @kindex G j (Summary)
3641 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
3642 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
3643 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
3646 @kindex G g (Summary)
3647 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
3648 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
3649 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
3652 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
3653 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
3654 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
3655 to the group buffer.
3657 Variables related to summary movement:
3661 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
3662 @item gnus-auto-select-next
3663 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
3664 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
3665 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
3666 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
3667 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
3668 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
3669 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the
3670 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
3671 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
3672 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
3673 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
3674 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
3676 @item gnus-auto-select-same
3677 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
3678 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
3679 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
3680 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
3681 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
3682 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
3684 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
3686 @item gnus-summary-check-current
3687 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
3688 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
3689 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
3690 Instead, they will choose the current article.
3692 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
3693 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
3694 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
3695 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
3696 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
3697 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
3698 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
3699 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
3702 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
3703 the given number of lines from the top.
3708 @node Choosing Articles
3709 @section Choosing Articles
3710 @cindex selecting articles
3713 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
3714 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
3718 @node Choosing Commands
3719 @subsection Choosing Commands
3721 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
3722 and they all select and display an article.
3726 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3727 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3728 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
3729 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3734 @kindex G n (Summary)
3735 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
3736 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
3737 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
3742 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
3743 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
3744 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
3749 @kindex G N (Summary)
3750 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
3751 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
3756 @kindex G P (Summary)
3757 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
3758 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
3761 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
3762 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
3763 Go to the next article with the same subject
3764 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
3767 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
3768 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
3769 Go to the previous article with the same subject
3770 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
3774 @kindex G f (Summary)
3776 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
3777 Go to the first unread article
3778 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
3782 @kindex G b (Summary)
3784 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
3785 Go to the article with the highest score
3786 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
3791 @kindex G l (Summary)
3792 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
3793 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
3796 @kindex G o (Summary)
3797 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
3799 @cindex article history
3800 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
3801 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
3802 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
3803 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
3804 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
3805 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
3809 @node Choosing Variables
3810 @subsection Choosing Variables
3812 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
3815 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3816 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3817 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
3818 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
3819 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
3820 the server and display it in the article buffer.
3822 @item gnus-select-article-hook
3823 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
3824 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
3825 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
3827 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
3828 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
3829 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
3830 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
3831 @findex gnus-unread-mark
3832 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
3833 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
3834 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
3835 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
3836 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
3837 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
3838 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
3839 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
3840 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
3845 @node Paging the Article
3846 @section Scrolling the Article
3847 @cindex article scrolling
3852 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3853 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3854 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
3855 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
3856 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3859 @kindex DEL (Summary)
3860 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
3861 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
3864 @kindex RET (Summary)
3865 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
3866 Scroll the current article one line forward
3867 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
3870 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
3871 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
3872 Scroll the current article one line backward
3873 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
3877 @kindex A g (Summary)
3879 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
3880 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
3881 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
3882 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
3883 the way it came from the server.
3888 @kindex A < (Summary)
3889 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
3890 Scroll to the beginning of the article
3891 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
3896 @kindex A > (Summary)
3897 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
3898 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
3902 @kindex A s (Summary)
3904 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
3905 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
3906 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
3910 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
3911 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
3916 @node Reply Followup and Post
3917 @section Reply, Followup and Post
3920 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
3921 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
3925 @node Summary Mail Commands
3926 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
3928 @cindex composing mail
3930 Commands for composing a mail message:
3936 @kindex S r (Summary)
3938 @findex gnus-summary-reply
3939 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
3940 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
3941 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
3942 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
3947 @kindex S R (Summary)
3948 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
3949 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
3950 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
3951 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
3952 command uses the process/prefix convention.
3955 @kindex S w (Summary)
3956 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
3957 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
3958 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
3959 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
3960 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
3963 @kindex S W (Summary)
3964 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
3965 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
3966 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
3967 the process/prefix convention.
3970 @kindex S o m (Summary)
3971 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
3972 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
3973 Forward the current article to some other person
3974 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
3975 headers of the forwarded article.
3980 @kindex S m (Summary)
3981 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
3982 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
3983 Send a mail to some other person
3984 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
3987 @kindex S D b (Summary)
3988 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
3989 @cindex bouncing mail
3990 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
3991 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
3992 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
3993 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
3994 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
3995 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
3996 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
3997 very well fail, though.
4000 @kindex S D r (Summary)
4001 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
4002 Not to be confused with the previous command,
4003 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
4004 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
4005 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
4006 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
4007 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
4008 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
4009 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
4011 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
4012 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
4013 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
4014 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
4015 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muß sein!
4017 This command understands the process/prefix convention
4018 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4021 @kindex S O m (Summary)
4022 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
4023 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
4024 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
4025 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4028 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
4029 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
4030 @cindex crossposting
4031 @cindex excessive crossposting
4032 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
4033 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
4035 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
4036 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
4037 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
4038 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
4039 command understands the process/prefix convention
4040 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
4044 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4047 @node Summary Post Commands
4048 @subsection Summary Post Commands
4050 @cindex composing news
4052 Commands for posting a news article:
4058 @kindex S p (Summary)
4059 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
4060 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
4061 Post an article to the current group
4062 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
4067 @kindex S f (Summary)
4068 @findex gnus-summary-followup
4069 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
4070 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
4074 @kindex S F (Summary)
4076 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
4077 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
4078 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
4079 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
4080 process/prefix convention.
4083 @kindex S n (Summary)
4084 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
4085 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4086 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
4089 @kindex S N (Summary)
4090 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
4091 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4092 message through mail and include the original message
4093 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
4094 the process/prefix convention.
4097 @kindex S o p (Summary)
4098 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
4099 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
4100 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
4101 headers of the forwarded article.
4104 @kindex S O p (Summary)
4105 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
4107 @cindex making digests
4108 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
4109 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
4110 process/prefix convention.
4113 @kindex S u (Summary)
4114 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
4115 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
4116 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
4117 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
4120 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4123 @node Canceling and Superseding
4124 @section Canceling Articles
4125 @cindex canceling articles
4126 @cindex superseding articles
4128 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
4129 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
4131 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
4133 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
4135 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
4136 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
4137 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
4138 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
4139 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
4140 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4142 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
4143 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
4146 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
4147 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
4148 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
4150 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
4151 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
4152 your original article.
4154 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
4156 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
4157 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
4158 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
4161 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
4162 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
4163 have posted almost the same article twice.
4165 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
4166 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
4167 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
4168 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
4169 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
4170 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
4171 header by substituting one of those words for the word
4172 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
4173 you would do normally. The previous article will be
4174 canceled/superseded.
4176 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
4179 @node Marking Articles
4180 @section Marking Articles
4181 @cindex article marking
4182 @cindex article ticking
4185 There are several marks you can set on an article.
4187 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
4188 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
4189 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
4191 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
4194 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
4195 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
4196 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
4200 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
4204 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
4205 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
4206 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
4210 @node Unread Articles
4211 @subsection Unread Articles
4213 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
4218 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
4219 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
4221 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
4222 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
4223 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
4224 tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an
4225 article forever, you'll have to make it persistent (@pxref{Persistent
4229 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
4230 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
4232 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
4233 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
4234 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
4237 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
4238 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
4240 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
4245 @subsection Read Articles
4246 @cindex expirable mark
4248 All the following marks mark articles as read.
4253 @vindex gnus-del-mark
4254 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
4255 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
4258 @vindex gnus-read-mark
4259 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
4262 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
4263 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
4264 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
4267 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
4268 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
4271 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
4272 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
4275 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
4276 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
4279 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
4280 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
4283 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
4284 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
4287 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
4288 @sc{SOUP}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
4291 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
4292 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
4296 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
4297 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
4298 (@code{gnus-duplicated-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
4302 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
4303 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
4305 One more special mark, though:
4309 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
4310 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
4312 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
4313 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
4314 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
4315 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
4321 @subsection Other Marks
4322 @cindex process mark
4325 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
4331 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
4332 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
4333 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
4334 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
4335 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
4338 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
4339 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
4340 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
4341 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
4344 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
4345 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
4346 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
4349 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
4350 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
4351 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
4352 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
4355 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
4356 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
4357 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
4358 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
4359 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
4362 @vindex gnus-process-mark
4363 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
4364 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
4365 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
4366 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
4367 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
4371 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
4372 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
4373 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
4375 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
4376 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
4377 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
4381 @subsection Setting Marks
4382 @cindex setting marks
4384 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
4389 @kindex M c (Summary)
4390 @kindex M-u (Summary)
4391 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
4392 @cindex mark as unread
4393 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
4394 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
4400 @kindex M t (Summary)
4401 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
4402 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
4403 @xref{Article Caching}.
4408 @kindex M ? (Summary)
4409 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
4410 Mark the current article as dormant
4411 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
4415 @kindex M d (Summary)
4417 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
4418 Mark the current article as read
4419 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
4423 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
4424 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
4425 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
4430 @kindex M k (Summary)
4431 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
4432 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
4433 and then select the next unread article
4434 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
4438 @kindex M K (Summary)
4439 @kindex C-k (Summary)
4440 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
4441 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
4442 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
4445 @kindex M C (Summary)
4446 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
4447 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
4448 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
4451 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
4452 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
4453 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
4454 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
4457 @kindex M H (Summary)
4458 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
4459 Catchup the current group to point
4460 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
4463 @kindex C-w (Summary)
4464 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
4465 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
4466 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
4469 @kindex M V k (Summary)
4470 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
4471 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
4472 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
4476 @kindex M e (Summary)
4478 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
4479 Mark the current article as expirable
4480 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
4483 @kindex M b (Summary)
4484 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
4485 Set a bookmark in the current article
4486 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
4489 @kindex M B (Summary)
4490 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
4491 Remove the bookmark from the current article
4492 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
4495 @kindex M V c (Summary)
4496 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
4497 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
4498 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4501 @kindex M V u (Summary)
4502 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
4503 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
4504 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
4507 @kindex M V m (Summary)
4508 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
4509 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
4510 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
4511 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4514 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
4515 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
4516 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
4517 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
4518 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
4519 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
4520 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
4521 The default is @code{t}.
4524 @node Generic Marking Commands
4525 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
4527 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
4528 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
4529 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
4530 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go the the
4531 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
4534 Multiply these five behaviours with five different marking commands, and
4535 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
4538 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
4539 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
4540 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
4541 to list in this manual.
4543 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
4544 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
4545 @kbd{!} command to go the the next article instead of the next unread
4546 article, you could say something like:
4549 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
4550 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
4551 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
4557 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
4558 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
4562 @node Setting Process Marks
4563 @subsection Setting Process Marks
4564 @cindex setting process marks
4571 @kindex M P p (Summary)
4572 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
4573 Mark the current article with the process mark
4574 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
4575 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
4579 @kindex M P u (Summary)
4580 @kindex M-# (Summary)
4581 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
4582 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
4585 @kindex M P U (Summary)
4586 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
4587 Remove the process mark from all articles
4588 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
4591 @kindex M P i (Summary)
4592 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
4593 Invert the list of process marked articles
4594 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
4597 @kindex M P R (Summary)
4598 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
4599 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
4600 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
4603 @kindex M P r (Summary)
4604 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
4605 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
4608 @kindex M P t (Summary)
4609 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
4610 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4611 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
4614 @kindex M P T (Summary)
4615 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
4616 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4617 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
4620 @kindex M P v (Summary)
4621 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
4622 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
4623 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
4626 @kindex M P s (Summary)
4627 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
4628 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4631 @kindex M P S (Summary)
4632 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
4633 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
4634 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
4637 @kindex M P a (Summary)
4638 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
4639 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4642 @kindex M P b (Summary)
4643 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
4644 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
4645 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
4648 @kindex M P k (Summary)
4649 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
4650 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
4651 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
4654 @kindex M P y (Summary)
4655 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
4656 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
4657 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
4660 @kindex M P w (Summary)
4661 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
4662 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
4663 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
4672 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
4673 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
4674 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
4677 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
4678 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
4679 additional articles.
4685 @kindex / / (Summary)
4686 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
4687 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
4688 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
4691 @kindex / a (Summary)
4692 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
4693 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
4694 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
4698 @kindex / u (Summary)
4700 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
4701 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
4702 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
4703 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
4704 dormant articles will also be excluded.
4707 @kindex / m (Summary)
4708 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
4709 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
4710 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
4713 @kindex / t (Summary)
4714 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
4715 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
4716 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}). If given a prefix, limit to
4717 articles younger than that number of days.
4720 @kindex / n (Summary)
4721 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
4722 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
4723 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
4724 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4727 @kindex / w (Summary)
4728 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
4729 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
4730 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
4734 @kindex / v (Summary)
4735 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
4736 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
4737 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
4741 @kindex M S (Summary)
4742 @kindex / E (Summary)
4743 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
4744 Include all expunged articles in the limit
4745 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
4748 @kindex / D (Summary)
4749 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
4750 Include all dormant articles in the limit
4751 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
4754 @kindex / * (Summary)
4755 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
4756 Include all cached articles in the limit
4757 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
4760 @kindex / d (Summary)
4761 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
4762 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
4763 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
4766 @kindex / M (Summary)
4767 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
4768 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
4771 @kindex / T (Summary)
4772 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
4773 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
4776 @kindex / c (Summary)
4777 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
4778 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
4779 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
4782 @kindex / C (Summary)
4783 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
4784 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
4785 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
4786 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
4794 @cindex article threading
4796 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
4797 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
4798 hierarchical fashion.
4800 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
4801 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
4802 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
4803 or simply missing. Weird news propagation excarcerbates the problem,
4804 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
4805 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
4806 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
4808 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
4812 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
4815 A tree-like article structure.
4818 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
4821 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
4822 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
4823 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
4824 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
4825 called loose threads.
4827 @item thread gathering
4828 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
4830 @item sparse threads
4831 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
4832 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
4838 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
4839 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
4843 @node Customizing Threading
4844 @subsection Customizing Threading
4845 @cindex customizing threading
4848 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
4849 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
4850 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
4851 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
4856 @subsubsection Loose Threads
4859 @cindex loose threads
4862 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
4863 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
4864 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
4865 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
4866 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
4867 read or killed the root in a previous session.
4869 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
4870 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
4871 There are four possible values:
4875 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
4876 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-adopt.ps,width=7.5cm}}
4877 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-empty.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4878 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-none.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4879 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-dummy.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4884 @cindex adopting articles
4889 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
4890 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
4891 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
4892 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
4895 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
4896 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
4897 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
4898 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
4899 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
4900 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
4901 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
4904 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
4905 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
4906 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
4910 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
4911 display them after one another.
4914 Don't gather loose threads.
4917 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4918 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4919 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
4920 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
4921 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
4922 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
4923 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
4924 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
4925 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
4926 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
4927 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
4929 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
4930 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
4931 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
4934 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4935 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4936 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
4937 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
4938 simplification is used.
4940 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4941 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4942 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
4943 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
4945 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
4947 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4953 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
4954 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
4955 "answer" "reference" "announce"
4956 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
4961 (mapconcat 'identity
4962 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
4964 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
4967 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
4970 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
4971 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
4972 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
4973 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
4974 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
4975 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
4977 Useful functions to put in this list include:
4980 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
4981 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
4982 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
4984 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
4985 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
4988 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
4989 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
4990 Remove excessive whitespace.
4993 You may also write your own functions, of course.
4996 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4997 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4998 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
4999 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
5000 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
5001 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
5002 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
5003 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
5005 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5006 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5007 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
5008 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
5009 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
5010 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
5011 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
5012 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
5013 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
5017 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
5018 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
5019 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
5020 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
5022 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
5023 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
5024 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
5027 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
5031 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5032 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
5038 @node Filling In Threads
5039 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
5042 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
5043 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
5044 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
5045 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
5046 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
5047 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
5048 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
5049 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
5050 fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
5051 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
5052 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
5053 expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that.
5055 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
5056 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
5057 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
5059 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
5060 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
5061 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
5062 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
5063 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
5064 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
5065 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
5066 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
5067 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
5068 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
5069 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
5070 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
5071 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
5072 @code{nil} by default.
5077 @node More Threading
5078 @subsubsection More Threading
5081 @item gnus-show-threads
5082 @vindex gnus-show-threads
5083 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
5084 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
5085 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
5086 slower and more awkward.
5088 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5089 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5090 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
5093 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
5094 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
5095 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
5096 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
5097 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
5098 threads are expunged.
5100 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
5101 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
5102 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
5105 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5106 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5107 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
5108 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
5109 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
5112 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
5113 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
5114 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
5120 @node Low-Level Threading
5121 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
5125 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
5126 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
5127 Hook run before parsing any headers.
5129 @item gnus-alter-header-function
5130 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
5131 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
5132 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
5133 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
5134 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
5135 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
5136 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
5137 meaningful. Here's one example:
5140 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
5142 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
5143 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
5145 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
5147 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
5154 @node Thread Commands
5155 @subsection Thread Commands
5156 @cindex thread commands
5162 @kindex T k (Summary)
5163 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
5164 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
5165 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
5166 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
5167 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
5172 @kindex T l (Summary)
5173 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
5174 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
5175 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
5176 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
5179 @kindex T i (Summary)
5180 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
5181 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
5182 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
5185 @kindex T # (Summary)
5186 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5187 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
5188 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5191 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
5192 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5193 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
5194 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5197 @kindex T T (Summary)
5198 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
5199 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
5202 @kindex T s (Summary)
5203 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
5204 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
5205 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
5208 @kindex T h (Summary)
5209 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
5210 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
5213 @kindex T S (Summary)
5214 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
5215 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
5218 @kindex T H (Summary)
5219 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
5220 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
5223 @kindex T t (Summary)
5224 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
5225 Re-thread the current article's thread
5226 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
5227 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
5230 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
5231 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
5232 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
5233 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
5237 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
5238 understand the numeric prefix.
5243 @kindex T n (Summary)
5244 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
5245 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
5248 @kindex T p (Summary)
5249 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
5250 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
5253 @kindex T d (Summary)
5254 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
5255 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
5258 @kindex T u (Summary)
5259 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
5260 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
5263 @kindex T o (Summary)
5264 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
5265 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
5268 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
5269 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
5270 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
5271 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
5272 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
5273 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
5274 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
5275 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
5276 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
5277 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
5278 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
5279 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
5286 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
5287 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
5288 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
5289 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5290 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
5291 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5292 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
5293 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
5294 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
5295 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
5296 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
5298 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
5299 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
5300 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
5301 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
5302 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
5304 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
5305 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
5306 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
5308 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
5309 last function in the list. You should probably always include
5310 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
5311 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
5312 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
5313 ascending article order.
5315 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
5316 by number, you could do something like:
5319 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5320 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5321 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5322 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
5325 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
5326 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
5327 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
5328 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
5329 which the articles arrived.
5331 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
5335 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5337 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
5338 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
5341 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
5342 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
5343 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
5344 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
5347 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
5348 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
5349 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
5350 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
5351 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
5352 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
5353 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
5354 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
5355 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
5356 it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
5357 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
5358 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
5359 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
5361 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
5365 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
5366 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
5367 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
5372 @node Asynchronous Fetching
5373 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
5374 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
5375 @cindex article pre-fetch
5378 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
5379 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
5380 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
5381 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
5382 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
5384 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
5385 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
5387 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
5388 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
5389 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
5390 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
5391 connection is blocked.
5393 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
5394 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
5395 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
5396 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
5398 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
5399 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
5400 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
5401 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
5404 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
5407 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
5408 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
5409 happen automatically.
5411 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
5412 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
5413 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
5414 that when you read an article in the group, the backend will pre-fetch
5415 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the backend will
5416 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
5417 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
5419 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
5420 @findex gnus-async-read-p
5421 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
5422 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
5423 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
5424 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
5425 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
5426 data structure as the only parameter.
5428 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
5431 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
5432 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
5433 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
5434 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
5437 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
5440 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
5441 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
5442 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
5444 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
5445 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
5446 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
5447 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
5451 Remove articles when they are read.
5454 Remove articles when exiting the group.
5457 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
5459 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
5460 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
5461 @c from the next group.
5464 @node Article Caching
5465 @section Article Caching
5466 @cindex article caching
5469 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
5470 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
5471 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
5472 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
5473 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
5475 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
5477 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5478 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
5479 @vindex gnus-use-cache
5480 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
5481 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
5482 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
5483 cache is flat or hierarchal is controlled by the
5484 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
5486 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
5487 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
5488 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
5489 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
5490 as dormant, and don't worry.
5492 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
5494 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
5495 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
5496 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
5497 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
5498 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
5499 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
5500 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
5501 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
5502 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
5503 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
5505 @findex gnus-jog-cache
5506 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
5507 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
5508 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
5509 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
5510 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
5511 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
5512 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
5513 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
5514 not then be downloaded by this command.
5516 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
5517 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
5518 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
5519 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
5520 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
5521 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
5523 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
5524 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
5525 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
5526 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
5527 variables, the group is not cached.
5529 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
5530 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
5531 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
5532 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
5533 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
5534 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
5535 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
5536 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
5537 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
5541 @node Persistent Articles
5542 @section Persistent Articles
5543 @cindex persistent articles
5545 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
5546 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
5547 useful in my opinion.
5549 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
5550 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
5551 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
5552 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
5553 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
5554 the expiry going on at the news server.
5556 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
5557 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
5558 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
5564 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
5565 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
5568 @kindex M-* (Summary)
5569 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
5570 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
5571 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
5575 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
5577 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
5578 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
5579 interested in persistent articles:
5582 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
5586 @node Article Backlog
5587 @section Article Backlog
5589 @cindex article backlog
5591 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
5592 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
5593 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
5594 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
5595 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
5596 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
5597 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
5598 increase memory usage some.
5600 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
5601 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
5602 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
5603 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
5604 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
5605 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
5606 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
5608 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
5611 @node Saving Articles
5612 @section Saving Articles
5613 @cindex saving articles
5615 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
5616 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
5617 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
5618 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
5619 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
5621 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
5622 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
5623 unwanted headers before saving the article.
5625 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
5626 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
5627 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
5628 deleted before saving.
5634 @kindex O o (Summary)
5636 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
5637 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
5638 Save the current article using the default article saver
5639 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
5642 @kindex O m (Summary)
5643 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
5644 Save the current article in mail format
5645 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
5648 @kindex O r (Summary)
5649 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
5650 Save the current article in rmail format
5651 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
5654 @kindex O f (Summary)
5655 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
5656 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
5657 Save the current article in plain file format
5658 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
5661 @kindex O F (Summary)
5662 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
5663 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
5664 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
5667 @kindex O b (Summary)
5668 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
5669 Save the current article body in plain file format
5670 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
5673 @kindex O h (Summary)
5674 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
5675 Save the current article in mh folder format
5676 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
5679 @kindex O v (Summary)
5680 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
5681 Save the current article in a VM folder
5682 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
5685 @kindex O p (Summary)
5686 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
5687 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
5688 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
5691 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
5692 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
5693 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
5694 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
5695 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
5696 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
5697 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
5698 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
5699 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
5700 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
5701 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
5702 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
5706 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
5707 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
5708 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
5709 functions below, or you can create your own.
5713 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5714 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5715 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
5716 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5717 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
5718 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5719 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5721 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5722 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5723 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
5724 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
5725 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5726 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5728 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
5729 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
5730 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
5731 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5732 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
5733 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5734 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5736 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5737 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5738 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
5739 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5740 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5742 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5743 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5744 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
5745 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
5746 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
5749 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
5750 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
5751 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
5752 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
5753 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
5755 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5756 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5757 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
5758 reader to use this setting.
5761 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
5762 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
5763 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
5764 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
5767 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
5768 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
5769 available functions that generate names:
5773 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
5774 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
5775 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5777 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
5778 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5779 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5781 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
5782 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
5783 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5785 @item gnus-plain-save-name
5786 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5787 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5790 @vindex gnus-split-methods
5791 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
5792 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
5793 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
5794 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
5798 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
5799 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
5800 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
5801 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
5804 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
5805 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
5806 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
5807 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
5808 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
5809 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
5810 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
5811 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
5812 called returns a string or a list of strings.
5814 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
5815 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
5816 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
5817 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
5819 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
5820 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
5821 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
5824 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
5825 lots of mail groups called things like
5826 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
5827 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
5828 following will do just that:
5831 (defun my-save-name (group)
5832 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
5833 (substring group (match-end 0))))
5835 (setq gnus-split-methods
5836 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
5841 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5842 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
5843 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
5844 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
5845 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
5846 all the files in the top level directory
5847 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
5848 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
5849 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
5850 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
5852 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
5853 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
5854 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
5855 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
5856 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
5859 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
5863 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
5864 (setq gnus-default-article-saver 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
5867 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
5868 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
5869 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
5870 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
5873 @node Decoding Articles
5874 @section Decoding Articles
5875 @cindex decoding articles
5877 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
5878 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
5881 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
5882 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
5883 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
5884 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
5885 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
5886 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
5890 @cindex article series
5891 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
5892 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
5893 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
5894 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
5895 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
5897 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
5898 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
5899 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
5901 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
5902 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
5903 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
5905 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
5906 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
5907 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
5910 @node Uuencoded Articles
5911 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
5913 @cindex uuencoded articles
5918 @kindex X u (Summary)
5919 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
5920 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
5921 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
5924 @kindex X U (Summary)
5925 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
5926 Uudecodes and saves the current series
5927 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5930 @kindex X v u (Summary)
5931 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
5932 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
5935 @kindex X v U (Summary)
5936 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
5937 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
5938 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
5942 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
5943 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
5944 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
5945 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
5946 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5948 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
5949 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
5950 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
5951 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
5954 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
5955 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
5956 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
5957 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
5958 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
5959 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
5963 @node Shell Archives
5964 @subsection Shell Archives
5966 @cindex shell archives
5967 @cindex shared articles
5969 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
5970 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
5971 some commands to deal with these:
5976 @kindex X s (Summary)
5977 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
5978 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
5981 @kindex X S (Summary)
5982 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
5983 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
5986 @kindex X v s (Summary)
5987 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
5988 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
5991 @kindex X v S (Summary)
5992 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
5993 Unshars, views and saves the current series
5994 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
5998 @node PostScript Files
5999 @subsection PostScript Files
6005 @kindex X p (Summary)
6006 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
6007 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
6010 @kindex X P (Summary)
6011 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
6012 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
6013 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
6016 @kindex X v p (Summary)
6017 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
6018 View the current PostScript series
6019 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
6022 @kindex X v P (Summary)
6023 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
6024 View and save the current PostScript series
6025 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
6030 @subsection Other Files
6034 @kindex X o (Summary)
6035 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
6036 Save the current series
6037 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
6040 @kindex X b (Summary)
6041 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
6042 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
6043 doesn't really work yet.
6047 @node Decoding Variables
6048 @subsection Decoding Variables
6050 Adjective, not verb.
6053 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
6054 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
6055 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
6059 @node Rule Variables
6060 @subsubsection Rule Variables
6061 @cindex rule variables
6063 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
6064 variables are of the form
6067 (list '(regexp1 command2)
6074 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6075 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6077 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
6078 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
6081 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6082 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
6085 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6086 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6087 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
6088 user and default view rules.
6090 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6091 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6092 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
6097 @node Other Decode Variables
6098 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
6101 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6103 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6104 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
6105 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
6106 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
6107 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
6111 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
6112 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
6115 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
6116 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
6117 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
6120 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6121 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6122 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
6123 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
6124 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
6127 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6128 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6129 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
6131 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6132 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6133 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
6134 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
6135 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
6138 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6139 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6140 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
6142 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6143 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6144 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
6145 looking for files to display.
6147 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
6148 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
6149 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
6152 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6153 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6154 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
6157 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6158 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6159 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
6162 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6163 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6164 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
6167 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6168 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6169 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
6170 decoded articles as unread.
6172 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6173 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6174 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
6175 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
6177 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6178 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6179 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
6181 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6182 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6184 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
6185 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
6186 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
6187 @code{metamail} for viewing.
6189 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6190 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6191 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
6192 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
6193 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
6194 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC1153---no easy way
6195 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
6196 simply dropped them.
6201 @node Uuencoding and Posting
6202 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
6206 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6207 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6208 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
6209 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
6210 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
6211 for you when you post the article.
6213 @item gnus-uu-post-length
6214 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
6215 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
6216 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
6218 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
6219 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
6220 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
6221 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
6222 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
6223 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
6224 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
6226 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6227 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6228 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
6229 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
6230 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
6231 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
6232 Default is @code{t}.
6238 @subsection Viewing Files
6239 @cindex viewing files
6240 @cindex pseudo-articles
6242 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
6243 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
6244 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
6245 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
6246 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
6247 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
6248 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
6250 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
6251 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
6252 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
6253 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
6255 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
6256 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
6257 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
6259 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
6260 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
6261 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
6262 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
6263 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
6265 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
6266 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
6267 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
6268 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
6269 a list of parameters to that command.
6271 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
6272 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
6273 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
6275 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
6276 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
6277 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
6280 @node Article Treatment
6281 @section Article Treatment
6283 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
6284 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
6285 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
6286 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
6287 these articles easier.
6290 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
6291 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
6292 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
6293 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
6294 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
6295 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
6296 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
6300 @node Article Highlighting
6301 @subsection Article Highlighting
6302 @cindex highlighting
6304 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
6305 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
6310 @kindex W H a (Summary)
6311 @findex gnus-article-highlight
6312 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
6313 Do much highlighting of the current article
6314 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
6315 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
6318 @kindex W H h (Summary)
6319 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
6320 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
6321 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
6322 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
6323 variable, which is a list where each element has the form @var{(regexp
6324 name content)}. @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
6325 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
6326 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
6327 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
6328 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
6331 @kindex W H c (Summary)
6332 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
6333 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
6335 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
6338 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6340 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6341 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
6342 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
6344 @item gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6345 @vindex gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6346 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
6348 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
6349 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
6350 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
6352 @item gnus-cite-face-list
6353 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
6354 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
6355 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
6356 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
6357 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
6359 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
6360 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
6361 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
6363 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6364 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6365 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
6367 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6368 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6369 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
6370 that it's a citation.
6372 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6373 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6374 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
6376 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6377 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6378 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
6380 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
6381 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
6382 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
6383 cited text belonging to the attribution.
6389 @kindex W H s (Summary)
6390 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6391 @vindex gnus-signature-face
6392 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
6393 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
6394 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
6395 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
6396 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
6401 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
6404 @node Article Fontisizing
6405 @subsection Article Fontisizing
6407 @cindex article emphasis
6409 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
6410 @kindex W e (Summary)
6411 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
6412 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*}. Gnus can make this look nicer by
6413 running the article through the @kbd{W e}
6414 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
6416 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
6417 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
6418 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
6419 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
6420 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
6421 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
6422 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
6423 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
6427 (setq gnus-article-emphasis
6428 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
6429 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
6432 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
6433 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
6434 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
6435 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
6436 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
6437 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
6438 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
6439 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
6440 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
6441 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
6442 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
6443 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
6444 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
6446 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
6447 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
6448 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
6452 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
6455 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
6458 @node Article Hiding
6459 @subsection Article Hiding
6460 @cindex article hiding
6462 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
6463 too much cruft in most articles.
6468 @kindex W W a (Summary)
6469 @findex gnus-article-hide
6470 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
6471 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
6472 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
6475 @kindex W W h (Summary)
6476 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
6477 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
6481 @kindex W W b (Summary)
6482 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
6483 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
6484 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
6487 @kindex W W s (Summary)
6488 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
6489 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
6493 @kindex W W p (Summary)
6494 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
6495 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
6496 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
6497 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
6498 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
6499 articles that have signatures in them do:
6501 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
6503 (setq gnus-treat-strip-pgp t)
6505 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
6506 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
6508 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
6511 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
6516 @kindex W W P (Summary)
6517 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
6518 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
6519 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
6522 @kindex W W B (Summary)
6523 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
6524 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
6525 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
6526 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
6527 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
6528 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
6529 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
6530 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
6531 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
6532 signature should be removed.
6535 @kindex W W c (Summary)
6536 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
6537 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
6538 customizing the hiding:
6542 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
6543 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
6544 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
6545 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
6546 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
6547 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
6548 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
6553 Starting point of the hidden text.
6555 Ending point of the hidden text.
6557 Number of characters in the hidden region.
6559 Number of lines of hidden text.
6562 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
6563 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
6564 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave shown.
6569 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
6570 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
6572 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
6573 following two variables:
6576 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6577 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6578 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
6579 50), hide the cited text.
6581 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6582 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6583 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
6588 @kindex W W C (Summary)
6589 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
6590 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
6591 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
6592 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
6593 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
6597 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
6598 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
6599 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
6601 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
6602 citation customization.
6604 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
6608 @node Article Washing
6609 @subsection Article Washing
6611 @cindex article washing
6613 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
6614 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
6616 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
6617 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
6623 @kindex W l (Summary)
6624 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
6625 Remove page breaks from the current article
6626 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
6630 @kindex W r (Summary)
6631 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
6632 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
6633 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
6634 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
6635 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
6636 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
6638 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
6639 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
6640 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
6641 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
6644 @kindex W t (Summary)
6645 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
6646 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
6647 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
6650 @kindex W v (Summary)
6651 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
6652 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
6653 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
6656 @kindex W o (Summary)
6657 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
6658 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
6661 @kindex W d (Summary)
6662 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
6663 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
6665 @cindex M******** sm*rtq**t*s
6667 Treat M******** sm*rtq**t*s according to
6668 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
6669 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
6670 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
6674 @kindex W w (Summary)
6675 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
6676 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
6678 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
6682 @kindex W q (Summary)
6683 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
6684 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
6687 @kindex W C (Summary)
6688 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentencse
6689 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
6690 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
6693 @kindex W c (Summary)
6694 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
6695 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
6696 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
6697 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
6698 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
6701 @kindex W q (Summary)
6702 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
6703 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
6704 Quoted-Printable is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending
6705 non-ASCII (i. e., 8-bit) articles. It typically makes strings like
6706 @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which doesn't look very
6707 readable to me. Note that the this is usually done automatically by
6708 Gnus if the message in question has a @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding}
6709 header that says that this encoding has been done.
6712 @kindex W f (Summary)
6714 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
6715 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
6716 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
6717 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
6723 Look for and display any X-Face headers
6724 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
6725 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
6726 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
6727 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
6728 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
6729 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
6730 The default action under Emacs is to fork off an @code{xv} to view the
6731 face; under XEmacs the default action is to display the face before the
6732 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
6733 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
6734 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
6735 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends.) If you
6736 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
6740 @kindex W b (Summary)
6741 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
6742 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
6743 @xref{Article Buttons}.
6746 @kindex W B (Summary)
6747 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
6748 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
6749 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
6752 @kindex W W H (Summary)
6753 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body
6754 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
6755 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body}).
6758 @kindex W E l (Summary)
6759 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
6760 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
6761 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
6764 @kindex W E m (Summary)
6765 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
6766 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
6767 lines with a single empty line.
6768 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
6771 @kindex W E t (Summary)
6772 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
6773 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
6774 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
6777 @kindex W E a (Summary)
6778 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
6779 Do all the three commands above
6780 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
6783 @kindex W E A (Summary)
6784 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
6785 Remove all blank lines
6786 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
6789 @kindex W E s (Summary)
6790 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
6791 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
6792 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
6795 @kindex W E e (Summary)
6796 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
6797 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
6798 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
6802 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
6805 @node Article Buttons
6806 @subsection Article Buttons
6809 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
6810 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
6811 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
6812 button on these references.
6814 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
6815 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
6816 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
6821 @item gnus-button-alist
6822 @vindex gnus-button-alist
6823 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
6826 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6832 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
6833 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
6834 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
6837 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
6838 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
6839 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
6842 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
6843 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
6844 avoid false matches.
6847 This function will be called when you click on this button.
6850 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
6851 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
6855 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
6858 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
6861 @item gnus-header-button-alist
6862 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
6863 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
6864 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
6865 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
6868 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6871 @var{HEADER} is a regular expression.
6873 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
6874 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
6875 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
6876 default values of the variables above.
6878 @item gnus-article-button-face
6879 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
6880 Face used on buttons.
6882 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
6883 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
6884 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
6888 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
6892 @subsection Article Date
6894 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
6895 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
6896 when the article was sent.
6901 @kindex W T u (Summary)
6902 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
6903 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
6904 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
6907 @kindex W T i (Summary)
6908 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
6910 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
6911 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
6914 @kindex W T l (Summary)
6915 @findex gnus-article-date-local
6916 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
6919 @kindex W T s (Summary)
6920 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
6921 @findex gnus-article-date-user
6922 @findex format-time-string
6923 Display the date using a user-defined format
6924 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
6925 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
6926 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
6927 for a list of possible format specs.
6930 @kindex W T e (Summary)
6931 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
6932 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
6933 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
6934 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
6935 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
6938 X-Sent: 9 years, 6 weeks, 4 days, 9 hours, 3 minutes, 28 seconds ago
6941 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
6942 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
6945 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
6946 into wonderful absurdities.
6948 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
6951 (gnus-start-date-timer)
6954 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
6955 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
6959 @kindex W T o (Summary)
6960 @findex gnus-article-date-original
6961 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
6962 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
6963 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
6964 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
6965 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
6969 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
6970 preferred format automatically.
6973 @node Article Signature
6974 @subsection Article Signature
6976 @cindex article signature
6978 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6979 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
6980 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
6981 that says what is to be considered a signature is
6982 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
6983 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
6984 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
6985 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
6986 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
6989 (setq gnus-signature-separator
6990 '("^-- $" ; The standard
6991 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
6992 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
6993 ; line of dashes. Shame!
6994 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
6995 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
6996 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
6999 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
7002 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
7003 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
7008 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
7011 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
7014 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
7015 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
7017 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
7018 in question is not a signature.
7021 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
7022 listed above. Here's an example:
7025 (setq gnus-signature-limit
7026 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
7029 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
7030 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
7031 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
7032 signature after all.
7036 @section MIME Commands
7037 @cindex MIME decoding
7041 @kindex M-t (Summary)
7042 @findex gnus-summary-display-buttonized
7043 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
7044 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
7047 @kindex W M w (Summary)
7048 Decode RFC2047-encoded words in the article headers
7049 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
7052 @kindex W M c (Summary)
7053 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
7054 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
7056 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
7057 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
7058 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
7059 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not include
7060 MIME headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic parameter to
7061 the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
7064 @kindex W M v (Summary)
7065 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
7066 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
7073 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
7074 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
7075 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
7076 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
7079 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
7082 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
7086 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
7087 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
7088 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
7089 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
7090 displayed. The default value is @code{(".*/.*")}.
7092 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
7093 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
7094 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
7095 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
7096 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
7097 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
7098 save all jpegs into some directory).
7100 Here's an example function the does the latter:
7103 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
7104 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
7106 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
7107 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
7108 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
7109 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
7110 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
7113 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
7114 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
7115 Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
7124 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
7125 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
7126 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
7127 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
7128 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
7129 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
7130 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
7132 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
7133 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
7134 variable, which is an alist of regexps (to match group names) and
7135 default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
7137 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
7138 aren't. These blitely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1} even
7139 if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
7140 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
7141 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be set
7142 on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
7143 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit)}, which is
7144 something some agents insist on having in there.
7147 @node Article Commands
7148 @section Article Commands
7155 @kindex A P (Summary)
7156 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
7157 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
7158 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
7159 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will be
7160 run just before printing the buffer.
7165 @node Summary Sorting
7166 @section Summary Sorting
7167 @cindex summary sorting
7169 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
7170 can't really see why you'd want that.
7175 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
7176 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
7177 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
7180 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
7181 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
7182 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
7185 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
7186 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
7187 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
7190 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
7191 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
7192 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
7195 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
7196 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
7197 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
7200 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
7201 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
7202 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
7205 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
7206 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
7207 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
7210 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
7211 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
7212 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
7213 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
7214 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
7218 @node Finding the Parent
7219 @section Finding the Parent
7220 @cindex parent articles
7221 @cindex referring articles
7226 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
7227 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
7228 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
7229 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
7230 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
7231 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
7232 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
7233 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
7234 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
7236 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
7237 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
7238 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
7239 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
7240 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
7244 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
7245 @kindex A R (Summary)
7246 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
7247 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
7250 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
7251 @kindex A T (Summary)
7252 Display the full thread where the current article appears
7253 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
7254 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
7255 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
7256 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
7257 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
7258 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
7260 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
7261 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
7262 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
7263 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
7264 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
7265 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
7268 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
7269 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
7271 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
7272 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
7273 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
7274 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
7275 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
7276 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
7277 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
7280 The current select method will be used when fetching by
7281 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
7282 by giving this command a prefix.
7284 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
7285 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
7286 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
7287 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
7288 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
7289 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
7292 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
7293 not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
7294 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
7295 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
7296 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
7297 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
7300 @node Alternative Approaches
7301 @section Alternative Approaches
7303 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
7304 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
7307 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
7308 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
7313 @subsection Pick and Read
7314 @cindex pick and read
7316 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
7317 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
7318 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
7319 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
7321 @findex gnus-pick-mode
7322 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
7323 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
7324 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
7325 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
7326 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
7328 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
7333 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
7334 Pick the article or thread on the current line
7335 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
7336 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
7337 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
7338 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
7339 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
7340 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
7343 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
7344 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
7345 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
7346 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
7350 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
7351 Unpick the thread or article
7352 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
7353 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
7354 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
7355 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
7356 the thread or article at that line.
7360 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
7361 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
7362 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
7363 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
7364 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
7365 will still be visible when you are reading.
7369 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
7370 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
7371 which is mapped to the same function
7372 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
7374 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
7377 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
7380 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
7381 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
7383 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
7384 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
7385 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
7387 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
7388 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
7389 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
7390 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
7391 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
7392 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
7393 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
7397 @subsection Binary Groups
7398 @cindex binary groups
7400 @findex gnus-binary-mode
7401 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
7402 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
7403 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
7404 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
7405 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
7406 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
7409 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
7410 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
7411 command, when you have turned on this mode
7412 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
7414 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
7415 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
7419 @section Tree Display
7422 @vindex gnus-use-trees
7423 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
7424 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
7425 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
7428 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
7431 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
7432 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
7433 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
7435 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
7436 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
7437 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
7438 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
7439 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
7441 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
7442 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
7443 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
7444 default is @code{modeline}.
7446 @item gnus-tree-line-format
7447 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
7448 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
7449 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
7450 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
7451 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
7452 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
7458 The name of the poster.
7460 The @code{From} header.
7462 The number of the article.
7464 The opening bracket.
7466 The closing bracket.
7471 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
7473 Variables related to the display are:
7476 @item gnus-tree-brackets
7477 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
7478 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
7479 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @var{((real-open . real-close)
7480 (sparse-open . sparse-close) (dummy-open . dummy-close))}, and the
7481 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
7483 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
7484 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
7485 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
7486 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
7490 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
7491 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
7492 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
7493 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
7494 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
7495 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
7496 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
7497 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
7498 other windows displayed next to it.
7500 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
7501 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
7502 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
7503 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
7504 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
7505 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
7506 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
7510 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
7513 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
7523 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
7527 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
7528 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
7530 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
7532 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
7537 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
7538 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
7539 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
7542 (setq gnus-use-trees t
7543 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
7544 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
7545 (gnus-add-configuration
7549 (summary 0.75 point)
7554 @xref{Windows Configuration}.
7557 @node Mail Group Commands
7558 @section Mail Group Commands
7559 @cindex mail group commands
7561 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
7562 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
7564 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
7565 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7570 @kindex B e (Summary)
7571 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
7572 Expire all expirable articles in the group
7573 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
7576 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
7577 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
7578 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
7579 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
7580 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
7581 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
7584 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
7585 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
7586 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
7587 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
7588 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
7589 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
7592 @kindex B m (Summary)
7594 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
7595 Move the article from one mail group to another
7596 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
7599 @kindex B c (Summary)
7601 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
7602 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
7603 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
7604 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}).
7607 @kindex B B (Summary)
7608 @cindex crosspost mail
7609 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
7610 Crosspost the current article to some other group
7611 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
7612 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
7613 be properly updated.
7616 @kindex B i (Summary)
7617 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
7618 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
7619 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
7620 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
7623 @kindex B r (Summary)
7624 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
7625 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
7626 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
7627 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
7628 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
7632 @kindex B w (Summary)
7634 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
7635 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
7636 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
7637 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
7638 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
7639 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
7642 @kindex B q (Summary)
7643 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
7644 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
7645 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
7646 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
7649 @kindex B t (Summary)
7650 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
7651 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
7652 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
7655 @kindex B p (Summary)
7656 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
7657 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
7658 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
7659 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
7660 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
7661 article from your news server (or rather, from
7662 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
7663 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
7664 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
7665 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
7666 just not have arrived yet.
7670 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
7671 @cindex moving articles
7672 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
7673 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
7674 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
7675 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
7676 suggestions you find reasonable.
7679 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
7680 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
7681 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
7682 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
7686 @node Various Summary Stuff
7687 @section Various Summary Stuff
7690 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
7691 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
7692 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
7693 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
7697 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
7698 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
7699 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
7701 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
7702 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
7703 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
7704 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
7705 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
7706 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
7709 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7710 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7711 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
7712 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
7713 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
7715 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
7716 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
7717 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
7720 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7721 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7722 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
7723 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
7724 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
7725 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
7726 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
7727 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
7728 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
7729 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
7734 @node Summary Group Information
7735 @subsection Summary Group Information
7740 @kindex H f (Summary)
7741 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
7742 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
7743 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
7744 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
7745 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
7746 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
7747 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
7748 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
7749 be used for fetching the file.
7752 @kindex H d (Summary)
7753 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
7754 Give a brief description of the current group
7755 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
7756 rereading the description from the server.
7759 @kindex H h (Summary)
7760 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
7761 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
7762 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
7765 @kindex H i (Summary)
7766 @findex gnus-info-find-node
7767 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
7771 @node Searching for Articles
7772 @subsection Searching for Articles
7777 @kindex M-s (Summary)
7778 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
7779 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
7780 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
7783 @kindex M-r (Summary)
7784 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
7785 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
7786 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
7790 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
7791 This command will prompt you for a header field, a regular expression to
7792 match on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
7793 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If given a prefix, search
7797 @kindex M-& (Summary)
7798 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
7799 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
7800 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
7803 @node Summary Generation Commands
7804 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
7809 @kindex Y g (Summary)
7810 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
7811 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
7814 @kindex Y c (Summary)
7815 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
7816 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
7817 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
7822 @node Really Various Summary Commands
7823 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
7829 @kindex C-d (Summary)
7830 @kindex A D (Summary)
7831 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
7832 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
7833 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
7834 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
7835 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
7836 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
7837 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
7838 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
7842 @kindex M-C-d (Summary)
7843 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
7844 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
7845 several documents into one biiig group
7846 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
7847 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
7848 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
7849 command understands the process/prefix convention
7850 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7853 @kindex C-t (Summary)
7854 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
7855 Toggle truncation of summary lines
7856 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
7857 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
7858 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
7862 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
7863 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
7864 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
7867 @kindex M-C-e (Summary)
7868 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
7869 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
7870 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
7873 @kindex M-C-g (Summary)
7874 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
7875 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
7876 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
7881 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
7882 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
7883 @cindex summary exit
7884 @cindex exiting groups
7886 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
7887 group and return you to the group buffer.
7893 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
7895 @findex gnus-summary-exit
7896 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
7897 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
7898 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
7899 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
7900 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
7901 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
7902 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
7903 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
7904 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
7905 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
7909 @kindex Z E (Summary)
7911 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
7912 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
7913 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
7917 @kindex Z c (Summary)
7919 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
7920 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
7921 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
7922 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
7925 @kindex Z C (Summary)
7926 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
7927 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
7928 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
7931 @kindex Z n (Summary)
7932 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
7933 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
7934 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
7937 @kindex Z R (Summary)
7938 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
7939 Exit this group, and then enter it again
7940 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
7941 all articles, both read and unread.
7945 @kindex Z G (Summary)
7946 @kindex M-g (Summary)
7947 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
7948 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
7949 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
7950 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
7951 articles, both read and unread.
7954 @kindex Z N (Summary)
7955 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
7956 Exit the group and go to the next group
7957 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
7960 @kindex Z P (Summary)
7961 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
7962 Exit the group and go to the previous group
7963 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
7966 @kindex Z s (Summary)
7967 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
7968 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
7969 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
7970 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
7971 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
7974 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
7975 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current
7978 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
7979 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
7980 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
7981 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
7982 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
7983 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
7984 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
7985 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
7986 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
7987 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
7988 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
7989 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
7991 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
7993 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
7994 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
7995 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
7996 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
7997 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
7998 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
7999 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
8000 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
8001 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
8004 @node Crosspost Handling
8005 @section Crosspost Handling
8009 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
8010 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
8011 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
8012 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
8013 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
8014 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
8017 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
8018 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
8019 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
8020 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
8021 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
8023 @cindex cross-posting
8026 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
8027 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
8028 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
8029 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
8030 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
8031 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
8032 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
8033 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
8034 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
8035 the cross reference mechanism.
8037 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
8038 @cindex overview.fmt
8039 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
8040 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
8041 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
8042 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
8043 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
8044 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
8047 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
8048 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
8049 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
8054 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
8057 @node Duplicate Suppression
8058 @section Duplicate Suppression
8060 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
8061 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
8062 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
8063 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
8068 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
8069 is evil and not very common.
8072 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
8073 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
8076 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
8077 different @sc{nntp} servers.
8080 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
8083 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
8084 well, but these four are the most common situations.
8086 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
8087 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
8088 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
8089 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
8090 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
8091 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
8092 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
8095 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
8096 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
8097 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
8098 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
8099 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
8103 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
8104 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
8105 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
8107 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
8108 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
8109 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
8110 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
8111 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
8112 session are suppressed.
8114 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
8115 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
8116 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
8117 suppression list. The default is 10000.
8119 @item gnus-duplicate-file
8120 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
8121 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
8122 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
8125 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
8126 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
8127 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
8128 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
8129 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
8130 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
8131 to you to figure out, I think.
8134 @node The Article Buffer
8135 @chapter The Article Buffer
8136 @cindex article buffer
8138 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
8139 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
8140 tell Gnus otherwise.
8143 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
8144 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
8145 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
8146 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
8147 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
8151 @node Hiding Headers
8152 @section Hiding Headers
8153 @cindex hiding headers
8154 @cindex deleting headers
8156 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
8157 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
8159 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
8160 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
8161 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
8162 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
8163 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
8164 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
8165 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
8166 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
8167 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
8169 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
8173 @item gnus-visible-headers
8174 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
8175 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
8176 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
8177 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
8179 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
8180 the article and the subject, you'd say:
8183 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
8186 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
8189 @item gnus-ignored-headers
8190 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
8191 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
8192 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
8193 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
8194 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
8196 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
8197 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
8200 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
8203 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
8206 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
8207 variable will have no effect.
8211 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
8212 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
8213 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
8214 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
8215 the headers are to be displayed.
8217 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
8218 and then the subject, you might say something like:
8221 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
8224 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
8225 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
8227 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8228 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
8229 You can hide further boring headers by setting
8230 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-header} to @code{head}. What this function
8231 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
8232 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
8233 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
8236 These conditions are:
8239 Remove all empty headers.
8241 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
8242 @code{Newsgroups} header.
8244 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
8247 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
8250 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
8253 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
8255 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
8258 To include the four three elements, you could say something like;
8261 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
8262 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
8265 This is also the default value for this variable.
8269 @section Using @sc{mime}
8272 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
8273 while people stand around yawning.
8275 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
8276 while all newsreaders die of fear.
8278 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
8279 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
8280 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
8282 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
8283 @findex gnus-display-mime
8284 Gnus pushes @sc{mime} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
8285 to display the @sc{mime} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
8286 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
8287 display, save and manipulate the @sc{mime} objects.
8289 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
8293 @findex gnus-article-press-button
8295 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
8296 Toggle displaying of the @sc{mime} object
8297 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}).
8299 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
8300 @item M-RET (Article)
8302 Prompt for a method, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
8303 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
8305 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
8307 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @sc{mime} object
8308 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
8310 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
8312 Copy the @sc{mime} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
8313 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}).
8315 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
8317 Output the @sc{mime} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
8320 Gnus will display some @sc{mime} objects automatically. The way Gnus
8321 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs MIME
8324 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
8325 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
8326 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
8327 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
8328 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
8329 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
8330 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
8331 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
8332 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
8334 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
8337 @node Customizing Articles
8338 @section Customizing Articles
8339 @cindex article customization
8341 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
8342 exist. You can call these functions interactively, or you can have them
8343 called automatically when you select the articles.
8345 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
8346 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
8347 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
8348 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
8352 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
8355 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
8358 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
8361 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
8364 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
8370 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
8371 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
8372 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
8376 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
8381 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
8382 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
8383 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
8384 considered to contain just a single part.
8386 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
8387 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
8388 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
8389 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
8390 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
8391 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
8392 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
8394 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
8395 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
8399 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature
8400 @item gnus-treat-buttonize
8401 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head
8402 @item gnus-treat-emphasize
8403 @item gnus-treat-fill-article
8404 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr
8405 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers
8406 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers
8407 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature
8408 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation
8409 @item gnus-treat-strip-pgp
8410 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem
8411 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers
8412 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation
8413 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature
8414 @item gnus-treat-date-ut
8415 @item gnus-treat-date-local
8416 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed
8417 @item gnus-treat-date-original
8418 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body
8419 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines
8420 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines
8421 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines
8422 @item gnus-treat-strip-blank-lines
8423 @item gnus-treat-overstrike
8424 @item gnus-treat-display-xface
8425 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys
8426 @item gnus-treat-display-picons
8429 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
8430 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
8431 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
8432 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
8433 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
8434 everything. However, you shouldn't delete any headers. Instead make
8435 them invisible if you want to make them go away.
8438 @node Article Keymap
8439 @section Article Keymap
8441 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
8442 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
8443 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
8444 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
8447 A few additional keystrokes are available:
8452 @kindex SPACE (Article)
8453 @findex gnus-article-next-page
8454 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
8457 @kindex DEL (Article)
8458 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
8459 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
8462 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
8463 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
8464 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
8465 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
8466 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
8469 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
8470 @findex gnus-article-mail
8471 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
8472 given a prefix, include the mail.
8476 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
8477 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
8478 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
8482 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
8483 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
8484 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
8487 @kindex TAB (Article)
8488 @findex gnus-article-next-button
8489 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
8490 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
8493 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
8494 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
8495 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
8501 @section Misc Article
8505 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
8506 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
8507 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
8508 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
8511 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
8512 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
8514 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
8515 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
8517 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
8518 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
8519 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
8520 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
8521 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
8522 the contents of the article buffer.
8524 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
8525 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
8526 Hook called in article mode buffers.
8528 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
8529 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
8530 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
8531 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
8533 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
8534 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
8535 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
8536 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
8537 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with one
8542 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
8543 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
8546 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
8549 @vindex gnus-break-pages
8551 @item gnus-break-pages
8552 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
8553 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
8554 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
8555 paging will not be done.
8557 @item gnus-page-delimiter
8558 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
8559 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
8564 @node Composing Messages
8565 @chapter Composing Messages
8566 @cindex composing messages
8569 @cindex sending mail
8574 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
8575 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
8576 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the article
8577 by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The Message
8578 Manual}. If you are in a foreign news group, and you wish to post the
8579 article using the foreign server, you can give a prefix to @kbd{C-c C-c}
8580 to make Gnus try to post using the foreign server.
8583 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
8584 * Post:: Posting and following up.
8585 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
8586 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
8587 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
8588 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
8589 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
8590 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
8593 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
8594 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
8600 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
8603 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
8604 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
8605 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
8606 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
8608 @item gnus-add-to-list
8609 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
8610 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
8611 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
8619 Variables for composing news articles:
8622 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-file
8623 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-file
8624 Gnus will keep a @code{Message-ID} history file of all the mails it has
8625 sent. If it discovers that it has already sent a mail, it will ask the
8626 user whether to re-send the mail. (This is primarily useful when
8627 dealing with @sc{soup} packets and the like where one is apt to send the
8628 same packet multiple times.) This variable says what the name of this
8629 history file is. It is @file{~/News/Sent-Message-IDs} by default. Set
8630 this variable to @code{nil} if you don't want Gnus to keep a history
8633 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-length
8634 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-length
8635 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the history
8636 file. It is 1000 by default.
8641 @node Posting Server
8642 @section Posting Server
8644 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
8645 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
8647 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
8649 @vindex gnus-post-method
8651 It can be quite complicated. Normally, Gnus will use the same native
8652 server. However. If your native server doesn't allow posting, just
8653 reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
8654 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
8655 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
8658 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
8661 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
8662 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
8663 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
8664 the ``current'' server for posting.
8666 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
8667 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
8669 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
8670 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
8673 Finally, if you want to always post using the same select method as
8674 you're reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
8675 groups from different private servers), you can set this variable to
8680 @section Mail and Post
8682 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
8686 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
8687 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
8688 @cindex mailing lists
8690 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
8691 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
8692 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
8693 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
8694 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
8695 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
8696 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
8697 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
8698 still a pain, though.
8702 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
8703 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
8704 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
8707 @findex ispell-message
8709 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
8713 @node Archived Messages
8714 @section Archived Messages
8715 @cindex archived messages
8716 @cindex sent messages
8718 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
8719 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
8720 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
8721 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
8724 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
8725 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
8726 use to store sent messages. The default is:
8730 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
8731 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
8732 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
8733 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
8736 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
8737 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likeable select method
8738 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
8739 directory chosen, you could say something like:
8742 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
8743 '(nnfolder "archive"
8744 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
8745 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
8746 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
8749 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
8751 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
8752 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
8753 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
8755 This variable can be used to do the following:
8759 Messages will be saved in that group.
8760 @item a list of strings
8761 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
8762 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
8763 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
8765 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
8770 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
8772 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
8775 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
8777 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
8780 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
8782 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8783 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
8784 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
8785 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
8790 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8791 '((if (message-news-p)
8796 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
8797 messages in one file per month:
8800 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8801 '((if (message-news-p)
8803 (concat "mail." (format-time-string
8804 "%Y-%m" (current-time))))))
8807 (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
8808 use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
8810 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
8811 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
8812 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
8813 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
8814 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
8815 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
8816 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
8817 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
8818 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
8819 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
8821 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
8822 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
8823 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
8824 this will disable archiving.
8827 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
8828 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
8829 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
8830 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
8831 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
8834 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
8835 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
8836 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
8839 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
8840 but the latter is the preferred method.
8844 @node Posting Styles
8845 @section Posting Styles
8846 @cindex posting styles
8849 All them variables, they make my head swim.
8851 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
8852 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
8853 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
8856 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
8857 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
8858 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
8859 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
8860 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
8865 (signature "Peace and happiness")
8866 (organization "What me?"))
8868 (signature "Death to everybody"))
8869 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
8870 (organization "Emacs is it")))
8873 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
8874 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
8875 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
8876 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
8877 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
8878 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
8879 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
8880 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
8882 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
8883 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
8884 If it's a function symbol, that function will be called with no
8885 arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
8886 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
8887 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
8890 Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
8891 attribute consists of a @var{(name value)} pair. The attribute name
8892 can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
8893 @code{organization}, @code{address}, @code{name} or @code{body}. The
8894 attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
8895 a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
8898 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function (the
8899 return value will be used), a variable (its value will be used) or a
8900 list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value will be used).
8902 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
8903 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
8904 of the two dynamically bound variables @code{message-this-is-news} and
8905 @code{message-this-is-mail}.
8907 @vindex message-this-is-mail
8908 @vindex message-this-is-news
8910 So here's a new example:
8913 (setq gnus-posting-styles
8915 (signature-file "~/.signature")
8917 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
8918 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
8920 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
8921 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
8922 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
8923 (message-this-is-news
8924 (signature my-news-signature))
8925 (posting-from-work-p
8926 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
8927 (address "user@@bar.foo")
8928 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
8929 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
8931 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
8939 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
8940 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
8941 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
8942 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
8943 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
8945 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
8946 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
8947 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
8948 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
8949 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
8953 @vindex nndraft-directory
8954 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
8955 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
8956 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
8957 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
8958 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
8959 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
8961 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
8962 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
8965 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
8966 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
8967 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
8968 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
8969 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
8970 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
8971 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
8972 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
8973 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
8974 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
8975 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
8976 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
8977 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
8978 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
8980 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
8981 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
8982 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
8984 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
8986 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
8987 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
8988 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
8990 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
8993 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
8994 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
8995 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
8996 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
8997 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
8998 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
8999 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
9002 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
9003 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
9004 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
9007 @node Rejected Articles
9008 @section Rejected Articles
9009 @cindex rejected articles
9011 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
9012 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
9013 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
9014 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
9016 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
9017 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
9018 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
9019 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
9020 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
9022 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
9023 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
9024 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
9027 @node Select Methods
9028 @chapter Select Methods
9029 @cindex foreign groups
9030 @cindex select methods
9032 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
9033 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
9034 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
9035 personal mail group.
9037 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
9038 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
9039 list where the first element says what backend to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
9040 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
9041 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
9042 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
9044 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
9045 we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
9047 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
9050 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
9051 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
9052 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
9053 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
9054 backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
9056 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
9059 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
9060 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
9061 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
9062 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
9063 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
9064 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
9068 @node The Server Buffer
9069 @section The Server Buffer
9071 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
9072 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
9073 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
9074 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
9075 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
9076 backend represents a virtual server.
9078 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
9079 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
9080 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
9081 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
9083 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
9084 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
9085 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
9086 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
9087 Anyways, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
9088 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
9089 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
9091 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
9092 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
9095 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
9096 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
9097 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
9098 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
9099 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
9100 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
9101 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
9104 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
9105 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
9108 @node Server Buffer Format
9109 @subsection Server Buffer Format
9110 @cindex server buffer format
9112 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
9113 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
9114 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
9115 variable, with some simple extensions:
9120 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
9123 The name of this server.
9126 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
9129 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
9132 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
9133 The mode line can also be customized by using the
9134 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
9135 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
9145 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
9148 @node Server Commands
9149 @subsection Server Commands
9150 @cindex server commands
9156 @findex gnus-server-add-server
9157 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
9161 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
9162 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
9165 @kindex SPACE (Server)
9166 @findex gnus-server-read-server
9167 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
9171 @findex gnus-server-exit
9172 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
9176 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
9177 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
9181 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
9182 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
9186 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
9187 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
9191 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
9192 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
9196 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
9197 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
9198 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
9203 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
9204 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
9205 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
9206 a mail backend that has gotten out of synch.
9211 @node Example Methods
9212 @subsection Example Methods
9214 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
9217 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
9220 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
9226 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
9227 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
9230 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
9231 @var{(variable form)} pairs.
9233 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
9234 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
9238 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
9241 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
9242 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
9244 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
9245 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
9246 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
9250 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
9253 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
9256 Here's the method for a public spool:
9260 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
9261 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
9264 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
9265 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
9266 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
9267 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
9268 should probably look something like this:
9272 (nntp-address "the.firewall.machine")
9273 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
9274 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
9275 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
9276 ("telnet" "the.real.nntp.host" "nntp")))
9279 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
9280 compressed connection over the modem line, you could create a virtual
9281 server that would look something like this:
9285 (nntp-address "copper.uio.no")
9286 (nntp-rlogin-program "ssh")
9287 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
9288 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
9289 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
9290 ("telnet" "news.uio.no" "nntp")))
9293 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
9294 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
9295 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
9296 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
9299 @node Creating a Virtual Server
9300 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
9302 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
9303 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
9305 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
9306 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
9307 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
9309 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
9311 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
9312 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
9313 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
9314 will contain the following:
9324 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
9325 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
9326 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
9329 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
9330 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
9331 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
9334 @node Server Variables
9335 @subsection Server Variables
9337 One sticky point when defining variables (both on backends and in Emacs
9338 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
9339 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
9340 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
9341 won't change the "derived" variables.
9343 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
9344 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
9345 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
9346 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
9347 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
9348 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
9349 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
9350 variables for each backend, see each backend's section later in this
9351 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
9355 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
9356 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
9357 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
9361 @node Servers and Methods
9362 @subsection Servers and Methods
9364 Wherever you would normally use a select method
9365 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
9366 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
9367 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
9371 @node Unavailable Servers
9372 @subsection Unavailable Servers
9374 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
9375 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
9376 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
9377 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
9378 actually the case or not.
9380 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
9381 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
9382 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
9383 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
9384 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
9385 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
9386 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
9387 it will regard that server as ``down''.
9389 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
9390 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
9392 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke it
9393 with the following commands:
9399 @findex gnus-server-open-server
9400 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
9401 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
9405 @findex gnus-server-close-server
9406 Close the connection (if any) to the server
9407 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
9411 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
9412 Mark the current server as unreachable
9413 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
9416 @kindex M-o (Server)
9417 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
9418 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
9419 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
9422 @kindex M-c (Server)
9423 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
9424 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
9425 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
9429 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
9430 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
9431 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
9437 @section Getting News
9438 @cindex reading news
9439 @cindex news backends
9441 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
9442 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
9443 or it can read from a local spool.
9446 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
9447 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
9452 @subsection @sc{nntp}
9455 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
9456 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
9457 server as the, uhm, address.
9459 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
9460 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
9461 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
9462 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
9464 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
9465 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
9466 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
9468 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
9473 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
9474 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
9475 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
9477 @cindex authentification
9478 @cindex nntp authentification
9479 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
9480 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
9481 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
9482 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
9483 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
9484 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
9485 present in this hook.
9487 @item nntp-authinfo-function
9488 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
9489 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
9490 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
9491 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
9492 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
9493 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
9494 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
9495 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
9496 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
9497 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
9498 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
9502 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
9505 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs. The
9506 valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
9507 @samp{default} and @samp{force}. (The latter is not a valid
9508 @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} token, which is the only way the
9509 @file{.authinfo} file format deviates from the @file{.netrc} file
9514 Here's an example file:
9517 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
9518 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
9521 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
9522 have to be first, for instance.
9524 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
9525 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
9526 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
9527 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
9528 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
9529 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
9530 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
9532 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
9533 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
9539 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
9540 previously mentioned.
9542 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
9544 @item nntp-server-action-alist
9545 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
9546 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
9547 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
9548 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
9551 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
9555 You probably don't want to do that, though.
9557 The default value is
9560 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
9561 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
9564 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
9565 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
9567 @item nntp-maximum-request
9568 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
9569 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
9570 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
9571 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
9572 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
9573 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
9574 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
9576 @item nntp-connection-timeout
9577 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
9578 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
9579 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
9580 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
9581 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
9582 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
9583 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
9584 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
9585 no timeouts are done.
9587 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
9588 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
9589 @c @cindex PPP connections
9590 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
9591 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
9592 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
9593 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
9594 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
9595 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
9596 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
9597 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
9598 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
9599 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
9601 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
9602 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
9603 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
9604 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
9607 @item nntp-server-hook
9608 @vindex nntp-server-hook
9609 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
9612 @findex nntp-open-rlogin
9613 @findex nntp-open-telnet
9614 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
9615 @item nntp-open-connection-function
9616 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
9617 This function is used to connect to the remote system. Four pre-made
9618 functions are supplied:
9621 @item nntp-open-network-stream
9622 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
9625 @item nntp-open-rlogin
9626 Does an @samp{rlogin} on the
9627 remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet} to the @sc{nntp} server
9630 @code{nntp-open-rlogin}-related variables:
9634 @item nntp-rlogin-program
9635 @vindex nntp-rlogin-program
9636 Program used to log in on remote machines. The default is @samp{rsh},
9637 but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
9639 @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
9640 @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
9641 This list will be used as the parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
9643 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
9644 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
9645 User name on the remote system.
9649 @item nntp-open-telnet
9650 Does a @samp{telnet} to the remote system and then another @samp{telnet}
9651 to get to the @sc{nntp} server.
9653 @code{nntp-open-telnet}-related variables:
9656 @item nntp-telnet-command
9657 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
9658 Command used to start @code{telnet}.
9660 @item nntp-telnet-switches
9661 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
9662 List of strings to be used as the switches to the @code{telnet} command.
9664 @item nntp-telnet-user-name
9665 @vindex nntp-telnet-user-name
9666 User name for log in on the remote system.
9668 @item nntp-telnet-passwd
9669 @vindex nntp-telnet-passwd
9670 Password to use when logging in.
9672 @item nntp-telnet-parameters
9673 @vindex nntp-telnet-parameters
9674 A list of strings executed as a command after logging in
9677 @item nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
9678 @vindex nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
9679 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the remote machine. The default is
9680 @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
9682 @item nntp-open-telnet-envuser
9683 @vindex nntp-open-telnet-envuser
9684 If non-@code{nil}, the @code{telnet} session (client and server both)
9685 will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for login name.
9686 This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
9690 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
9691 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
9692 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use this
9693 you must have SSLay installed
9694 (@file{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also need
9695 @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distributeion, for instance). You then
9696 define a server as follows:
9699 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
9701 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
9703 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
9704 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
9705 (nntp-port-number "snews")
9706 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
9711 @item nntp-end-of-line
9712 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
9713 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
9714 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
9715 using @code{rlogin} to talk to the server.
9717 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
9718 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
9719 User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
9723 @vindex nntp-address
9724 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
9726 @item nntp-port-number
9727 @vindex nntp-port-number
9728 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
9731 @item nntp-buggy-select
9732 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
9733 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
9735 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
9736 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
9737 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
9738 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
9741 @item nntp-xover-commands
9742 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
9745 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
9746 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
9750 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
9751 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
9752 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
9753 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
9754 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
9755 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
9756 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
9757 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
9758 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
9759 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
9760 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
9762 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
9763 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
9764 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
9766 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
9767 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
9768 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
9769 server closes connection.
9771 @item nntp-record-commands
9772 @vindex nntp-record-commands
9773 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
9774 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestep) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
9775 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
9776 that doesn't seem to work.
9782 @subsection News Spool
9786 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
9787 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
9788 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
9791 Anyways, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
9792 anything else) as the address.
9794 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
9795 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
9796 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
9797 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
9801 @item nnspool-inews-program
9802 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
9803 Program used to post an article.
9805 @item nnspool-inews-switches
9806 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
9807 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
9809 @item nnspool-spool-directory
9810 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
9811 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
9812 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
9814 @item nnspool-nov-directory
9815 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
9816 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
9817 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
9819 @item nnspool-lib-dir
9820 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
9821 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
9823 @item nnspool-active-file
9824 @vindex nnspool-active-file
9825 The path to the active file.
9827 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
9828 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
9829 The path to the group descriptions file.
9831 @item nnspool-history-file
9832 @vindex nnspool-history-file
9833 The path to the news history file.
9835 @item nnspool-active-times-file
9836 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
9837 The path to the active date file.
9839 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
9840 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
9841 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
9844 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
9845 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
9847 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
9848 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
9849 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
9855 @section Getting Mail
9856 @cindex reading mail
9859 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
9863 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
9864 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
9865 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
9866 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
9867 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
9868 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
9869 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
9870 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
9871 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
9872 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
9873 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
9877 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
9878 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
9880 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
9881 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
9882 and things will happen automatically.
9884 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
9885 mail" backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
9888 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
9889 '((nnml "private")))
9892 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
9893 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
9894 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
9895 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
9896 like any other group.
9898 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
9901 (setq nnmail-split-methods
9902 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
9903 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
9907 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
9908 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
9909 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
9912 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
9913 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
9914 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
9917 @node Splitting Mail
9918 @subsection Splitting Mail
9919 @cindex splitting mail
9920 @cindex mail splitting
9922 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
9923 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
9924 to be split into groups.
9927 (setq nnmail-split-methods
9928 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
9929 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
9933 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
9934 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
9935 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
9936 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
9937 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
9938 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
9939 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
9942 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
9945 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
9946 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
9947 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
9948 mail belongs in that group.
9950 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
9951 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
9952 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
9953 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
9954 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
9955 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
9957 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
9958 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
9959 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
9960 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
9961 thinks should carry this mail message.
9963 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
9964 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
9965 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
9966 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
9968 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
9969 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
9970 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
9971 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
9972 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
9974 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
9977 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
9978 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
9979 links. If that's the case for you, set
9980 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
9981 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
9983 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
9984 @kindex nnmail-split-history
9985 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
9986 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command.
9988 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
9989 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
9990 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
9991 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
9992 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
9993 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
9994 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
9995 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
10000 @subsection Mail Sources
10002 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
10003 POP mail server, or from a procmail directory, for instance.
10006 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
10007 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
10008 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
10012 @node Mail Source Specifiers
10013 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
10015 @cindex mail server
10018 @cindex mail source
10020 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by creating a @dfn{mail source
10026 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
10029 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
10030 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
10031 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
10034 The following mail source types are available:
10038 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
10044 The path of the file. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
10045 environment variable or @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}.
10048 An example file mail source:
10051 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
10054 Or using the default path:
10061 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used when
10062 you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
10068 The path of the directory where the files are. There is no default
10072 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
10076 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
10077 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
10078 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
10079 predicate are considered.
10083 Script run before/after fetching mail.
10087 An example directory mail source:
10090 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
10095 Get mail from a POP server.
10101 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
10102 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
10105 The port number of the POP server. The default is @samp{pop3}.
10108 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
10112 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
10116 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This is should be
10117 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
10120 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
10123 The valid format specifier characters are:
10127 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
10128 included in this string.
10131 The name of the server.
10134 The port number of the server.
10137 The user name to use.
10140 The password to use.
10143 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
10144 corresponding keywords.
10147 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
10148 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
10151 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
10152 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
10155 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
10156 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
10159 @item :authentication
10160 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
10161 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
10166 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
10167 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
10169 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
10170 default user name, and default fetcher:
10176 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
10179 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
10180 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
10183 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
10186 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
10190 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox currently only
10191 supported by qmail, where each file in a special directory contains
10198 The path of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
10199 @samp{~/Maildir/new}.
10201 If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
10202 them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
10203 @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the following example.
10207 An example maildir mail source:
10210 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/cur")
10216 @node Mail Source Customization
10217 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
10219 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
10220 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
10224 @item mail-source-movemail-program
10225 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
10226 A command to be executed to move mail from the inbox. The default is
10229 This can also be a function. In that case, the function will be
10230 called with two parameters -- the name of the INBOX file, and the file
10233 @item mail-source-movemail-args
10234 @vindex mail-source-movemail-args
10235 Extra arguments to give to the command described above.
10237 @item mail-source-crash-box
10238 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
10239 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
10240 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
10242 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
10243 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
10244 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them.
10246 @item mail-source-directory
10247 @vindex mail-source-directory
10248 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
10249 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
10250 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
10253 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
10254 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
10255 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
10260 @node Fetching Mail
10261 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
10263 @vindex mail-sources
10264 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
10265 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
10266 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
10267 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
10269 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
10270 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
10273 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
10274 mail server, you'd say something like:
10279 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
10280 :password "secret")))
10283 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
10287 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
10288 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
10291 :password "secret")))
10295 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
10296 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
10297 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
10298 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
10299 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
10300 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
10304 @node Mail Backend Variables
10305 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
10307 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
10311 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
10312 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
10313 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
10314 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
10316 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
10317 @item nnmail-split-hook
10318 @findex article-decode-encoded-words
10319 @findex RFC1522 decoding
10320 @findex RFC2047 decoding
10321 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
10322 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
10323 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
10324 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
10325 in the buffer will show up in any files.
10326 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
10329 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
10330 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
10331 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
10332 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
10333 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
10334 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
10335 starting to handle the new mail) and
10336 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
10337 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
10338 default file modes the new mail files get:
10341 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
10342 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
10344 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
10345 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
10348 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
10349 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
10350 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
10351 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
10352 (assuming use of @code{nnml} backend) or files (assuming use of
10353 @code{nnfolder} backend) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
10354 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
10356 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
10357 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
10358 @findex delete-file
10359 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
10361 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
10362 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
10363 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
10364 the backend (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
10365 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
10370 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
10371 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
10372 @cindex mail splitting
10373 @cindex fancy mail splitting
10375 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
10376 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
10377 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
10378 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
10379 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
10380 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
10382 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
10385 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
10386 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
10387 ;; from real errors.
10388 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
10390 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
10391 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
10392 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
10393 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
10394 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
10395 ;; Other mailing lists...
10396 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
10397 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
10399 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
10400 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
10404 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
10405 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
10406 the five possible split syntaxes:
10411 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
10412 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
10416 @var{(FIELD VALUE SPLIT)}: If the split is a list, the first element of
10417 which is a string, then store the message as specified by SPLIT, if
10418 header FIELD (a regexp) contains VALUE (also a regexp).
10421 @var{(| SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
10422 @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each SPLIT until one of them
10423 matches. A SPLIT is said to match if it will cause the mail message to
10424 be stored in one or more groups.
10427 @var{(& SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
10428 @code{&}, then process all SPLITs in the list.
10431 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
10432 this message. Use with extreme caution.
10435 @var{(: function arg1 arg2 ...)}: If the split is a list, and the first
10436 element is @code{:}, then the second element will be called as a
10437 function with @var{args} given as arguments. The function should return
10441 @var{(! FUNC SPLIT)}: If the split is a list, and the first element
10442 is @code{!}, then SPLIT will be processed, and FUNC will be called as a
10443 function with the result of SPLIT as argument. FUNC should return a split.
10446 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
10450 In these splits, @var{FIELD} must match a complete field name.
10451 @var{VALUE} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
10452 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
10453 field names or words. In other words, all @var{VALUE}'s are wrapped in
10454 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
10456 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
10457 @var{FIELD} and @var{VALUE} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
10458 are expanded as specified by the variable
10459 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
10460 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
10463 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
10464 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
10465 when all this splitting is performed.
10467 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
10468 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
10469 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
10472 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
10475 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
10476 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
10478 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
10479 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
10480 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
10481 groupings 1 through 9.
10484 @node Incorporating Old Mail
10485 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
10487 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
10488 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
10489 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
10492 Doing so can be quite easy.
10494 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
10495 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
10496 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
10497 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
10498 your @code{nnml} groups.
10504 Go to the group buffer.
10507 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
10508 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
10511 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
10514 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
10515 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
10518 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
10519 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
10522 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
10523 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
10524 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
10525 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
10526 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
10528 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
10529 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
10530 using the new mail backend.
10533 @node Expiring Mail
10534 @subsection Expiring Mail
10535 @cindex article expiry
10537 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
10538 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
10539 different approach to mail reading.
10541 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
10542 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
10543 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
10544 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
10545 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
10546 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
10549 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
10550 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
10551 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
10552 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
10553 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
10554 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
10555 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
10556 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
10558 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
10559 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
10560 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
10561 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
10562 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
10563 column in the summary buffer.
10565 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
10566 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
10567 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
10568 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
10571 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
10573 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
10574 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
10575 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
10578 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
10579 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
10580 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
10581 groups expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
10582 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
10584 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
10585 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
10588 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
10589 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
10592 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
10593 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
10595 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
10596 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
10597 don't really mix very well.
10599 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
10600 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
10601 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
10602 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
10605 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
10606 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
10607 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
10608 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
10611 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
10613 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
10615 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
10617 ((string= group "mail.junk")
10619 ((string= group "important")
10625 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
10626 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
10628 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
10629 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
10630 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
10633 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
10634 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
10636 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
10637 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
10638 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
10639 easier for procmail users.
10641 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
10642 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
10643 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
10644 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
10645 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
10646 caution. Even more dangerous is the
10647 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
10648 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
10649 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
10650 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
10651 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
10652 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
10653 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
10656 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
10658 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
10659 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
10660 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
10661 auto-expire turned on.
10665 @subsection Washing Mail
10666 @cindex mail washing
10667 @cindex list server brain damage
10668 @cindex incoming mail treatment
10670 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
10671 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC822 doesn't explicitly
10672 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
10673 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
10674 Yes, but RFC822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
10675 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
10677 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
10678 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
10679 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
10682 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
10683 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
10684 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
10685 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
10688 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
10689 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
10690 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
10691 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
10692 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
10695 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
10696 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
10697 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
10698 Emacs running on MS machines.
10702 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
10703 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
10704 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
10705 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
10708 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
10709 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
10710 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
10711 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
10713 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
10714 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
10715 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
10716 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
10717 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
10718 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
10719 also be a list of regexp.
10721 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
10722 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
10725 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
10726 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
10729 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
10730 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
10731 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
10733 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
10734 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
10736 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
10737 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
10738 @code{References} headers.
10742 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
10743 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
10744 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
10748 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
10749 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
10750 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
10757 @subsection Duplicates
10759 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
10760 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
10761 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
10762 @cindex duplicate mails
10763 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
10764 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
10765 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
10766 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
10767 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
10768 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
10769 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
10770 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
10771 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
10772 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
10773 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
10774 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
10775 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
10777 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
10778 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
10779 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
10780 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
10782 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
10785 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
10786 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
10790 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
10791 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
10792 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
10793 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
10794 (any mail "mail.misc")
10801 (setq nnmail-split-methods
10802 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
10807 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
10808 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
10809 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
10810 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
10811 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
10814 @node Not Reading Mail
10815 @subsection Not Reading Mail
10817 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
10818 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
10819 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
10821 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
10822 @code{nil}, none of the backends will ever attempt to read incoming
10823 mail, which should help.
10825 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10826 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
10827 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
10828 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
10829 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
10830 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
10831 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
10832 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
10833 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
10834 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
10835 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
10837 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
10838 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
10842 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
10843 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
10845 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
10846 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
10847 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
10849 There are five different mail backends in the standard Gnus, and more
10850 backends are available separately. The mail backend most people use
10851 (because it is the fastest and most flexible) is @code{nnml}
10852 (@pxref{Mail Spool}).
10855 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
10856 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
10857 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
10858 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
10859 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
10860 * Comparing Mail Backends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
10864 @node Unix Mail Box
10865 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
10867 @cindex unix mail box
10869 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
10870 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
10871 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
10872 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
10873 which group it belongs in.
10875 Virtual server settings:
10878 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
10879 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
10880 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory.
10882 @item nnmbox-active-file
10883 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
10884 The name of the active file for the mail box.
10886 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
10887 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
10888 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
10894 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
10898 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
10899 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
10900 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
10901 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each mail
10902 article to say which group it belongs in.
10904 Virtual server settings:
10907 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
10908 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
10909 The name of the rmail mbox file.
10911 @item nnbabyl-active-file
10912 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
10913 The name of the active file for the rmail box.
10915 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10916 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10917 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail.
10922 @subsubsection Mail Spool
10924 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
10926 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
10927 format. It should be used with some caution.
10929 @vindex nnml-directory
10930 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
10931 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
10932 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
10933 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
10935 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
10938 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
10939 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
10940 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
10941 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
10942 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
10943 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
10944 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
10945 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
10947 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
10948 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
10949 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it the fastest
10950 backend when it comes to reading mail.
10952 Virtual server settings:
10955 @item nnml-directory
10956 @vindex nnml-directory
10957 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
10959 @item nnml-active-file
10960 @vindex nnml-active-file
10961 The active file for the @code{nnml} server.
10963 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
10964 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
10965 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
10968 @item nnml-get-new-mail
10969 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
10970 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail.
10972 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
10973 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
10974 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
10976 @item nnml-nov-file-name
10977 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
10978 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
10980 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
10981 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
10982 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
10986 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
10987 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
10988 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
10989 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
10990 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
10991 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
10992 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
10997 @subsubsection MH Spool
10999 @cindex mh-e mail spool
11001 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
11002 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
11003 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
11004 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
11006 Virtual server settings:
11009 @item nnmh-directory
11010 @vindex nnmh-directory
11011 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory.
11013 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
11014 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
11015 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail.
11018 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
11019 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
11020 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
11021 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
11022 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
11023 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
11024 to set this variable to @code{t}.
11029 @subsubsection Mail Folders
11031 @cindex mbox folders
11032 @cindex mail folders
11034 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
11035 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
11036 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
11039 Virtual server settings:
11042 @item nnfolder-directory
11043 @vindex nnfolder-directory
11044 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
11046 @item nnfolder-active-file
11047 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
11048 The name of the active file.
11050 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
11051 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
11052 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File Format}.
11054 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
11055 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
11056 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail.
11058 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
11059 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
11060 @cindex backup files
11061 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
11062 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
11063 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
11064 your @file{.emacs} file:
11067 (defun turn-off-backup ()
11068 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
11070 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
11073 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
11074 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
11075 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
11076 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
11077 extract some information from it before removing it.
11082 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
11083 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
11084 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
11085 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
11086 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
11087 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
11090 @node Comparing Mail Backends
11091 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Backends
11093 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{backend} is the common word for a
11094 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
11095 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
11096 and so selection of a suitable backend is required in order to get that
11097 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
11099 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
11100 typically done by NNTP these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
11101 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
11102 articles lay (the machine which today we call an NNTP server), and
11103 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
11104 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
11105 @code{nnspool} backends, to select between these methods, if one happens
11106 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
11109 The goal in selecting a mail backend is to pick one which
11110 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
11111 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
11112 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
11117 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
11118 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
11119 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
11120 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
11121 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
11122 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
11123 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
11124 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
11125 this backend, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
11126 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
11127 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
11128 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
11129 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
11134 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
11135 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
11136 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
11137 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
11138 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
11139 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
11140 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
11141 RMAIL was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
11142 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote RMAIL
11143 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
11144 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
11145 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
11146 headers/status bits stuff. RMAIL itself still exists as well, of
11147 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
11149 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
11150 filesystem, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
11155 @code{nnml} is the backend which smells the most as though you were
11156 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
11157 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
11158 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
11159 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
11160 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
11161 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
11162 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
11163 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
11164 @sc{nntp} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
11165 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
11166 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
11167 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
11168 provided by the active file and overviews.
11170 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
11171 resource which defines available places in the filesystem to put new
11172 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
11173 tight, shared filesystems. But if you live on a personal machine where
11174 the filesystem is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
11177 It is also problematic using this backend if you are living in a
11178 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
11183 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
11184 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
11185 individual files, but with little or no indexing support -- @code{nnmh}
11186 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
11187 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
11188 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
11189 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
11193 Basically the effetc of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
11194 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
11195 itself puts *all* one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
11196 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
11197 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
11198 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
11199 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
11200 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
11201 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
11203 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
11204 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
11205 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
11206 friendly mail backend all over.
11212 @node Other Sources
11213 @section Other Sources
11215 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
11216 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
11220 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
11221 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
11222 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
11223 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{SOUP} packets ``offline''.
11224 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
11225 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
11229 @node Directory Groups
11230 @subsection Directory Groups
11232 @cindex directory groups
11234 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
11235 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
11238 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
11239 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
11240 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
11241 backend to read directories. Big deal.
11243 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
11244 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
11245 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
11246 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
11247 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
11249 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
11251 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
11252 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
11253 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
11254 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
11257 @node Anything Groups
11258 @subsection Anything Groups
11261 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
11262 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
11263 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
11266 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
11267 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
11268 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
11269 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're
11270 forgetting. @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it
11271 snoops each file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e.,
11272 the first few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head.
11273 If this is just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source
11274 file), @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It
11275 will use file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
11278 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
11279 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
11280 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
11281 in the article buffer, just as usual.
11283 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
11284 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
11285 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
11286 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
11288 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
11289 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
11290 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
11291 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
11292 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
11293 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
11294 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
11295 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
11300 @item nneething-map-file-directory
11301 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
11302 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
11303 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
11305 @item nneething-exclude-files
11306 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
11307 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
11308 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
11310 @item nneething-include-files
11311 @vindex nneething-include-files
11312 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
11313 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
11315 @item nneething-map-file
11316 @vindex nneething-map-file
11317 Name of the map files.
11321 @node Document Groups
11322 @subsection Document Groups
11324 @cindex documentation group
11327 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
11328 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
11335 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
11340 The standard Unix mbox file.
11342 @cindex MMDF mail box
11344 The MMDF mail box format.
11347 Several news articles appended into a file.
11350 @cindex rnews batch files
11351 The rnews batch transport format.
11352 @cindex forwarded messages
11355 Forwarded articles.
11358 Netscape mail boxes.
11361 MIME multipart messages.
11363 @item standard-digest
11364 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
11367 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
11370 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
11371 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
11372 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
11375 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
11376 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
11377 group. And that's it.
11379 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
11380 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
11381 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
11382 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
11383 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
11384 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
11385 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
11386 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
11387 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
11388 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
11390 Virtual server variables:
11393 @item nndoc-article-type
11394 @vindex nndoc-article-type
11395 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
11396 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
11397 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
11398 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail} or @code{guess}.
11400 @item nndoc-post-type
11401 @vindex nndoc-post-type
11402 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
11403 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
11408 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
11412 @node Document Server Internals
11413 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
11415 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
11416 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
11417 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
11418 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
11420 First, here's an example document type definition:
11424 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
11425 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
11428 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
11429 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
11430 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
11431 types can be defined with very few settings:
11434 @item first-article
11435 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
11436 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
11439 @item article-begin
11440 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
11441 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
11443 @item head-begin-function
11444 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
11447 @item nndoc-head-begin
11448 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
11451 @item nndoc-head-end
11452 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
11453 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
11455 @item body-begin-function
11456 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
11460 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
11463 @item body-end-function
11464 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
11468 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
11471 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
11472 regexp will be totally ignored.
11476 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
11477 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
11478 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
11479 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
11480 something that's palatable for Gnus:
11483 @item prepare-body-function
11484 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
11485 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
11486 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
11488 @item article-transform-function
11489 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
11490 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
11491 body of the article.
11493 @item generate-head-function
11494 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
11495 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
11496 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
11497 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
11501 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
11506 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
11507 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
11508 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
11509 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
11510 (head-end . "^ ?$")
11511 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
11512 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
11513 (subtype digest guess))
11516 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
11517 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
11518 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
11519 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
11520 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
11522 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
11523 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
11524 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
11525 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
11526 traversed sequentially, and @code{nndoc-TYPE-type-p} is called for a given type @code{TYPE}. So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document
11527 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
11528 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
11529 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
11530 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
11531 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
11539 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
11540 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
11541 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
11543 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
11544 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
11545 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
11548 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something a that's a bit
11549 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
11550 that interested in doing things properly.
11552 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
11553 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
11556 First some terminology:
11561 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
11562 get news and/or mail from.
11565 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
11566 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
11569 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
11573 @item message packets
11574 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
11575 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
11576 default, where @var{X} is a number.
11578 @item response packets
11579 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
11580 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
11581 default, where @var{X} is a number.
11591 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
11592 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
11593 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
11594 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
11597 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
11600 You put the packet in your home directory.
11603 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} backend as
11604 the native or secondary server.
11607 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
11608 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
11611 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
11615 You transfer this packet to the server.
11618 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
11621 You then repeat until you die.
11625 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
11626 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
11629 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
11630 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
11631 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
11635 @node SOUP Commands
11636 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
11638 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
11642 @kindex G s b (Group)
11643 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
11644 Pack all unread articles in the current group
11645 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
11646 process/prefix convention.
11649 @kindex G s w (Group)
11650 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
11651 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
11654 @kindex G s s (Group)
11655 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
11656 Send all replies from the replies packet
11657 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
11660 @kindex G s p (Group)
11661 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
11662 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
11665 @kindex G s r (Group)
11666 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
11667 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
11670 @kindex O s (Summary)
11671 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
11672 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
11673 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
11674 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
11679 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
11684 @item gnus-soup-directory
11685 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
11686 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
11687 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
11689 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
11690 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
11691 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
11692 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
11694 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
11695 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
11696 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
11697 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
11699 @item gnus-soup-packer
11700 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
11701 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
11702 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
11704 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
11705 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
11706 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
11707 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
11709 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
11710 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
11711 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
11713 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
11714 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
11715 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
11716 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
11722 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
11725 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
11726 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
11727 you can read them at leisure.
11729 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
11733 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
11734 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
11735 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
11736 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
11738 @item nnsoup-directory
11739 @vindex nnsoup-directory
11740 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
11741 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
11743 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
11744 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
11745 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
11746 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
11748 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
11749 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
11750 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
11751 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
11752 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
11754 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
11755 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
11756 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
11757 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
11759 @item nnsoup-active-file
11760 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
11761 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
11762 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
11763 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
11764 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
11766 @item nnsoup-packer
11767 @vindex nnsoup-packer
11768 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
11769 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
11771 @item nnsoup-unpacker
11772 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
11773 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
11774 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
11776 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
11777 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
11778 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
11781 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
11782 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
11783 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
11786 @item nnsoup-always-save
11787 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
11788 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
11794 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
11796 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
11797 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
11798 more for that to happen.
11800 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
11801 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
11802 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
11805 In specific, this is what it does:
11808 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
11809 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
11812 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
11813 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
11814 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
11818 @subsection Web Searches
11822 @cindex InReference
11823 @cindex Usenet searches
11824 @cindex searching the Usenet
11826 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
11827 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
11828 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
11829 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
11830 searches without having to use a browser.
11832 The @code{nnweb} backend allows an easy interface to the mighty search
11833 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
11834 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
11835 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
11836 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
11838 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
11839 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
11840 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
11841 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
11842 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
11843 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
11844 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
11845 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
11846 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
11847 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
11850 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
11851 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
11852 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
11853 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
11854 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
11855 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
11857 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
11858 to use @code{nnweb}.
11860 Virtual server variables:
11865 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
11866 are @code{dejanews}, @code{dejanewsold}, @code{altavista} and
11870 @vindex nnweb-search
11871 The search string to feed to the search engine.
11873 @item nnweb-max-hits
11874 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
11875 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
11878 @item nnweb-type-definition
11879 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
11880 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
11881 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
11886 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
11890 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
11893 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
11896 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
11900 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
11907 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
11908 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
11909 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
11912 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
11913 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
11914 The @code{nngateway} backend provides the interface.
11916 Note that you can't read anything from this backend---it can only be
11922 @item nngateway-address
11923 @vindex nngateway-address
11924 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
11926 @item nngateway-header-transformation
11927 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
11928 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
11929 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
11930 transformation should be called, and defaults to
11931 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
11932 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
11935 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
11936 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
11937 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
11940 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
11943 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
11946 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
11949 The following pre-defined functions exist:
11951 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
11954 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
11955 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
11956 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
11958 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
11960 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
11961 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
11962 @code{nngateway-address}.
11967 (setq gnus-post-method
11968 '(nngateway "mail2news@@replay.com"
11969 (nngateway-header-transformation
11970 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
11978 So, to use this, simply say something like:
11981 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
11985 @node Combined Groups
11986 @section Combined Groups
11988 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
11992 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
11993 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
11997 @node Virtual Groups
11998 @subsection Virtual Groups
12000 @cindex virtual groups
12001 @cindex merging groups
12003 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
12006 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
12007 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
12008 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
12010 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
12011 regexp to match component groups.
12013 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
12014 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
12015 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
12016 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
12017 the virtual group.)
12019 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
12020 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
12023 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
12026 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
12027 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
12029 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
12030 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
12031 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
12032 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
12035 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
12038 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
12039 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
12040 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
12042 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
12043 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
12044 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
12045 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
12046 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
12048 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
12049 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
12050 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
12052 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
12053 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
12054 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
12055 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
12056 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
12057 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
12058 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
12059 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
12060 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
12061 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
12062 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
12064 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
12065 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
12066 has to ask the backend of the component group the article comes from
12067 whether it is a news or mail backend. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
12068 there is typically no sure way for the component backend to know this,
12069 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
12070 not-news backend. (Just to be on the safe side.)
12072 @kbd{C-c C-t} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
12073 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
12077 @node Kibozed Groups
12078 @subsection Kibozed Groups
12082 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
12083 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
12084 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
12085 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
12087 @kindex G k (Group)
12088 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
12091 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
12092 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
12093 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
12094 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
12096 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
12097 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
12098 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
12100 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
12101 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
12102 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
12103 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
12104 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
12105 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
12106 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
12107 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
12109 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
12110 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
12111 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
12112 Stranger things have happened.
12114 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
12115 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
12117 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
12118 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
12119 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
12120 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
12121 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
12122 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
12124 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
12125 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
12128 @node Gnus Unplugged
12129 @section Gnus Unplugged
12134 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
12136 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
12137 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
12138 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
12139 read news. Believe it or not.
12141 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
12142 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
12143 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
12144 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
12145 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
12147 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
12148 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
12149 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
12150 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
12151 reading news on a machine.
12153 Using Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple.
12157 First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a machine
12158 that has full connection to the net. Go ahead. I'll still be waiting
12162 Then, put the following magical incantation at the end of your
12163 @file{.gnus.el} file:
12170 That's it. Gnus is now an ``offline'' newsreader.
12172 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
12175 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
12176 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
12177 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
12178 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
12179 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
12180 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
12181 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
12182 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
12183 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
12188 @subsection Agent Basics
12190 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
12192 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
12193 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
12194 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
12195 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
12197 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
12198 connected to the net continuously.
12200 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
12201 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
12203 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
12208 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
12209 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
12210 already fetched while in this mode.
12213 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
12214 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
12215 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged}.
12218 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
12219 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{J
12220 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
12221 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
12224 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
12225 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
12226 then you read the news offline.
12229 And then you go to step 2.
12232 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
12238 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
12239 backend, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
12240 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
12241 @kbd{J a} the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
12242 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}). This will typically be only the
12243 primary select method, which is listed on the bottom in the buffer.
12246 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
12253 @node Agent Categories
12254 @subsection Agent Categories
12256 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
12257 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
12258 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
12259 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
12260 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
12261 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
12262 you're interested in the articles anyway.
12264 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
12265 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
12266 Groups that do not belong in any other category belong to the
12267 @code{default} category. Gnus has its own buffer for creating and
12268 managing categories.
12271 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
12272 * The Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
12273 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
12277 @node Category Syntax
12278 @subsubsection Category Syntax
12280 A category consists of two things.
12284 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
12285 are eligible for downloading; and
12288 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
12289 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
12290 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
12293 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
12294 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
12295 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
12296 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
12298 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
12299 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
12300 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as descibed below.
12302 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
12303 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
12304 operators sprinkled in between.
12306 Perhaps some examples are in order.
12308 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
12309 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
12315 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
12316 short (for some value of ``short'').
12318 Here's a more complex predicate:
12327 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
12328 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
12331 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
12332 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
12333 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
12335 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
12336 you want to do, you can write your own.
12340 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
12341 lines; default 100.
12344 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
12345 lines; default 200.
12348 True iff the article has a download score less than
12349 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
12352 True iff the article has a download score greater than
12353 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
12356 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
12357 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
12358 checksum and sees whether articles match.
12367 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
12368 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
12369 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
12372 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
12373 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
12374 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
12375 something along the lines of the following:
12378 (defun my-article-old-p ()
12379 "Say whether an article is old."
12380 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
12381 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
12384 with the predicate then defined as:
12387 (not my-article-old-p)
12390 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
12391 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
12392 wherever. (Note: this would have to be at a point *after*
12393 @code{gnus-agent} has been loaded via @code{(gnus-agentize)})
12396 (defvar gnus-category-predicate-alist
12397 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
12398 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
12401 and simply specify your predicate as:
12407 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
12408 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
12409 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
12410 just don't give a damm.
12413 The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
12414 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
12415 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
12416 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
12417 parameters like so:
12420 (agent-predicate . short)
12423 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category
12424 default. Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this,
12425 the @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair
12428 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
12431 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
12434 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
12435 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
12436 predicate is assumed to be a list.
12439 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
12440 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
12441 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
12442 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
12443 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
12444 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
12446 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
12447 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
12448 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
12449 if it's to be specific to that group.
12451 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
12458 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
12459 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
12465 Category specification
12469 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
12475 Group Parameter specification
12478 (agent-score ("from"
12479 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
12484 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
12490 These score files must *only* contain the permitted scoring keywords
12497 Category specification
12500 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
12506 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
12510 Group Parameter specification
12513 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
12516 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
12521 Use @code{normal} score files
12523 If you dont want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
12524 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
12525 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
12526 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
12528 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
12529 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
12530 files for a group, *filtering out* those those sections that do not
12531 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
12535 Category Specification
12542 Group Parameter specification
12545 (agent-score . file)
12550 @node The Category Buffer
12551 @subsubsection The Category Buffer
12553 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
12554 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
12555 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
12557 The following commands are available in this buffer:
12561 @kindex q (Category)
12562 @findex gnus-category-exit
12563 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
12566 @kindex k (Category)
12567 @findex gnus-category-kill
12568 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
12571 @kindex c (Category)
12572 @findex gnus-category-copy
12573 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
12576 @kindex a (Category)
12577 @findex gnus-category-add
12578 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
12581 @kindex p (Category)
12582 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
12583 Edit the predicate of the current category
12584 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
12587 @kindex g (Category)
12588 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
12589 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
12590 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
12593 @kindex s (Category)
12594 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
12595 Edit the download score rule of the current category
12596 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
12599 @kindex l (Category)
12600 @findex gnus-category-list
12601 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
12605 @node Category Variables
12606 @subsubsection Category Variables
12609 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
12610 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
12611 Hook run in category buffers.
12613 @item gnus-category-line-format
12614 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
12615 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
12616 Variables}). Valid elements are:
12620 The name of the category.
12623 The number of groups in the category.
12626 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
12627 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
12628 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
12630 @item gnus-agent-short-article
12631 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
12632 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
12634 @item gnus-agent-long-article
12635 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
12636 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
12638 @item gnus-agent-low-score
12639 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
12640 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
12643 @item gnus-agent-high-score
12644 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
12645 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
12651 @node Agent Commands
12652 @subsection Agent Commands
12654 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
12655 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged} command works in all modes, and
12656 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
12660 * Group Agent Commands::
12661 * Summary Agent Commands::
12662 * Server Agent Commands::
12665 You can run a complete batch fetch from the command line with the
12666 following incantation:
12668 @cindex gnus-agent-batch-fetch
12670 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch-fetch
12675 @node Group Agent Commands
12676 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
12680 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
12681 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
12682 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
12683 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
12686 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
12687 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
12688 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
12691 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
12692 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
12693 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
12694 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
12697 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
12698 @findex gnus-group-send-drafts
12699 Send all sendable messages in the draft group
12700 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}). @xref{Drafts}.
12703 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
12704 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
12705 Add the current group to an Agent category
12706 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
12707 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
12710 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
12711 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
12712 Remove the current group from its category, if any
12713 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
12714 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
12719 @node Summary Agent Commands
12720 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
12724 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
12725 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
12726 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
12729 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
12730 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
12731 Remove the downloading mark from the article
12732 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
12735 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
12736 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
12737 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
12740 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
12741 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
12742 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
12747 @node Server Agent Commands
12748 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
12752 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
12753 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
12754 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
12755 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
12758 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
12759 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
12760 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
12761 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
12767 @subsection Agent Expiry
12769 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
12770 @findex gnus-agent-expire
12771 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
12772 @cindex Agent expiry
12773 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
12776 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
12777 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
12778 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
12779 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
12780 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
12781 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
12783 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
12784 if @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
12785 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
12786 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
12787 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
12790 @node Outgoing Messages
12791 @subsection Outgoing Messages
12793 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
12794 stored in the draft groups (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view them there
12795 after posting, and edit them at will.
12797 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
12798 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
12799 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
12800 messages in the draft group.
12804 @node Agent Variables
12805 @subsection Agent Variables
12808 @item gnus-agent-directory
12809 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
12810 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
12811 @file{~/News/agent/}.
12813 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
12814 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
12815 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
12816 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
12817 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
12820 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
12821 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
12822 Hook run when connecting to the network.
12824 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
12825 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
12826 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
12831 @node Example Setup
12832 @subsection Example Setup
12834 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
12835 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
12836 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
12839 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over NNTP
12840 ;;; from your ISP's server.
12841 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
12843 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
12844 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
12845 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
12847 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
12848 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
12850 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
12854 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
12855 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
12858 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
12859 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
12860 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
12861 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
12862 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
12865 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
12866 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
12867 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
12868 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
12869 back all the killed groups.)
12871 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
12872 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
12873 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
12876 @node Batching Agents
12877 @subsection Batching Agents
12879 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
12880 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
12881 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
12885 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
12889 @node Agent Caveats
12890 @subsection Agent Caveats
12892 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
12893 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
12897 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the
12902 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists
12903 in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
12909 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
12910 articles; when it's plugged, it only talks to your ISP.
12917 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
12918 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
12919 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
12922 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
12923 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
12924 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
12925 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
12926 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
12928 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
12929 before generating the summary buffer.
12931 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
12932 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
12933 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
12935 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
12936 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
12937 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
12938 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
12941 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
12942 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
12943 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
12944 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
12945 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
12946 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
12947 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
12948 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
12949 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
12950 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
12951 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
12952 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
12953 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
12954 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
12955 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
12956 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
12960 @node Summary Score Commands
12961 @section Summary Score Commands
12962 @cindex score commands
12964 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
12965 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
12966 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
12967 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
12968 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
12970 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
12971 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
12972 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
12973 score file the current one.
12975 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
12980 @kindex V s (Summary)
12981 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
12982 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
12985 @kindex V S (Summary)
12986 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
12987 Display the score of the current article
12988 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
12991 @kindex V t (Summary)
12992 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
12993 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
12994 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
12997 @kindex V R (Summary)
12998 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
12999 Run the current summary through the scoring process
13000 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
13001 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
13002 effect you're having.
13005 @kindex V c (Summary)
13006 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
13007 Make a different score file the current
13008 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
13011 @kindex V e (Summary)
13012 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
13013 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
13014 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
13018 @kindex V f (Summary)
13019 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
13020 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
13021 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
13024 @kindex V F (Summary)
13025 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
13026 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
13027 after editing score files.
13030 @kindex V C (Summary)
13031 @findex gnus-score-customize
13032 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
13033 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
13037 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
13042 @kindex V m (Summary)
13043 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
13044 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
13045 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
13048 @kindex V x (Summary)
13049 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
13050 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
13051 expunge all articles below this score
13052 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
13055 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
13056 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
13059 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
13060 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
13064 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
13065 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
13067 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
13068 keys are available:
13072 Score on the author name.
13075 Score on the subject line.
13078 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
13081 Score on the @code{References} line.
13087 Score on the number of lines.
13090 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
13093 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
13094 the followups to this author.
13108 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
13109 what headers you are scoring on.
13121 Substring matching.
13124 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
13153 Greater than number.
13158 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
13159 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
13160 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
13164 Temporary score entry.
13167 Permanent score entry.
13170 Immediately scoring.
13175 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
13176 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
13177 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
13178 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
13180 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
13181 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
13182 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
13183 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
13184 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
13186 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
13187 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
13188 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
13189 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
13190 current score file.
13192 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
13193 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
13194 pretend they are keymaps or not.
13197 @node Group Score Commands
13198 @section Group Score Commands
13199 @cindex group score commands
13201 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
13206 @kindex W f (Group)
13207 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
13208 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
13209 all the time. This command will flush the cache
13210 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
13214 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
13216 @findex gnus-batch-score
13217 @cindex batch scoring
13219 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
13223 @node Score Variables
13224 @section Score Variables
13225 @cindex score variables
13229 @item gnus-use-scoring
13230 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
13231 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
13232 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
13234 @item gnus-kill-killed
13235 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
13236 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
13237 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
13238 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
13239 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
13240 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
13241 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
13243 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
13244 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
13245 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
13246 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
13247 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
13249 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
13250 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
13251 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
13252 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
13254 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
13255 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
13256 @cindex score cache
13257 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
13258 score files. However, if this might make you Emacs grow big and
13259 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
13260 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
13261 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
13262 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
13265 @item gnus-save-score
13266 @vindex gnus-save-score
13267 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
13268 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
13269 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
13271 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
13272 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
13273 across group visits.
13275 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
13276 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
13277 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
13278 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
13279 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
13280 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
13281 manually entered data.
13283 @item gnus-summary-default-score
13284 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
13285 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
13287 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
13288 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
13289 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
13290 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
13291 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
13292 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
13294 @item gnus-score-over-mark
13295 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
13296 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
13297 default. Default is @samp{+}.
13299 @item gnus-score-below-mark
13300 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
13301 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
13302 default. Default is @samp{-}.
13304 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
13305 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
13306 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
13307 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
13309 Predefined functions available are:
13312 @item gnus-score-find-single
13313 @findex gnus-score-find-single
13314 Only apply the group's own score file.
13316 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
13317 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
13318 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
13319 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
13320 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
13321 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
13322 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
13323 then a regexp match is done.
13325 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
13326 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
13328 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
13329 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
13330 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
13331 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
13333 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
13334 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
13335 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
13336 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
13337 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE}.
13340 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
13341 functions will be called, and all the returned lists of score files will
13342 be applied. These functions can also return lists of score alists
13343 directly. In that case, the functions that return these non-file score
13344 alists should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file
13345 functions, to ensure that the last score file returned is the local
13348 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
13349 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
13350 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
13351 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
13352 are expired. It's 7 by default.
13354 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
13355 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
13356 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
13357 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
13358 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
13359 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
13360 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
13363 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
13364 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
13365 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
13367 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
13368 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
13369 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
13370 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
13371 threading---according to the current value of
13372 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
13373 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
13374 simplified in this manner.
13379 @node Score File Format
13380 @section Score File Format
13381 @cindex score file format
13383 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
13384 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
13385 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
13387 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
13391 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
13393 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
13395 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
13397 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
13402 (mark-and-expunge -10)
13406 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
13407 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
13408 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
13409 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
13413 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
13414 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
13416 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
13417 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
13418 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
13420 Six keys are supported by this alist:
13425 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
13426 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
13427 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
13428 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
13429 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
13430 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
13431 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
13432 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
13433 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
13434 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
13435 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
13436 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
13437 to articles that matches these score entries.
13439 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
13440 score entry has one to four elements.
13444 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
13445 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
13449 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
13450 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
13451 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
13452 is successful. If this element is not present, the
13453 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
13454 instead. This is 1000 by default.
13457 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
13458 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
13459 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
13460 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
13461 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
13464 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
13465 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
13466 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
13467 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
13470 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
13471 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
13472 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
13473 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
13474 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
13475 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
13476 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
13477 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
13478 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
13479 instead, if you feel like.
13482 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
13483 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
13485 These predicates are true if
13488 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
13491 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
13492 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
13499 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
13500 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
13501 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
13502 it's not. I think.)
13504 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some backends (like
13505 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
13506 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
13507 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
13510 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
13511 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
13512 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
13513 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
13514 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
13515 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
13516 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
13520 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
13521 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
13522 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
13523 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
13524 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
13525 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
13526 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
13527 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
13530 @item Head, Body, All
13531 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
13535 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
13536 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
13537 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
13538 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
13539 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
13540 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
13541 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
13545 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
13546 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{X}, then you add a
13547 @samp{thread} match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each
13548 article that has @var{X} in its @code{References} header. (These new
13549 @samp{thread} matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching
13550 articles.) This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an
13551 entire thread, even though some articles in the thread may not have
13552 complete @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
13553 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
13554 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
13558 @cindex Score File Atoms
13560 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
13561 lower than this number will be marked as read.
13564 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
13565 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
13567 @item mark-and-expunge
13568 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
13569 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
13572 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
13573 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
13574 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
13575 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
13576 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
13579 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
13580 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
13583 @item exclude-files
13584 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
13585 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
13589 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
13590 ignored when handling global score files.
13593 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
13594 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
13595 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
13596 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
13599 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
13600 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
13601 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
13602 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
13604 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
13608 (mark-and-expunge -100)
13611 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
13612 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
13613 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
13614 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
13615 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
13617 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where there
13618 exist a few interesting threads which can't be found automatically by
13619 ordinary scoring rules.
13622 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
13623 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
13624 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
13625 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
13626 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
13627 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
13628 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
13629 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
13630 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
13631 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
13632 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
13636 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
13637 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
13638 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
13639 file for a number of groups.
13642 @cindex local variables
13643 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
13644 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
13645 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
13646 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
13647 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
13651 @node Score File Editing
13652 @section Score File Editing
13654 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
13655 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
13656 with a mode for that.
13658 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
13659 additional commands:
13664 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
13665 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
13666 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
13667 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
13670 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
13671 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
13672 Insert the current date in numerical format
13673 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
13674 you were wondering.
13677 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
13678 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
13679 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
13680 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
13681 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
13686 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
13688 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
13689 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
13691 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
13692 e} to begin editing score files.
13695 @node Adaptive Scoring
13696 @section Adaptive Scoring
13697 @cindex adaptive scoring
13699 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
13700 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
13701 stupidity, to be precise.
13703 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
13704 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
13705 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
13706 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
13707 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
13708 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
13709 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
13710 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
13711 variable to @code{(word line)}.
13713 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
13714 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
13715 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
13716 might look something like this:
13719 (defvar gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
13720 '((gnus-unread-mark)
13721 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
13722 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
13723 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
13724 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
13725 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
13726 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
13727 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
13728 (gnus-ancient-mark)
13729 (gnus-low-score-mark)
13730 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
13733 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
13734 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
13735 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
13736 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
13737 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
13738 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
13741 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
13742 will be applied to each article.
13744 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
13745 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
13746 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
13747 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
13749 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
13750 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
13751 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
13752 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
13754 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
13755 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
13756 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
13757 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
13759 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
13760 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
13761 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
13762 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
13763 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
13764 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
13766 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
13767 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
13768 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
13769 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
13770 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
13771 aspirins afterwards.)
13773 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
13774 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
13775 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
13777 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
13778 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
13779 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
13781 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
13782 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
13783 let you use different rules in different groups.
13785 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
13786 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
13787 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
13790 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
13791 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
13792 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
13793 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
13794 the length of the match is less than
13795 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
13796 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
13799 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
13800 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
13801 headers. If you adapt on words, the
13802 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
13803 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
13806 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
13807 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
13808 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
13809 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
13810 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
13813 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
13814 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
13815 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
13816 score with 30 points.
13818 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
13819 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
13820 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
13821 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
13822 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
13824 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
13825 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
13826 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
13827 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
13829 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
13830 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
13831 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
13832 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
13834 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
13835 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
13836 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
13837 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
13838 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
13840 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
13841 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
13842 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
13844 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
13845 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
13846 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
13847 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
13850 @node Home Score File
13851 @section Home Score File
13853 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
13854 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
13855 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
13856 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
13858 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
13859 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
13860 could perhaps use the same home score file.
13862 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
13863 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
13868 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
13872 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
13873 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
13877 A list. The elements in this list can be:
13881 @var{(regexp file-name)}. If the @var{regexp} matches the group name,
13882 the @var{file-name} will will be used as the home score file.
13885 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
13886 the home score file.
13889 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
13892 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
13897 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
13900 (setq gnus-home-score-file
13901 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
13904 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
13905 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
13907 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
13909 (setq gnus-home-score-file
13910 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
13913 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
13914 Other functions include
13917 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
13918 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
13919 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
13920 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
13924 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
13925 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
13926 their own home score files:
13929 (setq gnus-home-score-file
13930 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
13931 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
13932 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
13933 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
13936 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
13937 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
13938 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
13939 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
13940 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
13942 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
13943 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
13944 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
13945 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
13946 precedence over this variable.
13949 @node Followups To Yourself
13950 @section Followups To Yourself
13952 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
13953 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
13954 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
13955 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
13956 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
13957 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
13961 @item gnus-score-followup-article
13962 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
13963 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
13966 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
13967 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
13968 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
13972 @vindex message-sent-hook
13973 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
13974 @code{message-sent-hook}.
13976 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
13977 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
13981 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
13982 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
13985 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
13986 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
13991 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore.no>"
13995 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
13996 is system-dependent.
14000 @section Scoring Tips
14001 @cindex scoring tips
14007 @cindex scoring crossposts
14008 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
14009 the @code{Xref} header.
14011 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
14014 @item Multiple crossposts
14015 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
14016 more than, say, 3 groups:
14018 ("xref" ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
14021 @item Matching on the body
14022 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
14023 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
14024 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
14025 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
14026 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
14027 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
14028 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
14031 @item Marking as read
14032 You will probably want to mark articles that has a score below a certain
14033 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
14034 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
14038 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
14040 @item Negated character classes
14041 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
14042 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
14043 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
14047 @node Reverse Scoring
14048 @section Reverse Scoring
14049 @cindex reverse scoring
14051 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
14052 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
14053 like this in your score file:
14057 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
14062 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
14063 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
14066 @node Global Score Files
14067 @section Global Score Files
14068 @cindex global score files
14070 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
14071 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
14072 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
14074 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
14075 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
14076 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
14078 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
14079 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
14080 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
14081 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
14082 files are applicable to which group.
14084 Say you want to use the score file
14085 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
14086 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory:
14089 (setq gnus-global-score-files
14090 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
14091 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
14094 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
14095 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
14096 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
14097 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
14098 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
14100 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
14101 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
14103 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
14104 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
14105 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
14106 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
14107 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
14108 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
14110 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
14116 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
14118 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
14120 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
14122 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
14123 lowered out of existence.
14125 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
14126 articles completely.
14129 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
14130 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
14131 old articles for a long time.
14134 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
14135 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
14136 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
14137 holding our breath yet?
14141 @section Kill Files
14144 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
14145 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
14146 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
14148 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
14149 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
14150 files into score files.
14152 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
14153 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
14154 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
14155 that isn't a very good idea.
14157 Normal kill files look like this:
14160 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
14161 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
14165 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
14166 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
14168 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
14169 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
14172 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
14177 @kindex M-k (Summary)
14178 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
14179 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
14182 @kindex M-K (Summary)
14183 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
14184 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
14187 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
14192 @kindex M-k (Group)
14193 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
14194 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
14197 @kindex M-K (Group)
14198 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
14199 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
14202 Kill file variables:
14205 @item gnus-kill-file-name
14206 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
14207 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
14208 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
14209 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
14210 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
14211 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
14213 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
14214 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
14215 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
14216 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
14219 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
14220 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
14221 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
14222 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
14223 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
14224 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
14225 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
14226 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
14227 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
14229 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
14230 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
14231 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
14236 @node Converting Kill Files
14237 @section Converting Kill Files
14239 @cindex converting kill files
14241 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
14242 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
14243 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
14246 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
14247 You can fetch it from
14248 @file{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-other/gnus-kill-to-score}.
14250 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
14251 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
14252 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
14260 GroupLens is a collaborative filtering system that helps you work
14261 together with other people to find the quality news articles out of the
14262 huge volume of news articles generated every day.
14264 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
14265 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
14266 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
14267 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
14268 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
14269 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
14270 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
14271 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
14275 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
14276 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
14277 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
14278 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
14282 @node Using GroupLens
14283 @subsection Using GroupLens
14285 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
14287 @samp{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
14288 better bit in town at the moment.
14290 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
14294 @item gnus-use-grouplens
14295 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
14296 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
14297 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
14299 @item grouplens-pseudonym
14300 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
14301 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
14302 with the Better Bit Bureau.
14304 @item grouplens-newsgroups
14305 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
14306 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
14310 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
14311 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
14312 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
14313 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
14314 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
14315 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
14318 @node Rating Articles
14319 @subsection Rating Articles
14321 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
14322 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
14323 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
14324 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
14327 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
14332 @kindex r (GroupLens)
14333 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
14334 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
14337 @kindex k (GroupLens)
14338 @findex grouplens-score-thread
14339 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
14340 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
14341 threads in rec.humor.
14345 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
14346 the score of the article you're reading.
14351 @kindex n (GroupLens)
14352 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
14353 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
14356 @kindex , (GroupLens)
14357 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
14358 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
14362 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
14363 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
14366 @node Displaying Predictions
14367 @subsection Displaying Predictions
14369 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
14370 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
14371 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
14372 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
14373 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
14375 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
14376 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
14377 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
14378 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
14379 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
14380 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
14381 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
14382 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
14383 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
14384 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
14385 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
14386 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
14387 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
14389 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
14390 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
14391 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
14392 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
14394 The following are valid values for that variable.
14397 @item prediction-spot
14398 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
14401 @item confidence-interval
14402 A numeric confidence interval.
14404 @item prediction-bar
14405 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
14407 @item confidence-bar
14408 Numerical confidence.
14410 @item confidence-spot
14411 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
14413 @item prediction-num
14414 Plain-old numeric value.
14416 @item confidence-plus-minus
14417 Prediction +/- confidence.
14422 @node GroupLens Variables
14423 @subsection GroupLens Variables
14427 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
14428 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
14429 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
14430 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%)
14433 @item grouplens-bbb-host
14434 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
14437 @item grouplens-bbb-port
14438 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
14440 @item grouplens-score-offset
14441 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
14442 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
14445 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
14446 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
14447 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
14452 @node Advanced Scoring
14453 @section Advanced Scoring
14455 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
14456 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
14457 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
14458 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
14459 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
14461 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
14465 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
14466 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
14467 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
14471 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
14472 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
14474 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
14475 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
14476 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
14477 non-@code{nil} value.
14479 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
14480 operator, and various match operators.
14487 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
14488 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
14489 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
14494 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
14495 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
14496 then this operator will return @code{false}.
14501 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
14502 logical negation of the value of its argument.
14506 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
14507 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
14508 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
14509 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
14510 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
14511 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
14512 the ancestry you want to go.
14514 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
14515 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
14516 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
14517 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
14518 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
14521 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
14522 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
14524 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
14525 when he's talking about Gnus:
14529 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
14530 ("subject" "Gnus"))
14536 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
14540 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
14547 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
14548 really don't want to read what he's written:
14552 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
14553 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
14557 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
14558 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
14559 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
14566 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
14567 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
14568 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
14569 ("body" "white.*socks"))
14573 The possibilities are endless.
14576 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
14577 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
14579 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
14580 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
14581 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
14582 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
14583 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
14584 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
14585 @samp{subject}) first.
14587 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
14588 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
14599 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
14600 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
14606 ("subject" "Gnus")))
14613 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
14614 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
14619 @section Score Decays
14620 @cindex score decays
14623 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
14624 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
14625 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
14626 use them in any sensible way.
14628 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
14629 @findex gnus-decay-score
14630 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
14631 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
14632 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
14633 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
14634 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
14635 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
14636 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
14637 definition of that function:
14640 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
14642 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
14643 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
14646 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
14648 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
14650 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
14653 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
14654 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
14655 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
14656 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
14660 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
14663 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
14666 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
14670 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
14671 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
14672 the new score, which should be an integer.
14674 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
14675 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
14682 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
14683 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
14684 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
14685 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
14686 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
14687 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
14688 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
14689 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
14690 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
14691 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
14692 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
14693 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
14694 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
14695 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
14696 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
14697 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
14698 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
14699 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
14703 @node Process/Prefix
14704 @section Process/Prefix
14705 @cindex process/prefix convention
14707 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
14708 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
14710 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
14711 command to be performed on.
14715 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
14716 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
14717 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
14718 with the current one.
14720 @vindex transient-mark-mode
14721 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
14722 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
14724 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
14725 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
14728 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
14729 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
14731 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
14734 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
14735 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
14736 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
14737 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
14739 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
14740 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
14741 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
14742 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
14743 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
14744 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
14745 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
14746 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
14750 @section Interactive
14751 @cindex interaction
14755 @item gnus-novice-user
14756 @vindex gnus-novice-user
14757 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
14758 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
14759 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
14760 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
14763 @item gnus-expert-user
14764 @vindex gnus-expert-user
14765 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
14766 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
14767 matter how strange.
14769 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
14770 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
14771 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
14772 is @code{t} by default.
14774 @item gnus-interactive-exit
14775 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
14776 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
14781 @node Symbolic Prefixes
14782 @section Symbolic Prefixes
14783 @cindex symbolic prefixes
14785 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
14786 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
14787 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
14788 rule of 900 to the current article.
14790 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
14791 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
14792 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
14793 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
14794 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
14795 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
14796 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
14798 @kindex M-i (Summary)
14799 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
14800 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
14801 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
14802 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
14803 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a M-C-u} means ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u}
14804 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b M-C-u} means
14805 ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
14806 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
14808 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
14809 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
14810 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
14812 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
14816 @node Formatting Variables
14817 @section Formatting Variables
14818 @cindex formatting variables
14820 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
14821 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
14822 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
14823 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
14824 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
14827 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
14828 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
14829 lots of percentages everywhere.
14832 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
14833 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
14834 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
14835 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
14836 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
14839 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
14840 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
14841 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
14842 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
14843 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
14844 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
14845 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
14846 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
14848 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
14849 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
14851 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
14852 @findex gnus-update-format
14853 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
14854 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
14855 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
14856 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
14860 @node Formatting Basics
14861 @subsection Formatting Basics
14863 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
14864 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
14865 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
14867 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
14868 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
14869 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
14870 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
14871 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
14874 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
14875 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
14876 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
14877 less than 4 characters wide.
14880 @node Mode Line Formatting
14881 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
14883 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
14884 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
14885 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
14886 with the following two differences:
14891 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
14894 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
14895 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
14896 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
14897 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
14898 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
14899 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
14900 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
14905 @node Advanced Formatting
14906 @subsection Advanced Formatting
14908 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
14909 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
14910 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
14911 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
14913 These are the valid modifiers:
14918 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
14922 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
14927 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
14930 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
14935 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
14938 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
14941 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
14944 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
14948 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
14949 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
14950 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
14951 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
14952 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
14953 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
14954 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
14956 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
14957 last operation, padding.
14959 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
14960 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
14961 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
14962 @xref{Compilation}.
14965 @node User-Defined Specs
14966 @subsection User-Defined Specs
14968 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
14969 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
14970 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
14971 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
14972 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
14973 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
14974 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
14975 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
14976 should protect against that.
14978 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
14979 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
14980 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
14981 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
14985 @node Formatting Fonts
14986 @subsection Formatting Fonts
14988 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
14989 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
14990 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
14991 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
14994 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
14995 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
14996 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
14997 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
14998 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
14999 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
15001 Text inside the @samp{%<} and @samp{%>} specifiers will get the special
15002 @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you say
15003 @samp{%1<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The
15004 @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or
15005 symbols naming functions that return a string. Under @code{balloon-help-mode},
15006 when the mouse passes over text with this property set, a balloon window
15007 will appear and display the string. Please refer to the doc string of
15008 @code{balloon-help-mode} for more information on this.
15010 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
15013 ;; Create three face types.
15014 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
15015 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
15017 ;; We want the article count to be in
15018 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
15019 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
15020 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
15022 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
15023 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
15025 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
15026 (setq gnus-group-line-format
15027 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
15030 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
15031 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
15033 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
15034 mode-line variables.
15037 @node Windows Configuration
15038 @section Windows Configuration
15039 @cindex windows configuration
15041 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
15043 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
15044 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
15045 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
15046 @code{t} by default.
15048 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
15049 glitches. Use at your own peril.
15051 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
15052 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
15053 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
15056 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
15057 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
15058 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
15062 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
15063 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
15064 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
15065 possible names is listed below.
15067 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
15068 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
15071 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
15075 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
15076 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
15077 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
15078 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
15079 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
15080 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
15081 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
15082 size spec per split.
15084 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
15085 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
15086 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
15087 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
15088 present) gets focus.
15090 Here's a more complicated example:
15093 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
15094 (summary 0.25 point)
15095 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
15099 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
15100 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
15101 occupy, not a percentage.
15103 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
15104 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
15105 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
15106 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
15107 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
15110 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
15113 (article (horizontal 1.0
15118 (summary 0.25 point)
15123 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
15124 @code{horizontal} thingie?
15126 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
15127 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
15128 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
15129 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
15130 the screen is to be given to this strip.
15132 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
15133 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
15134 lines from the splits.
15136 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
15140 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
15141 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
15142 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
15143 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
15144 buffer = "(" buffer-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
15145 size = number | frame-params
15146 buffer-name = group | article | summary ...
15149 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
15150 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
15151 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
15152 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
15154 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
15155 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
15156 @cindex window height
15157 @cindex window width
15158 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
15159 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
15160 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
15161 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
15162 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
15163 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
15165 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
15166 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
15167 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
15168 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
15170 @findex gnus-configure-frame
15171 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
15172 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
15173 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
15174 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
15175 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
15176 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
15177 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
15178 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
15179 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
15180 configuration list.
15183 (gnus-configure-frame
15187 (article 0.3 point))
15195 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
15196 @code{frame} split:
15199 (gnus-configure-frame
15202 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
15204 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
15205 (user-position . t)
15206 (left . -1) (top . 1))
15211 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
15212 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
15213 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
15214 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
15215 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
15216 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
15217 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
15218 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
15220 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
15221 be found in its default value.
15223 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
15224 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
15225 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
15229 (message (horizontal 1.0
15230 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
15232 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
15237 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
15238 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
15239 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
15242 (message (frame 1.0
15243 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
15244 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
15245 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
15246 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
15247 (name . "Message"))
15248 (message 1.0 point))))
15251 @findex gnus-add-configuration
15252 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
15253 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
15254 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
15255 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
15258 (gnus-add-configuration
15259 '(article (vertical 1.0
15261 (summary .25 point)
15265 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
15266 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
15267 Gnus has been loaded.
15269 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
15270 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
15271 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
15272 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
15273 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
15275 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
15276 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
15277 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
15281 @node Faces and Fonts
15282 @section Faces and Fonts
15287 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
15288 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
15289 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
15294 @section Compilation
15295 @cindex compilation
15296 @cindex byte-compilation
15298 @findex gnus-compile
15300 Remember all those line format specification variables?
15301 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
15302 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
15303 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
15304 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
15305 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
15308 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
15309 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
15310 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
15311 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
15312 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
15313 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
15314 them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
15318 @section Mode Lines
15321 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
15322 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
15323 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
15324 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
15325 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
15326 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
15327 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
15330 @cindex display-time
15332 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
15333 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
15334 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
15335 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
15336 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
15337 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
15338 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
15339 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
15342 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
15344 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
15345 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
15347 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
15348 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
15349 (length display-time-string)))))
15352 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
15353 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
15354 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
15355 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
15356 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
15359 @node Highlighting and Menus
15360 @section Highlighting and Menus
15362 @cindex highlighting
15365 @vindex gnus-visual
15366 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
15367 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
15368 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
15371 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
15372 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
15375 @item group-highlight
15376 Do highlights in the group buffer.
15377 @item summary-highlight
15378 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
15379 @item article-highlight
15380 Do highlights in the article buffer.
15382 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
15384 Create menus in the group buffer.
15386 Create menus in the summary buffers.
15388 Create menus in the article buffer.
15390 Create menus in the browse buffer.
15392 Create menus in the server buffer.
15394 Create menus in the score buffers.
15396 Create menus in all buffers.
15399 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
15400 buffers, you could say something like:
15403 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
15406 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
15409 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
15412 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
15413 in all Gnus buffers.
15415 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
15418 @item gnus-mouse-face
15419 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
15420 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
15421 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
15425 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
15429 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
15430 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
15431 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
15433 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
15434 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
15435 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
15437 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
15438 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
15439 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
15441 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
15442 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
15443 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
15445 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
15446 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
15447 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
15449 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
15450 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
15451 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
15462 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
15463 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
15464 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
15465 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
15466 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
15470 @vindex gnus-carpal
15471 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
15472 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
15473 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
15478 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
15479 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
15480 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
15482 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
15483 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
15484 Face used on buttons.
15486 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
15487 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
15488 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
15490 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
15491 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
15492 Buttons in the group buffer.
15494 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
15495 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
15496 Buttons in the summary buffer.
15498 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
15499 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
15500 Buttons in the server buffer.
15502 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
15503 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
15504 Buttons in the browse buffer.
15507 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
15508 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
15509 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
15517 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
15518 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
15519 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
15520 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
15521 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
15523 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
15524 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
15525 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
15527 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
15528 been idle for thirty minutes:
15531 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
15534 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
15538 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
15541 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
15542 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
15543 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
15545 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
15546 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
15547 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
15548 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
15550 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
15551 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
15552 @var{idle} minutes.
15554 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
15555 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
15558 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
15559 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
15560 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
15562 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
15563 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
15564 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
15565 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
15567 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
15568 your @file{.gnus} file:
15570 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
15572 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
15575 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
15576 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
15577 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
15578 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
15579 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
15580 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
15581 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
15582 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
15583 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
15584 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
15585 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
15587 @findex gnus-demon-init
15588 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
15589 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
15590 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
15591 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
15592 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
15594 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
15595 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
15596 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
15605 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
15606 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
15608 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
15609 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
15610 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
15611 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
15614 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
15615 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
15616 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
15617 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
15619 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
15620 this will make spam disappear.
15622 There are some variables to customize, of course:
15625 @item gnus-use-nocem
15626 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
15627 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
15630 @item gnus-nocem-groups
15631 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
15632 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
15633 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
15634 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
15636 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
15637 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
15638 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
15639 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
15640 "rbraver@@ohww.norman.ok.us" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
15641 "jem@@xpat.com" "snowhare@@xmission.com" "red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us
15642 (Richard E. Depew)")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
15644 Known despammers that you can put in this list include:
15647 @item clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;
15648 @cindex Chris Lewis
15649 Chris Lewis---Major Canadian despammer who has probably canceled more
15650 usenet abuse than anybody else.
15653 @cindex CancelMoose[tm]
15654 The CancelMoose[tm] on autopilot. The CancelMoose[tm] is reputed to be
15655 Norwegian, and was the person(s) who invented NoCeM.
15657 @item jem@@xpat.com;
15659 John Milburn---despammer located in Korea who is getting very busy these
15662 @item red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us (Richard E. Depew)
15663 Richard E. Depew---lone American despammer. He mostly cancels binary
15664 postings to non-binary groups and removes spews (regurgitated articles).
15667 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
15668 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
15669 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
15670 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
15671 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
15672 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
15673 @var{(issuer conditions ...)} elements in the list. Each condition is
15674 either a string (which is a regexp that matches types you want to use)
15675 or a list on the form @code{(not STRING)}, where @var{string} is a
15676 regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
15678 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
15679 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
15682 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
15685 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
15686 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
15689 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
15692 The specs are applied left-to-right.
15695 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
15696 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
15698 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
15699 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
15700 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
15701 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
15703 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
15704 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
15707 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
15709 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
15717 This might be dangerous, though.
15719 @item gnus-nocem-directory
15720 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
15721 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
15722 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
15724 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
15725 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
15726 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
15727 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
15728 might then see old spam.
15732 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
15733 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
15734 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
15735 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
15742 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
15743 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
15744 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
15746 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
15747 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
15748 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
15749 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
15750 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
15751 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
15752 @code{undo} function.
15754 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
15755 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
15756 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
15757 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
15758 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
15759 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
15760 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
15761 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
15762 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
15763 never be totally undoable.
15765 @findex gnus-undo-mode
15766 @vindex gnus-use-undo
15768 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
15769 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
15770 default. The @kbd{M-C-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo} command
15771 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
15776 @section Moderation
15779 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
15780 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
15781 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
15784 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
15788 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
15791 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
15793 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
15798 You split your incoming mail by matching on
15799 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
15800 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
15803 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
15804 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
15807 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
15808 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
15812 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
15815 (setq gnus-moderated-list
15816 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
15820 @node XEmacs Enhancements
15821 @section XEmacs Enhancements
15824 XEmacs is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has taken
15828 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
15829 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
15830 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
15831 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
15844 So... You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
15845 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
15846 over your shoulder as you read news.
15849 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
15850 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
15851 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
15852 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
15853 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
15858 @subsubsection Picon Basics
15860 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
15869 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
15870 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
15871 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
15872 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
15873 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
15874 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
15875 @code{GIF} formats.
15878 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
15879 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
15880 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
15881 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
15882 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
15884 @vindex gnus-picons-database
15885 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
15886 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
15887 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
15888 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
15889 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
15892 @node Picon Requirements
15893 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
15895 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must be running XEmacs
15896 19.13 or greater since all other versions of Emacs aren't yet able to
15899 Additionally, you must have @code{x} support compiled into XEmacs. To
15900 display color picons which are much nicer than the black & white one,
15901 you also need one of @code{xpm} or @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
15903 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
15904 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
15905 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
15906 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
15907 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
15911 @subsubsection Easy Picons
15913 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
15914 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
15917 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
15918 (setq gnus-treat-display-picons t)
15921 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
15922 containing the Picons databases.
15924 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
15927 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
15928 "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
15933 @subsubsection Hard Picons
15941 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
15942 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
15943 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
15944 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
15945 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
15950 @item gnus-picons-database
15951 @vindex gnus-picons-database
15952 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
15953 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
15954 subdirectories. This is only useful if
15955 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
15956 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
15958 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
15959 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
15960 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
15961 engine is @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
15962 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
15963 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
15964 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
15966 @item gnus-picons-display-where
15967 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
15968 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
15969 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
15970 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
15971 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
15972 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
15973 routines---@pxref{Windows Configuration}.
15975 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
15976 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
15977 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
15982 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
15983 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
15985 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
15986 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
15989 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
15991 @item gnus-article-display-picons
15992 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
15993 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
15994 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer.
15996 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
15997 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
15998 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present.
16004 @node Picon Useless Configuration
16005 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
16013 The following variables offer further control over how things are
16014 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
16015 don't need to worry about.
16019 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
16020 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
16021 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
16022 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
16024 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
16025 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
16026 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
16027 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
16029 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
16030 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
16031 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
16032 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
16033 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
16035 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
16036 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
16037 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
16038 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
16039 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
16040 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
16041 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
16043 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
16044 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
16045 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
16046 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
16048 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
16049 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
16050 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
16051 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
16052 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
16053 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
16054 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
16056 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
16057 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
16058 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
16059 Defaults to @code{nil}.
16061 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
16062 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
16063 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
16064 Defaults to @code{t}.
16066 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
16067 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
16068 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
16069 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
16071 @item gnus-picons-setup-hook
16072 @vindex gnus-picons-setup-hook
16073 Hook run in the picon buffer, if that is displayed.
16075 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
16076 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
16077 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
16078 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
16080 If @code{nil}, display the picons in the @code{From} and
16081 @code{Newsgroups} lines. This is the defailt.
16083 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
16084 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
16085 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
16086 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
16087 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
16088 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
16089 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
16090 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
16101 @subsection Smileys
16106 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/BigFace.ps,height=20cm}}
16111 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
16112 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
16114 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
16115 @file{.gnus.el} file:
16118 (setq gnus-treat-display-smiley t)
16121 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
16122 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
16123 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
16124 text and maps that to file names.
16126 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
16127 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
16128 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
16129 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
16130 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
16131 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
16133 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
16134 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
16136 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
16137 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
16138 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
16140 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
16141 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
16145 @item smiley-data-directory
16146 @vindex smiley-data-directory
16147 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
16149 @item smiley-flesh-color
16150 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
16151 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
16153 @item smiley-features-color
16154 @vindex smiley-features-color
16155 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
16157 @item smiley-tongue-color
16158 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
16159 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
16161 @item smiley-circle-color
16162 @vindex smiley-circle-color
16163 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
16165 @item smiley-mouse-face
16166 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
16167 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
16173 @subsection Toolbar
16183 @item gnus-use-toolbar
16184 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
16185 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
16186 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
16187 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
16189 @item gnus-group-toolbar
16190 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
16191 The toolbar in the group buffer.
16193 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
16194 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
16195 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
16197 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
16198 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
16199 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
16205 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
16208 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
16209 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
16210 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
16211 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
16212 unusual directory structure.
16214 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
16215 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
16216 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
16217 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
16219 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
16220 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
16221 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
16222 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
16223 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
16224 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
16226 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
16227 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
16228 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
16242 @node Fuzzy Matching
16243 @section Fuzzy Matching
16244 @cindex fuzzy matching
16246 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
16247 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
16249 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
16250 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
16251 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
16253 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
16254 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
16255 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
16256 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
16257 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
16260 @node Thwarting Email Spam
16261 @section Thwarting Email Spam
16265 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
16267 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
16268 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
16269 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
16270 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
16271 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
16272 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
16273 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
16274 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
16277 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
16278 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
16279 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
16280 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
16281 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
16282 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
16286 The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
16287 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
16289 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
16290 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
16291 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
16292 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
16293 sysadm whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
16294 part of the mail address.)
16297 (setq message-default-news-headers
16298 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
16301 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
16302 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
16307 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
16308 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
16309 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
16315 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
16316 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
16317 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
16318 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
16320 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @code{smtp} server
16321 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
16322 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
16323 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
16324 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
16325 your fancy split rule in this way:
16330 (to "larsi" "misc")
16334 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
16335 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
16336 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
16337 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
16338 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
16340 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
16341 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
16342 at @* @file{<URL:http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html>}.
16343 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
16344 cosmic balance somewhat.
16346 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
16347 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
16348 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
16349 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
16352 @node Various Various
16353 @section Various Various
16359 @item gnus-home-directory
16360 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
16361 defaults to @file{~/}.
16363 @item gnus-directory
16364 @vindex gnus-directory
16365 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
16366 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
16367 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
16369 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
16370 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
16371 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
16372 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
16374 @item gnus-default-directory
16375 @vindex gnus-default-directory
16376 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
16377 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
16378 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
16379 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
16380 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
16381 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
16384 @vindex gnus-verbose
16385 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
16386 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
16387 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
16388 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
16389 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
16391 @item gnus-verbose-backends
16392 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
16393 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
16394 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
16396 @item nnheader-max-head-length
16397 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
16398 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
16399 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
16400 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
16401 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
16402 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
16403 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
16404 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
16405 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
16407 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
16408 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
16409 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
16410 read when doing the operation described above.
16412 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
16413 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
16415 @cindex invalid characters in file names
16416 @cindex characters in file names
16417 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
16418 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
16419 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
16422 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
16426 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
16427 Windows (phooey) systems.
16429 @item gnus-hidden-properties
16430 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
16431 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
16432 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
16433 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
16435 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
16436 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
16437 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
16438 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
16439 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
16441 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
16442 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
16443 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
16452 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
16453 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
16455 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
16457 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
16463 Not because of victories @*
16466 but for the common sunshine,@*
16468 the largess of the spring.
16472 but for the day's work done@*
16473 as well as I was able;@*
16474 not for a seat upon the dais@*
16475 but at the common table.@*
16480 @chapter Appendices
16483 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
16484 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
16485 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
16486 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
16487 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
16488 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
16489 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
16497 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
16498 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
16500 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage, you
16501 can point your (feh!) web browser to
16502 @file{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/}. This is also the primary
16503 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is known
16504 as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
16506 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
16507 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
16508 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
16509 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
16510 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
16511 appropriate name, don't you think?)
16513 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
16514 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
16515 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
16516 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
16518 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
16519 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
16520 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
16522 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
16523 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
16525 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
16526 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
16528 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37
16529 releases. If was released as ``Gnus 5.6 on March 8th 1998.
16531 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
16532 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'' --
16533 don't panic. Don't let it know that you're frightened. Back away.
16534 Slowly. Whatever you do, don't run. Walk away, calmly, until you're
16535 out of its reach. Find a proper released version of Gnus and snuggle up
16539 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
16540 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
16541 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
16542 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
16543 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
16544 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
16545 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
16546 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
16553 What's the point of Gnus?
16555 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
16556 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
16557 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
16558 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
16559 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
16560 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
16561 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
16562 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
16563 keep track of millions of people who post?
16565 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
16566 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
16567 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
16568 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
16569 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
16570 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
16571 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
16572 every one of you to explore and invent.
16574 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
16575 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
16578 @node Compatibility
16579 @subsection Compatibility
16581 @cindex compatibility
16582 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
16583 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
16584 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
16589 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
16593 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
16596 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
16599 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
16600 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
16601 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
16602 important variables have their values copied into their global
16603 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
16604 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
16606 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
16607 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
16608 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
16609 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
16610 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
16614 @cindex highlighting
16615 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
16616 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
16617 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
16618 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
16619 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
16620 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
16623 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
16624 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
16625 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
16626 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
16628 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
16629 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
16630 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
16631 to stop doing it the old way.
16633 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
16635 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
16637 @cindex reporting bugs
16639 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
16640 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
16641 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
16643 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
16644 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
16645 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
16646 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
16651 @subsection Conformity
16653 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
16654 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
16661 There are no known breaches of this standard.
16665 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
16667 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
16668 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
16669 We do have some breaches to this one.
16675 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
16676 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
16677 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
16678 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
16679 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
16684 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
16685 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
16686 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
16687 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
16691 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
16692 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
16697 @subsection Emacsen
16703 Gnus should work on :
16711 XEmacs 20.4 and up.
16715 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
16716 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
16719 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
16720 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
16721 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
16725 @node Gnus Development
16726 @subsection Gnus Development
16728 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
16729 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
16730 propose changes and new features, post patches and new backends. This
16731 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
16732 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
16733 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
16734 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
16735 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
16737 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
16738 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
16739 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
16740 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
16741 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
16744 @vindex nnmail-delete-incoming
16745 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
16746 In particular, @code{nnmail-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
16747 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
16748 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
16750 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
16751 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
16752 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
16753 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
16754 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
16755 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
16756 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
16757 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
16758 usually keep up with these rapid changes, whille people on the newsgroup
16759 can't be assumed to do so.
16764 @subsection Contributors
16765 @cindex contributors
16767 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
16768 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
16769 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
16770 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
16771 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
16772 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
16773 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
16774 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
16775 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
16776 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
16778 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
16784 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
16787 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
16788 well as numerous other things).
16791 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
16794 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
16797 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el and many other things
16798 connected with @sc{mime} and other types of en/decoding.
16801 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
16802 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
16805 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
16808 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
16809 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
16812 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
16815 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
16818 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
16821 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
16824 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
16825 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
16828 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
16831 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
16834 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
16837 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
16841 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
16844 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
16847 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
16850 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
16851 well as autoconf support.
16855 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
16856 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
16858 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
16867 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
16871 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
16894 Massimo Campostrini,
16902 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
16908 Michael Welsh Duggan,
16912 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
16916 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
16923 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
16925 Michelangelo Grigni,
16929 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
16931 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
16933 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
16938 François Felix Ingrand,
16939 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
16941 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
16950 Peter Skov Knudsen,
16951 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
16952 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
16953 Thor Kristoffersen,
16956 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
16974 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
16975 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
16982 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
16986 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
16990 John McClary Prevost,
16996 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
17001 Christian von Roques,
17004 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
17011 Philippe Schnoebelen,
17013 Randal L. Schwartz,
17044 Katsumi Yamaoka @c Yamaoka
17049 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
17050 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
17051 (550kB and counting).
17053 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
17056 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
17057 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
17061 @subsection New Features
17062 @cindex new features
17065 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
17066 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.3/5.3.
17067 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
17068 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
17071 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
17072 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
17073 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
17077 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
17079 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
17084 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
17085 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
17088 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
17089 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
17092 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
17095 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
17096 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
17097 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
17100 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
17101 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
17102 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
17103 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
17106 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
17107 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
17110 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
17111 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
17112 (@pxref{The Active File}).
17115 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
17116 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
17119 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
17120 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
17121 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
17124 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
17125 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
17126 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
17129 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
17130 the @file{.emacs} file.
17133 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
17134 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
17137 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
17138 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
17141 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
17142 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
17145 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
17146 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
17149 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
17150 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
17153 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
17156 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
17157 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
17160 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
17161 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
17164 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
17165 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
17168 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
17171 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
17172 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
17175 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
17179 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
17183 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
17184 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
17187 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
17193 @node September Gnus
17194 @subsubsection September Gnus
17198 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/september.ps,height=20cm}}
17202 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
17207 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
17208 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
17212 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
17213 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
17217 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
17221 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
17222 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
17225 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
17229 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
17232 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
17235 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
17238 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
17242 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
17243 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
17246 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
17250 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
17254 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
17258 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
17262 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
17265 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
17266 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
17269 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
17273 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
17274 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
17277 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
17280 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
17281 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
17282 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
17285 Gnus has a new backend (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
17289 The Gnus cache is much faster.
17292 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
17296 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
17297 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
17300 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
17301 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
17304 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
17305 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
17308 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
17309 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
17310 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
17313 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
17314 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
17317 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
17320 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
17323 All mail backends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
17326 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
17329 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
17330 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
17333 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Windows
17337 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
17340 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}}
17345 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
17348 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
17352 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
17355 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
17359 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
17362 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
17365 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
17366 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
17369 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
17370 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
17374 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
17375 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
17378 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
17382 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
17383 buffer to allow easier treatment.
17386 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
17389 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
17393 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
17397 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
17398 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
17401 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
17405 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
17406 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
17409 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
17410 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
17413 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
17417 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
17420 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
17423 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
17429 @subsubsection Red Gnus
17431 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
17435 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/red.ps,height=20cm}}
17442 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
17445 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
17446 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
17449 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
17450 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
17454 Article washing status can be displayed in the
17455 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
17458 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
17461 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
17462 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
17465 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
17469 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
17470 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
17474 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
17475 Server Internals}).
17478 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
17482 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
17485 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
17486 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
17489 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
17490 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
17491 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
17494 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
17495 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
17498 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
17499 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
17502 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{M-C-_}
17506 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
17507 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
17510 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
17511 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
17514 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
17518 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
17521 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
17525 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
17526 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
17529 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
17530 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
17533 A new command for reading collections of documents
17534 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{M-C-d}
17535 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
17538 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
17542 A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post even when the NNTP
17543 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
17546 A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
17547 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
17548 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
17551 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
17552 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
17556 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
17560 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
17564 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}}
17569 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
17573 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
17577 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
17578 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
17581 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
17587 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
17589 New features in Gnus 5.6:
17594 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
17595 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
17596 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
17599 The @code{nndraft} backend has returned, but works differently than
17600 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
17601 group, which is created automatically.
17604 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
17608 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
17611 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
17612 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
17615 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
17619 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
17622 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
17623 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
17626 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
17629 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
17630 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
17633 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
17634 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
17637 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
17638 control over simplification.
17641 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
17644 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
17648 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
17651 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
17654 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
17655 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
17656 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
17659 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
17660 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
17663 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
17667 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
17668 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
17671 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
17672 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
17675 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
17679 A history of where mails have been split is available.
17682 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
17685 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
17686 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
17689 A new function for citing in Message has been
17690 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
17693 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
17696 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
17700 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
17701 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
17704 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
17705 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
17708 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} backend.
17711 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
17716 @node Newest Features
17717 @subsection Newest Features
17720 Also known as the @dfn{todo list}. Sure to be implemented before the
17723 Be afraid. Be very afraid.
17725 (That a feature appears in this list doesn't necessarily mean that I've
17726 decided to actually implement it. It just means that I think it sounds
17729 (Yes, this is the actual, up-to-the-second todo list.)
17734 I would like the zombie-page to contain an URL to the source of the
17735 latest version of gnus or some explanation on where to find it.
17738 A way to continue editing the latest Message composition.
17741 http://www.sonicnet.com/feature/ari3/
17744 facep is not declared.
17747 Include a section in the manual on why the number of articles
17748 isn't the same in the group buffer and on the SPC prompt.
17751 Interacting with rmail fcc isn't easy.
17756 <URL:http://www.falch.no/people/pepper/DSSSL-Lite/archives/>
17757 <URL:http://www.eit.com/software/hypermail/hypermail.html>
17758 <URL:http://homer.ncm.com/>
17759 <URL:http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Internet/World_Wide_Web/HTML_Converters/>
17760 http://www.uwsg.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9610/index.html
17761 <URL:http://union.ncsa.uiuc.edu/HyperNews/get/www/html/converters.html>
17762 http://www.miranova.com/gnus-list/
17767 @samp{^-- } is made into - in LaTeX.
17770 gnus-kill is much slower than it was in GNUS 4.1.3.
17773 when expunging articles on low score, the sparse nodes keep hanging on?
17775 starting the first time seems to hang Gnus on some systems. Does
17776 NEWGROUPS answer too fast?
17778 nndir doesn't read gzipped files.
17780 FAQ doesn't have an up node?
17782 when moving mail from a procmail spool to the crash-box,
17783 the crash-box is only appropriate to one specific group.
17785 `t' `t' makes X-Faces disappear.
17787 nnmh-be-safe means that crossposted articles will
17788 be marked as unread.
17790 Orphan score entries don't show on "V t" score trace
17792 when clearing out data, the cache data should also be reset.
17794 rewrite gnus-summary-limit-children to be non-recursive
17795 to avoid exceeding lisp nesting on huge groups.
17797 expunged articles are counted when computing scores.
17799 implement gnus-batch-brew-soup
17801 ticked articles aren't easy to read in pick mode -- `n' and
17802 stuff just skips past them. Read articles are the same.
17804 topics that contain just groups with ticked
17805 articles aren't displayed.
17807 nndoc should always allocate unique Message-IDs.
17809 If there are mail groups the first time you use Gnus, Gnus'll
17810 make the mail groups killed.
17812 no "no news is good news" when using topics.
17814 when doing crosspost marking, the cache has to be consulted
17815 and articles have to be removed.
17817 nnweb should fetch complete articles when they are split into several
17820 scoring on head immediate doesn't work.
17822 finding short score file names takes forever.
17824 canceling articles in foreign groups.
17826 nntp-open-rlogin no longer works.
17828 C-u C-x C-s (Summary) switches to the group buffer.
17830 move nnmail-split-history out to the backends.
17832 nnweb doesn't work properly.
17834 using a virtual server name as `gnus-select-method' doesn't work?
17836 when killing/yanking a group from one topic to another in a slave, the
17837 master will yank it first to one topic and then add it to another.
17841 warn user about `=' redirection of a group in the active file?
17843 take over the XEmacs menubar and offer a toggle between the XEmacs
17844 bar and the Gnus bar.
17847 push active file and NOV file parsing down into C code.
17848 `(canonize-message-id id)'
17849 `(mail-parent-message-id references n)'
17850 `(parse-news-nov-line &optional dependency-hashtb)'
17851 `(parse-news-nov-region beg end &optional dependency-hashtb fullp)'
17852 `(parse-news-active-region beg end hashtb)'
17857 nnml .overview directory with splits.
17861 postponed commands.
17863 the selected article show have its Subject displayed in its summary line.
17865 when entering groups, get the real number of unread articles from
17868 sort after gathering threads -- make false roots have the
17869 headers of the oldest orphan with a 0 article number?
17871 nndoc groups should inherit the score files of their parents? Also
17872 inherit copy prompts and save files.
17874 command to start up Gnus (if not running) and enter a mail mode buffer.
17876 allow editing the group description from the group buffer
17877 for backends that support that.
17879 gnus-hide,show-all-topics
17881 groups and sub-topics should be allowed to mingle inside each topic,
17882 and not just list all subtopics at the end.
17884 a command to remove all read articles that are not needed to connect
17885 threads -- `gnus-summary-limit-to-sparse-unread'?
17887 a variable to turn off limiting/cutting of threads in the tree buffer.
17889 a variable to limit how many files are uudecoded.
17891 add zombie groups to a special "New Groups" topic.
17893 server mode command: close/open all connections
17895 put a file date in gnus-score-alist and check whether the file
17896 has been changed before using it.
17898 on exit from a digest group, go to the next article in the parent group.
17900 hide (sub)threads with low score.
17902 when expiring, remove all marks from expired articles.
17904 gnus-summary-limit-to-body
17906 a regexp alist that says what level groups are to be subscribed
17907 on. Eg. -- `(("nnml:" . 1))'.
17909 easier interface to nnkiboze to create ephemeral groups that
17910 contain groups that match a regexp.
17912 allow newlines in <URL:> urls, but remove them before using
17915 If there is no From line, the mail backends should fudge one from the
17918 fuzzy simplifying should strip all non-alpha-numerical info
17919 from subject lines.
17921 gnus-soup-brew-soup-with-high-scores.
17923 nntp-ping-before-connect
17925 command to check whether NOV is evil. "list overview.fmt".
17927 when entering a group, Gnus should look through the score
17928 files very early for `local' atoms and set those local variables.
17930 message annotations.
17932 topics are always yanked before groups, and that's not good.
17934 (set-extent-property extent 'help-echo "String to display in minibuf")
17935 to display help in the minibuffer on buttons under XEmacs.
17937 allow group line format spec to say how many articles there
17942 support qmail maildir spools
17944 `run-with-idle-timer' in gnus-demon.
17946 stop using invisible text properties and start using overlays instead
17948 C-c C-f C-e to add an Expires header.
17950 go from one group to the next; everything is expunged; go to the
17951 next group instead of going to the group buffer.
17953 gnus-renumber-cache -- to renumber the cache using "low" numbers.
17955 record topic changes in the dribble buffer.
17957 `nnfolder-generate-active-file' should look at the folders it
17958 finds and generate proper active ranges.
17960 nneething-look-in-files-for-article-heads variable to control
17961 whether nneething should sniff all files in the directories.
17963 gnus-fetch-article -- start Gnus, enter group, display article
17965 gnus-dont-move-articles-to-same-group variable when respooling.
17967 when messages are crossposted between several auto-expirable groups,
17968 articles aren't properly marked as expirable.
17970 nneething should allow deletion/moving.
17972 TAB on the last button should go to the first button.
17974 if the car of an element in `mail-split-methods' is a function,
17975 and the function returns non-nil, use that as the name of the group(s) to
17978 command for listing all score files that have been applied.
17980 a command in the article buffer to return to `summary' config.
17982 `gnus-always-post-using-current-server' -- variable to override
17983 `C-c C-c' when posting.
17985 nnmail-group-spool-alist -- says where each group should use
17988 when an article is crossposted to an auto-expirable group, the article
17989 should be marker as expirable.
17991 article mode command/menu for "send region as URL to browser".
17993 on errors, jump to info nodes that explain the error. For instance,
17994 on invalid From headers, or on error messages from the nntp server.
17996 when gathering threads, make the article that has no "Re: " the parent.
17997 Also consult Date headers.
17999 a token in splits to call shrink-window-if-larger-than-buffer
18001 `1 0 A M' to do matches on the active hashtb.
18003 duplicates -- command to remove Gnus-Warning header, use the read
18004 Message-ID, delete the "original".
18006 when replying to several messages at once, put the "other" message-ids
18007 into a See-Also header.
18009 support setext: URL:http://www.bsdi.com/setext/
18011 support ProleText: <URL:http://proletext.clari.net/prole/proletext.html>
18013 when browsing a foreign server, the groups that are already subscribed
18014 should be listed as such and not as "K".
18016 generate font names dynamically.
18018 score file mode auto-alist.
18020 allow nndoc to change/add/delete things from documents. Implement
18021 methods for each format for adding an article to the document.
18023 `gnus-fetch-old-headers' `all' value to incorporate
18024 absolutely all headers there is.
18026 function like `|', but concatenate all marked articles
18027 and pipe them to the process.
18029 cache the list of killed (or active) groups in a separate file. Update
18030 the file whenever we read the active file or the list
18031 of killed groups in the .eld file reaches a certain length.
18033 function for starting to edit a file to put into
18034 the current mail group.
18036 score-find-trace should display the total score of the article.
18038 "ghettozie" -- score on Xref header and nix it out after using it
18039 to avoid marking as read in other groups it has been crossposted to.
18041 look at procmail splitting. The backends should create
18042 the groups automatically if a spool file exists for that group.
18044 function for backends to register themselves with Gnus.
18046 when replying to several process-marked articles,
18047 have all the From end up in Cc headers? Variable to toggle.
18049 command to delete a crossposted mail article from all
18050 groups it has been mailed to.
18052 `B c' and `B m' should be crosspost aware.
18054 hide-pgp should also hide PGP public key blocks.
18056 Command in the group buffer to respool process-marked groups.
18058 `gnus-summary-find-matching' should accept
18059 pseudo-"headers" like "body", "head" and "all"
18061 When buttifying <URL: > things, all white space (including
18062 newlines) should be ignored.
18064 Process-marking all groups in a topic should process-mark
18065 groups in subtopics as well.
18067 Add non-native groups to the list of killed groups when killing them.
18069 nntp-suggest-kewl-config to probe the nntp server and suggest
18072 add edit and forward secondary marks.
18074 nnml shouldn't visit its .overview files.
18076 allow customizing sorting within gathered threads.
18078 `B q' shouldn't select the current article.
18080 nnmbox should support a newsgroups file for descriptions.
18082 allow fetching mail from several pop servers.
18084 Be able to specify whether the saving commands save the original
18085 or the formatted article.
18087 a command to reparent with the child process-marked (cf. `T ^'.).
18089 I think the possibility to send a password with nntp-open-rlogin
18090 should be a feature in Red Gnus.
18092 The `Z n' command should be possible to execute from a mouse click.
18094 more limiting functions -- date, etc.
18096 be able to limit on a random header; on body; using reverse matches.
18098 a group parameter (`absofucking-total-expiry') that will make Gnus expire
18099 even unread articles.
18101 a command to print the article buffer as postscript.
18103 variable to disable password fetching when opening by nntp-open-telnet.
18105 manual: more example servers -- nntp with rlogin, telnet
18107 checking for bogus groups should clean topic alists as well.
18109 canceling articles in foreign groups.
18111 article number in folded topics isn't properly updated by
18114 Movement in the group buffer to the next unread group should go to the
18115 next closed topic with unread messages if no group can be found.
18117 Extensive info pages generated on the fly with help everywhere --
18118 in the "*Gnus edit*" buffers, for instance.
18120 Topic movement commands -- like thread movement. Up, down, forward, next.
18122 a way to tick/mark as read Gcc'd articles.
18124 a way to say that all groups within a specific topic comes
18125 from a particular server? Hm.
18127 `gnus-article-fill-if-long-lines' -- a function to fill
18128 the article buffer if there are any looong lines there.
18130 `T h' should jump to the parent topic and fold it.
18132 a command to create an ephemeral nndoc group out of a file,
18133 and then splitting it/moving it to some other group/backend.
18135 a group parameter for nnkiboze groups that says that
18136 all kibozed articles should be entered into the cache.
18138 It should also probably be possible to delimit what
18139 `gnus-jog-cache' does -- for instance, work on just some groups, or on
18140 some levels, and entering just articles that have a score higher than
18143 nnfolder should append to the folder instead of re-writing
18144 the entire folder to disk when accepting new messages.
18146 allow all backends to do the proper thing with .gz files.
18148 a backend for reading collections of babyl files nnbabylfolder?
18150 a command for making the native groups into foreign groups.
18152 server mode command for clearing read marks from all groups
18155 when following up multiple articles, include all To, Cc, etc headers
18158 a command for deciding what the total score of the current
18159 thread is. Also a way to highlight based on this.
18161 command to show and edit group scores
18163 a gnus-tree-minimize-horizontal to minimize tree buffers
18166 command to generate nnml overview file for one group.
18168 `C-u C-u a' -- prompt for many crossposted groups.
18170 keep track of which mail groups have received new articles (in this session).
18171 Be able to generate a report and perhaps do some marking in the group
18174 gnus-build-sparse-threads to a number -- build only sparse threads
18175 that are of that length.
18177 have nnmh respect mh's unseen sequence in .mh_profile.
18179 cache the newsgroups descriptions locally.
18181 asynchronous posting under nntp.
18183 be able to control word adaptive scoring from the score files.
18185 a variable to make `C-c C-c' post using the "current" select method.
18187 `limit-exclude-low-scored-articles'.
18189 if `gnus-summary-show-thread' is a number, hide threads that have
18190 a score lower than this number.
18192 split newsgroup subscription variable up into "order" and "method".
18194 buttonize ange-ftp file names.
18196 a command to make a duplicate copy of the current article
18197 so that each copy can be edited separately.
18199 nnweb should allow fetching from the local nntp server.
18201 record the sorting done in the summary buffer so that
18202 it can be repeated when limiting/regenerating the buffer.
18204 nnml-generate-nov-databses should generate for
18207 when the user does commands in the group buffer, check
18208 the modification time of the .newsrc.eld file and use
18209 ask-user-about-supersession-threat. Also warn when trying
18210 to save .newsrc.eld and it has changed.
18212 M-g on a topic will display all groups with 0 articles in
18215 command to remove all topic stuff.
18217 allow exploding incoming digests when reading incoming mail
18218 and splitting the resulting digests.
18220 nnsoup shouldn't set the `message-' variables.
18222 command to nix out all nnoo state information.
18224 nnmail-process-alist that calls functions if group names
18225 matches an alist -- before saving.
18227 use buffer-invisibility-spec everywhere for hiding text.
18229 variable to activate each group before entering them
18230 to get the (new) number of articles. `gnus-activate-before-entering'.
18232 command to fetch a Message-ID from any buffer, even
18233 starting Gnus first if necessary.
18235 when posting and checking whether a group exists or not, just
18236 ask the nntp server instead of relying on the active hashtb.
18238 buttonize the output of `C-c C-a' in an apropos-like way.
18240 `G p' should understand process/prefix, and allow editing
18241 of several groups at once.
18243 command to create an ephemeral nnvirtual group that
18244 matches some regexp(s).
18246 nndoc should understand "Content-Type: message/rfc822" forwarded messages.
18248 it should be possible to score "thread" on the From header.
18250 hitting RET on a "gnus-uu-archive" pseudo article should unpack it.
18252 `B i' should display the article at once in the summary buffer.
18254 remove the "*" mark at once when unticking an article.
18256 `M-s' should highlight the matching text.
18258 when checking for duplicated mails, use Resent-Message-ID if present.
18260 killing and yanking groups in topics should be better. If killing one copy
18261 of a group that exists in multiple topics, only that copy should
18262 be removed. Yanking should insert the copy, and yanking topics
18263 should be possible to be interspersed with the other yankings.
18265 command for enter a group just to read the cached articles. A way to say
18266 "ignore the nntp connection; just read from the cache."
18268 `X u' should decode base64 articles.
18270 a way to hide all "inner" cited text, leaving just the most
18271 recently cited text.
18273 nnvirtual should be asynchronous.
18275 after editing an article, gnus-original-article-buffer should
18278 there should probably be a way to make Gnus not connect to the
18279 server and just read the articles in the server
18281 allow a `set-default' (or something) to change the default
18282 value of nnoo variables.
18284 a command to import group infos from a .newsrc.eld file.
18286 groups from secondary servers have the entire select method
18287 listed in each group info.
18289 a command for just switching from the summary buffer to the group
18292 a way to specify that some incoming mail washing functions
18293 should only be applied to some groups.
18295 Message `C-f C-t' should ask the user whether to heed
18296 mail-copies-to: never.
18298 new group parameter -- `post-to-server' that says to post
18299 using the current server. Also a variable to do the same.
18301 the slave dribble files should auto-save to the slave file names.
18303 a group parameter that says what articles to display on group entry, based
18306 a way to visually distinguish slave Gnusae from masters. (Whip instead
18309 Use DJ Bernstein "From " quoting/dequoting, where applicable.
18311 Why is hide-citation-maybe and hide-citation different? Also
18314 group user-defined meta-parameters.
18318 From: John Griffith <griffith@@sfs.nphil.uni-tuebingen.de>
18320 I like the option for trying to retrieve the FAQ for a group and I was
18321 thinking it would be great if for those newsgroups that had archives
18322 you could also try to read the archive for that group. Part of the
18323 problem is that archives are spread all over the net, unlike FAQs.
18324 What would be best I suppose is to find the one closest to your site.
18326 In any case, there is a list of general news group archives at @*
18327 ftp://ftp.neosoft.com/pub/users/claird/news.lists/newsgroup_archives.html
18334 From: Jason L Tibbitts III <tibbs@@hpc.uh.edu>
18335 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
18337 (gnus-group-add-parameter group
18338 (cons 'gnus-group-date-last-entered (list (current-time-string))))))
18340 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
18341 "Return the date the group was last read."
18342 (cond ((car (gnus-group-get-parameter gnus-tmp-group 'gnus-group-date-last-entered)))
18347 tanken var at når du bruker `gnus-startup-file' som prefix (FOO) til å lete
18348 opp en fil FOO-SERVER, FOO-SERVER.el, FOO-SERVER.eld, kan du la den være en
18349 liste hvor du bruker hvert element i listen som FOO, istedet. da kunne man
18350 hatt forskjellige serveres startup-filer forskjellige steder.
18354 LMI> Well, nnbabyl could alter the group info to heed labels like
18355 LMI> answered and read, I guess.
18357 It could also keep them updated (the same for the Status: header of
18360 They could be used like this:
18364 `M l <name> RET' add label <name> to current message.
18365 `M u <name> RET' remove label <name> from current message.
18366 `/ l <expr> RET' limit summary buffer according to <expr>.
18368 <expr> would be a boolean expression on the labels, e.g.
18370 `/ l bug & !fixed RET'
18373 would show all the messages which are labeled `bug' but not labeled
18376 One could also imagine the labels being used for highlighting, or
18377 affect the summary line format.
18381 Sender: abraham@@dina.kvl.dk
18383 I'd like a gnus-find-file which work like find file, except that it
18384 would recognize things that looks like messages or folders:
18386 - If it is a directory containing numbered files, create an nndir
18389 - For other directories, create a nneething summary buffer.
18391 - For files matching "\\`From ", create a nndoc/mbox summary.
18393 - For files matching "\\`BABYL OPTIONS:", create a nndoc/baby summary.
18395 - For files matching "\\`[^ \t\n]+:", create an *Article* buffer.
18397 - For other files, just find them normally.
18399 I'd like `nneething' to use this function, so it would work on a
18400 directory potentially containing mboxes or babyl files.
18403 Please send a mail to bwarsaw@@cnri.reston.va.us (Barry A. Warsaw) and
18404 tell him what you are doing.
18407 Currently, I get prompted:
18411 decend into sci.something ?
18415 The problem above is that since there is really only one subsection of
18416 science, shouldn't it prompt you for only descending sci.something? If
18417 there was a sci.somethingelse group or section, then it should prompt
18418 for sci? first the sci.something? then sci.somethingelse?...
18421 Ja, det burde være en måte å si slikt. Kanskje en ny variabel?
18422 `gnus-use-few-score-files'? SÃ¥ kunne score-regler legges til den
18423 "mest" lokale score-fila. F. eks. ville no-gruppene betjenes av
18424 "no.all.SCORE", osv.
18427 What i want is for Gnus to treat any sequence or combination of the following
18428 as a single spoiler warning and hide it all, replacing it with a "Next Page"
18434 more than n blank lines
18436 more than m identical lines
18437 (which should be replaced with button to show them)
18439 any whitespace surrounding any of the above
18443 Well, we could allow a new value to `gnus-thread-ignore-subject' --
18444 `spaces', or something. (We could even default to that.) And then
18445 subjects that differ in white space only could be considered the
18446 "same" subject for threading purposes.
18449 Modes to preprocess the contents (e.g. jka-compr) use the second form
18450 "(REGEXP FUNCTION NON-NIL)" while ordinary modes (e.g. tex) use the first
18451 form "(REGEXP . FUNCTION)", so you could use it to distinguish between
18452 those two types of modes. (auto-modes-alist, insert-file-contents-literally.)
18455 Under XEmacs -- do funny article marks:
18458 soup - bowl of soup
18459 score below - dim light bulb
18460 score over - bright light bulb
18463 Yes. I think the algorithm is as follows:
18468 show-list-of-articles-in-group
18469 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
18470 if (no-more-articles-in-group-to-select)
18471 if (articles-selected)
18472 start-reading-selected-articles;
18473 junk-unread-articles;
18478 else if (key-pressed = '.')
18479 if (consolidated-menus) # same as hide-thread in Gnus
18480 select-thread-under-cursor;
18482 select-article-under-cursor;
18486 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
18487 if (more-pages-in-article)
18489 else if (more-selected-articles-to-read)
18496 My precise need here would have been to limit files to Incoming*.
18497 One could think of some `nneething-only-files' variable, but I guess
18498 it would have been unacceptable if one was using many unrelated such
18501 A more useful approach would be to, in response to the `G D' prompt, be
18502 allowed to say something like: `~/.mail/Incoming*', somewhat limiting
18503 the top-level directory only (in case directories would be matched by
18504 the wildcard expression).
18507 It would be nice if it also handled
18509 <URL:news://sunsite.auc.dk/>
18511 which should correspond to `B nntp RET sunsite.auc.dk' in *Group*.
18516 Take a look at w3-menu.el in the Emacs-W3 distribution - this works out
18517 really well. Each menu is 'named' by a symbol that would be on a
18518 gnus-*-menus (where * would be whatever, but at least group, summary, and
18519 article versions) variable.
18521 So for gnus-summary-menus, I would set to '(sort mark dispose ...)
18523 A value of '1' would just put _all_ the menus in a single 'GNUS' menu in
18524 the main menubar. This approach works really well for Emacs-W3 and VM.
18528 nndoc should take care to create unique Message-IDs for all its
18531 gnus-score-followup-article only works when you have a summary buffer
18532 active. Make it work when posting from the group buffer as well.
18533 (message-sent-hook).
18535 rewrite gnus-demon to use run-with-idle-timers.
18538 * Enhancements to Gnus:
18542 * gnus-servers (gnus-start-server-buffer?)--enters Gnus and goes
18543 straight to the server buffer, without opening any connections to
18546 * gnus-server-read-server-newsrc--produces a buffer very similar to
18547 the group buffer, but with only groups from that server listed;
18548 quitting this buffer returns to the server buffer.
18551 add a command to check the integrity of an nnfolder folder --
18552 go through the article numbers and see that there are no duplicates,
18556 `unsmileyfy-buffer' to undo smileification.
18559 a command to give all relevant info on an article, including all
18563 when doing `-request-accept-article', the backends should do
18564 the nnmail duplicate checking.
18567 allow `message-signature-file' to be a function to return the
18568 value of the signature file.
18571 In addition, I would love it if I could configure message-tab so that it
18572 could call `bbdb-complete-name' in other headers. So, some sort of
18575 (setq message-tab-alist
18576 '((message-header-regexp message-expand-group)
18577 ("^\\(To\\|[cC]c\\|[bB]cc\\)" bbdb-complete-name)))
18579 then you could run the relevant function to complete the information in
18583 cache the newsgroups file locally to avoid reloading it all the time.
18586 a command to import a buffer into a group.
18589 nnweb should allow fetching by Message-ID from servers.
18592 point in the article buffer doesn't always go to the
18593 beginning of the buffer when selecting new articles.
18596 a command to process mark all unread articles.
18599 `gnus-gather-threads-by-references-and-subject' -- first
18600 do gathering by references, and then go through the dummy roots and
18601 do more gathering by subject.
18604 gnus-uu-mark-in-numerical-order -- process mark articles in
18605 article numerical order.
18608 (gnus-thread-total-score
18609 (gnus-id-to-thread (mail-header-id (gnus-summary-article-header))))
18613 sorting by score is wrong when using sparse threads.
18616 a command to fetch an arbitrary article -- without having to be
18617 in the summary buffer.
18620 a new nncvs backend. Each group would show an article, using
18621 version branches as threading, checkin date as the date, etc.
18624 http://www.dejanews.com/forms/dnsetfilter_exp.html ?
18625 This filter allows one to construct advance queries on the Dejanews
18626 database such as specifying start and end dates, subject, author,
18627 and/or newsgroup name.
18630 new Date header scoring type -- older, newer
18633 use the summary toolbar in the article buffer.
18636 a command to fetch all articles that are less than X days old.
18639 in pick mode, `q' should save the list of selected articles in the
18640 group info. The next time the group is selected, these articles
18641 will automatically get the process mark.
18644 Isn't it possible to (also?) allow M-^ to automatically try the
18645 default server if it fails on the current server? (controlled by a
18646 user variable, (nil, t, 'ask)).
18649 make it possible to cancel articles using the select method for the
18653 `gnus-summary-select-article-on-entry' or something. It'll default
18654 to t and will select whatever article decided by `gnus-auto-select-first'.
18657 a new variable to control which selection commands should be unselecting.
18658 `first', `best', `next', `prev', `next-unread', `prev-unread' are
18662 be able to select groups that have no articles in them
18663 to be able to post in them (using the current select method).
18666 be able to post via DejaNews.
18669 `x' should retain any sortings that have been performed.
18672 allow the user to specify the precedence of the secondary marks. Also
18673 allow them to be displayed separately.
18676 gnus-summary-save-in-pipe should concatenate the results from
18677 the processes when doing a process marked pipe.
18680 a new match type, like Followup, but which adds Thread matches on all
18681 articles that match a certain From header.
18684 a function that can be read from kill-emacs-query-functions to offer
18685 saving living summary buffers.
18688 a function for selecting a particular group which will contain
18689 the articles listed in a list of article numbers/id's.
18692 a battery of character translation functions to translate common
18693 Mac, MS (etc) characters into ISO 8859-1.
18696 (defun article-fix-m$word ()
18697 "Fix M$Word smartquotes in an article."
18700 (let ((buffer-read-only nil))
18701 (goto-char (point-min))
18702 (while (search-forward "\221" nil t)
18703 (replace-match "`" t t))
18704 (goto-char (point-min))
18705 (while (search-forward "\222" nil t)
18706 (replace-match "'" t t))
18707 (goto-char (point-min))
18708 (while (search-forward "\223" nil t)
18709 (replace-match "\"" t t))
18710 (goto-char (point-min))
18711 (while (search-forward "\224" nil t)
18712 (replace-match "\"" t t)))))
18717 (add-hook 'gnus-exit-query-functions
18719 (if (and (file-exists-p nnmail-spool-file)
18720 (> (nnheader-file-size nnmail-spool-file) 0))
18721 (yes-or-no-p "New mail has arrived. Quit Gnus anyways? ")
18722 (y-or-n-p "Are you sure you want to quit Gnus? "))))
18726 allow message-default-headers to be a function.
18729 new Date score match types -- < > = (etc) that take floating point
18730 numbers and match on the age of the article.
18734 > > > If so, I've got one gripe: It seems that when I fire up gnus 5.2.25
18735 > > > under xemacs-19.14, it's creating a new frame, but is erasing the
18736 > > > buffer in the frame that it was called from =:-O
18738 > > Hm. How do you start up Gnus? From the toolbar or with
18739 > > `M-x gnus-other-frame'?
18741 > I normally start it up from the toolbar; at
18742 > least that's the way I've caught it doing the
18747 all commands that react to the process mark should push
18748 the current process mark set onto the stack.
18751 gnus-article-hide-pgp
18752 Selv ville jeg nok ha valgt å slette den dersom teksten matcher
18754 "\\(This\s+\\)?[^ ]+ has been automatically signed by"
18756 og det er maks hundre tegn mellom match-end og ----linja. Men -det-
18757 er min type heuristikk og langt fra alles.
18760 `gnus-subscribe-sorted' -- insert new groups where they would have been
18761 sorted to if `gnus-group-sort-function' were run.
18764 gnus-(group,summary)-highlight should respect any `face' text props set
18768 use run-with-idle-timer for gnus-demon instead of the
18769 home-brewed stuff for better reliability.
18772 add a way to select which NoCeM type to apply -- spam, troll, etc.
18775 nndraft-request-group should tally auto-save files.
18778 implement nntp-retry-on-break and nntp-command-timeout.
18781 gnus-article-highlight-limit that says when not to highlight (long)
18785 (nnoo-set SERVER VARIABLE VALUE)
18791 interrupitng agent fetching of articles should save articles.
18794 command to open a digest group, and copy all the articles there to the
18798 a variable to disable article body highlights if there's more than
18799 X characters in the body.
18802 handle 480/381 authinfo requests separately.
18805 include the texi/dir file in the distribution.
18808 format spec to "tab" to a position.
18811 Move all prompting to the new `M-n' default style.
18814 command to display all dormant articles.
18817 gnus-auto-select-next makeover -- list of things it should do.
18820 a score match type that adds scores matching on From if From has replied
18821 to something someone else has said.
18824 Read Netscape discussion groups:
18825 snews://secnews.netscape.com/netscape.communicator.unix
18828 One command to edit the original version if an article, and one to edit
18829 the displayed version.
18832 @kbd{T v} -- make all process-marked articles the children of the
18836 Switch from initial text to the new default text mechanism.
18839 How about making it possible to expire local articles? Will it be
18840 possible to make various constraints on when an article can be
18841 expired, e.g. (read), (age > 14 days), or the more interesting (read
18845 New limit command---limit to articles that have a certain string
18846 in the head or body.
18849 Allow breaking lengthy NNTP commands.
18852 gnus-article-highlight-limit, to disable highlighting in big articles.
18855 Editing an article should put the article to be edited
18856 in a special, unique buffer.
18859 A command to send a mail to the admin-address group param.
18862 A Date scoring type that will match if the article
18863 is less than a certain number of days old.
18866 New spec: %~(tab 56) to put point on column 56
18869 Allow Gnus Agent scoring to use normal score files.
18872 Rething the Agent active file thing. `M-g' doesn't update the active
18873 file, for instance.
18876 With dummy roots, `^' and then selecing the first article
18877 in any other dummy thread will make Gnus highlight the
18878 dummy root instead of the first article.
18881 Propagate all group properties (marks, article numbers, etc) up to the
18882 topics for displaying.
18885 `n' in the group buffer with topics should go to the next group
18886 with unread articles, even if that group is hidden in a topic.
18889 gnus-posting-styles doesn't work in drafts.
18892 gnus-summary-limit-include-cached is slow when there are
18893 many articles in the cache, since it regenerates big parts of the
18894 summary buffer for each article.
18897 Implement gnus-batch-brew-soup.
18900 Group parameters and summary commands for un/subscribing to mailing
18904 Introduce nnmail-home-directory.
18907 gnus-fetch-group and friends should exit Gnus when the user
18911 The jingle is only played on the second invocation of Gnus.
18914 Bouncing articles should do MIME.
18917 Crossposted articles should "inherit" the % or @ mark from the other
18918 groups it has been crossposted to, or something. (Agent.)
18921 `S D r' should allow expansion of aliases.
18924 If point is on a group that appears multiple times in topics, and
18925 you press `l', point will move to the first instance of the group.
18928 Fetch by Message-ID from dejanews.
18930 <URL:http://search.dejanews.com/msgid.xp?MID=%3C62h9l9$hm4@@basement.replay.com%3E&fmt=raw>
18933 A spec for the group line format to display the number of
18934 agent-downloaded articles in the group.
18937 Some nntp servers never respond when posting, so there should be a
18938 timeout for all commands.
18941 When stading on a topic line and `t'-ing, point goes to the last line.
18942 It should go somewhere else.
18945 I'm having trouble accessing a newsgroup with a "+" in its name with
18946 Gnus. There is a new newsgroup on msnews.microsoft.com named
18947 "microsoft.public.multimedia.directx.html+time" that I'm trying to
18949 "nntp+msnews.microsoft.com:microsoft.public.multimedia.directx.html+time"
18950 but it gives an error that it cant access the group.
18952 Is the "+" character illegal in newsgroup names? Is there any way in
18953 Gnus to work around this? (gnus 5.6.45 - XEmacs 20.4)
18960 Subject: Answer to your mails 01.01.1999-01.05.1999
18961 --text follows this line--
18962 Sorry I killfiled you...
18964 Under the subject "foo", you wrote on 01.01.1999:
18966 Under the subject "foo1", you wrote on 01.01.1999:
18971 Solve the halting problem.
18980 @section The Manual
18984 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
18985 either @code{texi2dvi}
18987 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
18988 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
18990 to get what you hold in your hands now.
18992 The following conventions have been used:
18997 This is a @samp{string}
19000 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
19003 This is a @file{file}
19006 This is a @code{symbol}
19010 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
19014 (setq flargnoze "yes")
19017 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
19020 (setq flumphel 'yes)
19023 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
19024 ever get them confused.
19028 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
19029 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
19030 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
19031 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
19032 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
19033 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
19034 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
19042 @section Terminology
19044 @cindex terminology
19049 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
19050 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
19051 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
19052 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
19053 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
19057 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
19058 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
19059 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
19060 not posting, and replying is not following up.
19064 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
19068 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
19073 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
19074 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
19075 is all done by the backends.
19079 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
19080 default, way of getting news.
19084 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
19085 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary backends for getting
19090 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
19091 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
19095 A message that has been posted as news.
19098 @cindex mail message
19099 A message that has been mailed.
19103 A mail message or news article
19107 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
19112 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
19117 A line from the head of an article.
19121 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
19122 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
19126 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
19127 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
19128 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
19129 normal @sc{head} format.
19133 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
19134 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
19135 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
19136 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
19137 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
19138 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
19140 @item killed groups
19141 @cindex killed groups
19142 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
19143 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
19145 @item zombie groups
19146 @cindex zombie groups
19147 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
19150 @cindex active file
19151 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
19152 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
19153 is rather large, as you might surmise.
19156 @cindex bogus groups
19157 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
19158 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
19159 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
19162 @cindex activating groups
19163 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
19164 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
19165 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
19169 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
19171 @item select method
19172 @cindex select method
19173 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
19176 @item virtual server
19177 @cindex virtual server
19178 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
19179 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
19180 whole is a virtual server.
19184 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
19185 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
19188 @item ephemeral groups
19189 @cindex ephemeral groups
19190 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
19191 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
19192 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
19195 @cindex solid groups
19196 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
19197 group buffer are solid groups.
19199 @item sparse articles
19200 @cindex sparse articles
19201 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
19202 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
19206 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
19207 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
19211 @cindex thread root
19212 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
19213 articles in the thread.
19217 An article that has responses.
19221 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
19225 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
19226 specified by RFC1153.
19232 @node Customization
19233 @section Customization
19234 @cindex general customization
19236 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
19237 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
19238 for some quite common situations.
19241 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
19242 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
19243 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
19244 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
19248 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
19249 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
19251 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
19252 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
19253 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
19257 @item gnus-read-active-file
19258 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
19259 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
19260 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
19261 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
19262 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
19264 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
19265 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
19266 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
19267 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
19271 @node Slow Terminal Connection
19272 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
19274 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
19275 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
19276 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
19280 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
19281 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
19282 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
19283 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
19284 horizontal and vertical recentering.
19286 @item gnus-visible-headers
19287 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
19288 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
19289 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
19290 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
19292 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
19294 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
19295 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
19296 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
19299 @item gnus-use-full-window
19300 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
19301 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
19302 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
19303 want to read them anyway.
19305 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
19306 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
19309 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
19310 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
19311 lines, which might save some time.
19315 @node Little Disk Space
19316 @subsection Little Disk Space
19319 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
19320 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
19324 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
19325 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
19326 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
19327 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
19330 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
19331 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
19332 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
19333 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
19336 @item gnus-save-killed-list
19337 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
19338 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
19339 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
19340 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
19346 @subsection Slow Machine
19347 @cindex slow machine
19349 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
19350 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
19352 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
19353 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
19355 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
19356 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
19357 summary buffer faster.
19361 @node Troubleshooting
19362 @section Troubleshooting
19363 @cindex troubleshooting
19365 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
19373 Make sure your computer is switched on.
19376 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
19377 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
19381 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
19382 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
19383 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
19384 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
19387 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
19391 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
19392 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
19393 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
19394 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
19395 something like that.
19398 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
19401 @cindex reporting bugs
19403 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
19405 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
19406 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
19407 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
19408 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
19410 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
19411 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
19412 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
19413 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
19416 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
19417 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
19418 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
19419 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
19420 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
19421 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
19423 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
19424 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
19425 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
19428 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
19429 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
19431 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
19432 @cindex ding mailing list
19433 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
19434 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
19438 @node Gnus Reference Guide
19439 @section Gnus Reference Guide
19441 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
19442 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
19443 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
19444 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
19447 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
19448 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
19449 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
19450 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
19451 and general methods of operation.
19454 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
19455 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
19456 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
19457 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
19458 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
19459 * Group Info:: The group info format.
19460 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
19461 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
19462 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
19466 @node Gnus Utility Functions
19467 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
19468 @cindex Gnus utility functions
19469 @cindex utility functions
19471 @cindex internal variables
19473 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
19474 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
19475 Below is a list of the most common ones.
19479 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
19480 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
19481 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
19483 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
19484 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
19485 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
19487 @item gnus-group-real-name
19488 @findex gnus-group-real-name
19489 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
19492 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
19493 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
19494 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
19495 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
19497 @item gnus-get-info
19498 @findex gnus-get-info
19499 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
19501 @item gnus-group-unread
19502 @findex gnus-group-unread
19503 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
19507 @findex gnus-active
19508 The active entry for @var{group}.
19510 @item gnus-set-active
19511 @findex gnus-set-active
19512 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
19514 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
19515 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
19516 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
19519 @item gnus-continuum-version
19520 @findex gnus-continuum-version
19521 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
19522 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
19525 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
19526 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
19527 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
19529 @item gnus-news-group-p
19530 @findex gnus-news-group-p
19531 Says whether @var{group} came from a news backend.
19533 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
19534 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
19535 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
19537 @item gnus-server-to-method
19538 @findex gnus-server-to-method
19539 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
19541 @item gnus-server-equal
19542 @findex gnus-server-equal
19543 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
19545 @item gnus-group-native-p
19546 @findex gnus-group-native-p
19547 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
19549 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
19550 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
19551 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
19553 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
19554 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
19555 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
19557 @item group-group-find-parameter
19558 @findex group-group-find-parameter
19559 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
19560 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
19562 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
19563 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
19564 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
19566 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
19567 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
19568 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
19570 @item gnus-check-backend-function
19571 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
19572 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the backend
19573 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
19576 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
19580 @item gnus-read-method
19581 @findex gnus-read-method
19582 Prompts the user for a select method.
19587 @node Backend Interface
19588 @subsection Backend Interface
19590 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
19591 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
19592 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
19593 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
19594 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
19595 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
19597 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
19598 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
19599 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
19600 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
19601 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
19602 been opened, the function should fail.
19604 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
19605 name. Take this example:
19609 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
19610 (nntp-port-number 4324))
19613 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
19614 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
19616 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
19617 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
19618 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
19620 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
19621 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
19622 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
19624 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
19625 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
19626 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
19627 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
19628 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
19629 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
19632 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
19633 some might be said not to be. The latter are backends that generally
19634 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
19635 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
19638 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
19641 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
19644 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
19645 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
19646 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
19647 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
19648 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
19649 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
19653 @node Required Backend Functions
19654 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
19658 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
19660 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
19661 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
19662 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
19663 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
19665 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
19666 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
19667 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
19668 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
19670 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
19671 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
19672 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
19673 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
19674 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
19675 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
19676 number, do maximum fetches.
19678 Here's an example HEAD:
19681 221 1056 Article retrieved.
19682 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
19683 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
19684 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
19685 Subject: Re: Something very droll
19686 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
19687 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
19689 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
19690 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
19691 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
19695 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
19696 these in the data buffer.
19698 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
19702 head = error / valid-head
19703 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
19704 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
19705 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
19706 header = <text> eol
19709 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
19710 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
19714 nov-buffer = *nov-line
19715 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
19716 field = <text except TAB>
19719 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
19723 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
19725 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
19726 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
19728 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
19729 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
19730 server. In fact, it should do so.
19732 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
19733 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
19736 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
19738 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
19739 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
19742 There should be no data returned.
19745 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
19747 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
19748 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
19749 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
19750 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
19752 There should be no data returned.
19755 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
19757 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
19758 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
19759 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
19760 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
19762 There should be no data returned.
19765 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
19767 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
19769 There should be no data returned.
19772 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
19774 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
19775 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
19776 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
19777 it would be nice if that were possible.
19779 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
19780 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
19781 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
19782 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
19783 into its article buffer.
19785 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
19786 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
19787 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
19788 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
19789 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
19790 on successful article retrieval.
19793 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
19795 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
19796 making @var{group} the current group.
19798 If @var{FAST}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
19801 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
19804 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
19807 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
19808 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
19809 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
19810 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
19811 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
19812 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
19813 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
19814 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
19817 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
19818 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
19819 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
19823 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
19825 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
19826 a no-op on most backends.
19828 There should be no data returned.
19831 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
19833 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
19836 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
19839 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
19840 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
19843 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
19844 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
19847 active-file = *active-line
19848 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
19850 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
19853 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
19854 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
19855 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
19858 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
19860 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
19861 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
19862 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
19863 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
19864 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
19865 clear if the posting could not be completed.
19867 There should be no result data from this function.
19872 @node Optional Backend Functions
19873 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
19877 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
19879 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
19880 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
19881 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
19883 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
19884 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
19885 former is in the same format as the data from
19886 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
19887 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
19890 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
19894 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
19896 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
19897 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
19898 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
19899 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
19900 should return the (altered) group info.
19902 There should be no result data from this function.
19905 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
19907 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
19908 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
19909 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
19910 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
19911 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
19912 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
19913 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
19914 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
19916 There should be no result data from this function.
19919 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
19921 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
19922 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
19923 @code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some backends (such as IMAP) however carry all
19924 information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to propagate
19925 the mark information to the server.
19927 ACTION is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
19930 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
19933 Range is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. Action is
19934 @code{set}, @code{add} or @code{del}, respectively used for removing all
19935 existing marks and setting them as specified, adding (preserving the
19936 marks not mentioned) mark and removing (preserving the marks not
19937 mentioned) marks. Mark is a list of marks; where each mark is a
19938 symbol. Currently used marks are @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply},
19939 @code{expire}, @code{killed}, @code{dormant}, @code{save},
19940 @code{download} and @code{unsend}, but your backend should, if possible,
19941 not limit itself to theese.
19943 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
19944 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
19945 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
19946 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
19948 An example action list:
19951 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
19952 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
19953 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
19956 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
19957 mark on (currently not used for anything).
19959 There should be no result data from this function.
19961 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
19963 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
19964 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
19965 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
19966 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
19967 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
19969 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
19970 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
19971 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
19974 There should be no result data from this function.
19977 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
19979 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
19980 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
19981 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
19982 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
19983 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
19984 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
19985 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
19987 There should be no result data from this function.
19990 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
19992 The result data from this function should be a description of
19996 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
19998 description = <text>
20001 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
20003 The result data from this function should be the description of all
20004 groups available on the server.
20007 description-buffer = *description-line
20011 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
20013 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
20014 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
20015 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
20018 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
20020 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
20022 There should be no return data.
20025 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
20027 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
20028 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
20029 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
20030 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
20031 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
20034 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
20037 There should be no result data returned.
20040 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
20043 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
20044 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
20046 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
20047 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
20048 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
20049 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
20050 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
20051 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
20053 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
20054 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
20057 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
20058 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
20060 There should be no data returned.
20063 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
20065 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
20066 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
20067 this function in short order.
20069 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
20070 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
20072 There should be no data returned.
20075 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
20077 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
20078 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
20080 There should be no data returned.
20083 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
20085 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
20086 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
20087 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
20089 There should be no data returned.
20092 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
20094 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
20095 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
20097 There should be no data returned.
20102 @node Error Messaging
20103 @subsubsection Error Messaging
20105 @findex nnheader-report
20106 @findex nnheader-get-report
20107 The backends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
20108 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
20109 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the backend
20110 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
20111 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
20112 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
20115 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
20117 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
20120 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
20121 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
20122 recently reported message for the backend in question. This function
20123 takes one argument---the server symbol.
20125 Internally, these functions access @var{backend}@code{-status-string},
20126 so the @code{nnchoke} backend will have its error message stored in
20127 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
20130 @node Writing New Backends
20131 @subsubsection Writing New Backends
20133 Many backends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
20134 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
20135 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
20136 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
20137 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
20140 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
20141 backends when writing new backends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
20142 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
20144 All the backends declare their public variables and functions by using a
20145 package called @code{nnoo}.
20147 To inherit functions from other backends (and allow other backends to
20148 inherit functions from the current backend), you should use the
20154 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
20155 parameters. For instance:
20158 (nnoo-declare nndir
20162 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
20163 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
20166 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
20167 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
20168 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
20170 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
20171 variables in the parent backends to map the variable to when executing
20172 a function in those backends.
20175 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
20176 "Where nndir will look for groups."
20177 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
20180 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
20181 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
20182 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
20184 @item nnoo-define-basics
20185 This macro defines some common functions that almost all backends should
20189 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
20193 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
20194 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
20195 function as being public so that other backends can inherit it.
20197 @item nnoo-map-functions
20198 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current backend to
20199 functions from the parent backends.
20202 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
20203 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
20204 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
20207 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
20208 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
20209 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
20210 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
20213 This macro allows importing functions from backends. It should be the
20214 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
20215 haven't already been defined.
20221 nnmh-request-newgroups)
20225 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
20226 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
20227 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
20232 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} backend.
20235 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
20236 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
20240 (require 'nnheader)
20244 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
20246 (nnoo-declare nndir
20249 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
20250 "Where nndir will look for groups."
20251 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
20253 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
20254 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
20257 (defvoo nndir-current-group "" nil nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
20258 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
20259 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
20261 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
20262 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
20264 ;;; Interface functions.
20266 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
20268 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
20269 (setq nndir-directory
20270 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
20272 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
20273 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
20274 (push `(nndir-current-group
20275 ,(file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
20277 (push `(nndir-top-directory
20278 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
20280 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
20282 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
20283 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
20284 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
20285 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
20286 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
20290 nnmh-status-message
20292 nnmh-request-newgroups))
20298 @node Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
20299 @subsubsection Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
20301 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
20302 Having Gnus start using your new backend is rather easy---you just
20303 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
20304 enter the backend into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
20306 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the backend name and
20307 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
20312 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
20315 The abilities can be:
20319 This is a mailish backend---followups should (probably) go via mail.
20321 This is a newsish backend---followups should (probably) go via news.
20323 This backend supports both mail and news.
20325 This is neither a post nor mail backend---it's something completely
20328 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
20329 articles and groups.
20331 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
20332 true for almost all backends.
20333 @item prompt-address
20334 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
20335 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for backends like
20336 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
20340 @node Mail-like Backends
20341 @subsubsection Mail-like Backends
20343 One of the things that separate the mail backends from the rest of the
20344 backends is the heavy dependence by the mail backends on common
20345 functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
20346 @code{nnml-request-scan}:
20349 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
20350 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
20351 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
20354 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
20355 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
20358 This function takes four parameters.
20362 This should be a symbol to designate which backend is responsible for
20365 @item exit-function
20366 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
20368 @item temp-directory
20369 Where the temporary files should be stored.
20372 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
20373 performed for one group only.
20376 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{backend}@code{-save-mail} to
20377 save each article. @var{backend}@code{-active-number} will be called to
20378 find the article number assigned to this article.
20380 The function also uses the following variables:
20381 @var{backend}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
20382 this backend); and @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} and
20383 @var{backend}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
20384 @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
20388 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
20389 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
20393 @node Score File Syntax
20394 @subsection Score File Syntax
20396 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
20397 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
20398 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
20400 Here's a typical score file:
20404 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
20411 BNF definition of a score file:
20414 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
20415 element = rule / atom
20416 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
20417 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
20418 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
20419 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
20421 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
20422 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
20423 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
20424 date-header = "date"
20425 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
20426 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
20427 score = "nil" / <integer>
20428 date = "nil" / <natural number>
20429 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
20430 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
20431 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
20432 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
20433 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
20434 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
20435 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
20436 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
20437 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
20438 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
20439 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
20440 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
20441 exclude-files / read-only / touched
20442 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
20443 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
20444 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
20445 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
20446 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
20447 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
20448 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
20449 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
20450 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
20451 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
20452 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
20453 eval = "eval" space <form>
20454 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
20457 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
20460 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
20461 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
20462 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
20463 one looong line, then that's ok.
20465 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
20466 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
20470 @subsection Headers
20472 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
20473 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
20474 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
20475 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
20477 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
20478 RFC1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
20479 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
20480 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
20481 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
20482 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
20483 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
20485 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
20486 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
20487 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
20488 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
20489 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
20491 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
20492 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
20498 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
20499 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
20501 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
20502 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
20503 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
20504 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
20506 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
20510 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
20513 is transformed into
20516 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
20519 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
20520 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
20523 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
20526 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
20527 is slightly tricky:
20530 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
20536 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
20539 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
20545 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
20552 and is equal to the previous range.
20554 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
20555 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
20556 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
20560 range = simple-range / normal-range
20561 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
20562 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
20563 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
20564 number *[ " " contents ]
20567 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
20568 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
20569 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
20570 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
20571 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
20576 @subsection Group Info
20578 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
20579 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
20580 describes the group.
20582 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
20583 second is a more complex one:
20586 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
20588 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
20589 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
20591 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
20594 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
20595 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
20596 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
20597 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
20598 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
20599 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
20600 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
20601 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
20602 this section is about.
20604 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
20605 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
20606 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
20608 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
20611 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
20612 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
20613 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
20614 group = quote <string> quote
20615 ralevel = rank / level
20616 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
20617 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
20618 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
20620 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
20621 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
20622 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
20623 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
20626 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
20627 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
20630 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
20631 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
20634 @item gnus-info-group
20635 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
20636 @findex gnus-info-group
20637 @findex gnus-info-set-group
20638 Get/set the group name.
20640 @item gnus-info-rank
20641 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
20642 @findex gnus-info-rank
20643 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
20644 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
20646 @item gnus-info-level
20647 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
20648 @findex gnus-info-level
20649 @findex gnus-info-set-level
20650 Get/set the group level.
20652 @item gnus-info-score
20653 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
20654 @findex gnus-info-score
20655 @findex gnus-info-set-score
20656 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
20658 @item gnus-info-read
20659 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
20660 @findex gnus-info-read
20661 @findex gnus-info-set-read
20662 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
20664 @item gnus-info-marks
20665 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
20666 @findex gnus-info-marks
20667 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
20668 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
20670 @item gnus-info-method
20671 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
20672 @findex gnus-info-method
20673 @findex gnus-info-set-method
20674 Get/set the group select method.
20676 @item gnus-info-params
20677 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
20678 @findex gnus-info-params
20679 @findex gnus-info-set-params
20680 Get/set the group parameters.
20683 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
20684 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
20686 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
20687 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
20688 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
20689 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
20692 @node Extended Interactive
20693 @subsection Extended Interactive
20694 @cindex interactive
20695 @findex gnus-interactive
20697 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
20698 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
20699 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
20702 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
20703 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
20708 The best thing to do would have been to implement
20709 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
20710 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
20711 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
20712 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
20713 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
20714 @code{interactive}.
20716 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
20721 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
20722 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
20726 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
20727 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
20728 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
20731 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
20735 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
20739 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
20745 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
20746 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
20750 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
20751 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
20752 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
20754 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
20755 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
20756 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
20757 Gnus, that's very useful.
20759 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
20760 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
20761 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
20762 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
20763 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
20764 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
20765 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
20766 following function:
20769 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
20773 (,function ,@@args))
20777 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
20778 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
20779 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
20782 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
20783 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
20784 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
20786 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
20787 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
20788 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
20791 @node Various File Formats
20792 @subsection Various File Formats
20795 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
20796 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
20800 @node Active File Format
20801 @subsubsection Active File Format
20803 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
20804 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
20807 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
20810 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
20811 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
20812 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
20813 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
20814 no.general 1000 900 y
20817 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
20820 active = *group-line
20821 group-line = group space high-number space low-number space flag <NEWLINE>
20822 group = <non-white-space string>
20824 high-number = <non-negative integer>
20825 low-number = <positive integer>
20826 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
20829 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
20830 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
20833 @node Newsgroups File Format
20834 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
20836 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
20837 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
20838 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
20841 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
20842 Here's the definition:
20846 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
20847 group = <non-white-space string>
20849 description = <string>
20854 @node Emacs for Heathens
20855 @section Emacs for Heathens
20857 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
20858 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
20859 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
20860 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
20861 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
20862 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
20863 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
20867 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
20868 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
20873 @subsection Keystrokes
20877 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
20880 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
20883 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
20884 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
20885 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
20886 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
20887 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
20888 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
20890 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
20891 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
20892 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
20893 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
20894 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
20895 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
20896 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
20898 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
20899 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
20900 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
20901 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
20902 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
20903 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
20904 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
20906 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
20907 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
20908 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
20909 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
20910 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
20916 @subsection Emacs Lisp
20918 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
20919 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
20920 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
20921 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
20923 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
20924 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
20925 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
20926 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
20927 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
20928 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
20929 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
20932 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
20933 write the following:
20936 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
20939 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
20940 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
20941 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
20944 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
20945 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
20946 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
20947 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
20948 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
20950 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
20951 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
20952 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
20956 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
20960 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
20963 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
20964 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
20967 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
20970 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
20971 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
20974 @include gnus-faq.texi