10 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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289 Copyright \copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001
290 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
293 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
294 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
295 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
296 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
297 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
298 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
299 License'' in the Emacs manual.
301 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
302 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
303 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
305 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
306 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
307 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
308 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
316 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
318 Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001
319 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
321 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
322 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
323 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
324 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
325 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
326 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
327 License'' in the Emacs manual.
329 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
330 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
331 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
333 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
334 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
335 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
336 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
344 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
347 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
348 Copyright @copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001
349 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
351 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
352 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
353 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
354 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
355 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
356 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
357 License'' in the Emacs manual.
359 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
360 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
361 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
363 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
364 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
365 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
366 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
375 @top The Gnus Newsreader
379 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
380 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
381 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
384 This manual corresponds to Oort Gnus v.
395 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
396 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
398 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
399 being accused of plagiarism:
401 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
402 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
403 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
404 can even read news with it!
406 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
407 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
408 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
409 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
410 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
416 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
417 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
418 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
419 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
420 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
421 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
422 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
423 * Various:: General purpose settings.
424 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
425 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
426 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
427 * Key Index:: Key Index.
430 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
434 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
435 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
436 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
437 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
438 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
439 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
440 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
441 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
442 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
443 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
444 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
448 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
449 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
450 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
454 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
455 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
456 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
457 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
458 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
459 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
460 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
461 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
462 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
463 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
464 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
465 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
466 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
467 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
468 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
469 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
470 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
474 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
475 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
476 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
480 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
481 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
482 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
483 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
484 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
488 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
489 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
490 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
491 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
492 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
496 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
497 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
498 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
499 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
500 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
502 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
503 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
504 * Threading:: How threads are made.
505 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
506 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
507 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
508 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
509 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
510 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
511 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
512 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
513 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
514 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
515 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
516 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
517 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
518 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
519 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
520 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
521 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
522 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
523 or reselecting the current group.
524 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
525 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
526 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
527 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
529 Summary Buffer Format
531 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
532 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
533 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
534 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
538 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
539 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
541 Reply, Followup and Post
543 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
544 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
545 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
546 * Canceling and Superseding::
550 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
551 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
552 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
554 * Generic Marking Commands::
555 * Setting Process Marks::
559 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
560 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
561 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
565 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
566 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
568 Customizing Threading
570 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
571 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
572 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
573 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
577 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
578 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
579 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
580 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
581 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
582 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
586 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
587 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
588 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
592 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
593 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
594 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
595 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
596 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
597 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
598 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
599 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
601 Alternative Approaches
603 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
604 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
606 Various Summary Stuff
608 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
609 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
610 * Summary Generation Commands::
611 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
615 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
616 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
617 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
618 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
619 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
623 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
624 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
625 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
626 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
627 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
628 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
629 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
630 * Using GPG:: How to use GPG and MML to sign and encrypt messages
634 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
635 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
636 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
637 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
638 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
639 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
640 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
641 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
645 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
646 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
647 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
648 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
649 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
650 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
651 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
655 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
656 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
660 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
661 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
662 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
666 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
667 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
668 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
669 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
670 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
671 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
672 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
673 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
674 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
675 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
676 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
677 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
678 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
679 * Archiving Mail:: How to backup your mail.
683 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
684 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
685 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
687 Choosing a Mail Back End
689 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
690 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
691 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
692 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
693 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
694 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
698 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
699 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
700 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
701 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
702 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
703 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
707 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
708 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
709 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
713 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
714 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
715 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
716 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
717 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
721 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
725 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
726 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
727 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
731 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
732 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
736 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
737 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
738 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
739 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
740 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
741 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
742 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
743 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
744 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
745 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
749 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
750 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
751 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
755 * Group Agent Commands::
756 * Summary Agent Commands::
757 * Server Agent Commands::
761 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
762 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
763 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
764 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
765 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
766 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
767 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
768 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
769 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
770 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
771 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
772 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
773 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
774 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
775 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
776 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
777 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
781 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
782 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
783 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
784 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
788 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
789 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
790 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
794 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
795 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
796 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
797 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
798 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
799 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
800 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
801 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
802 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
803 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
804 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
805 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
806 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
807 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
808 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
809 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
810 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
811 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
815 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
816 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
817 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
818 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
819 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
820 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
821 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
822 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
826 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
827 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
828 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
829 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
833 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
834 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
835 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
836 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
837 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
841 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
842 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
843 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
844 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
845 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
846 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
847 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
851 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
852 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
853 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
854 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
855 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
856 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
857 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
858 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
859 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
863 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
864 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
865 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
866 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
867 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
871 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
872 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
873 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
874 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
878 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
879 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
880 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
881 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
882 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
883 * Group Info:: The group info format.
884 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
885 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
886 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
890 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
891 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
892 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
893 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
894 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
895 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
899 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
900 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
904 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
905 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
911 @chapter Starting Gnus
916 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
917 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
920 @findex gnus-other-frame
921 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
922 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
923 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
925 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
926 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
927 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
929 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
930 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
933 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
934 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
935 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
936 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
937 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
938 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
939 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
940 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
941 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
942 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
943 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
947 @node Finding the News
948 @section Finding the News
951 @vindex gnus-select-method
953 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
954 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
955 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
956 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
959 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
960 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
963 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
966 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
969 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
972 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
973 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
974 server is running Leafnode; in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
976 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
978 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
979 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
980 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
981 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
982 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
983 that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
985 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
986 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
987 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
988 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
990 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
991 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
992 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
993 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
994 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
995 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
996 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
997 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
998 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
1001 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1003 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
1004 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1005 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1006 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1007 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1008 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1010 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1012 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1013 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1014 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1015 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1016 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1017 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1020 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1021 you would typically set this variable to
1024 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1028 @node The First Time
1029 @section The First Time
1030 @cindex first time usage
1032 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
1033 be subscribed by default.
1035 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1036 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
1037 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1038 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1041 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1042 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1043 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1045 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
1046 help you with most common problems.
1048 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
1049 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1053 @node The Server is Down
1054 @section The Server is Down
1055 @cindex server errors
1057 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
1058 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1059 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
1061 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1062 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1063 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1064 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1065 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1066 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1067 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1069 @findex gnus-no-server
1070 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1072 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1073 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1074 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
1075 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1076 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1077 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1078 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1082 @section Slave Gnusae
1085 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
1086 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1087 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
1088 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1090 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1091 @code{.newsrc} file.
1093 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
1094 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1095 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1096 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1097 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1098 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1099 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1101 Anyway, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1102 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
1103 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1104 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1105 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
1106 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1107 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1108 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1110 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1111 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
1114 @node Fetching a Group
1115 @section Fetching a Group
1116 @cindex fetching a group
1118 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1119 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1120 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
1121 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1122 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1123 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1129 @cindex subscription
1131 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1132 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1133 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1134 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1135 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1136 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1137 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1138 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1139 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1142 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1143 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1144 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1148 @node Checking New Groups
1149 @subsection Checking New Groups
1151 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1152 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1153 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1154 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
1155 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1156 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1157 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1158 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1159 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1160 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1162 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1163 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1164 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1165 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1166 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1167 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
1168 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1169 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1170 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1171 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1172 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1174 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
1175 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1176 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1177 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1178 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1179 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1182 @node Subscription Methods
1183 @subsection Subscription Methods
1185 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1186 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1187 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1189 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1190 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1192 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1196 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1197 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1198 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1199 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1200 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1202 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1203 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1204 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1205 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1207 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1208 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1209 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1211 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1212 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1213 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1214 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1215 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1216 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1217 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1218 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1219 up. Or something like that.
1221 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1222 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1223 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
1224 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1225 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1227 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1228 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1229 Kill all new groups.
1231 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1232 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1233 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1234 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1235 topic parameter that looks like
1241 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1244 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1249 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1250 A closely related variable is
1251 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1252 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
1253 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1254 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1257 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1258 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1259 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1260 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1263 @node Filtering New Groups
1264 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1266 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1267 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1268 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1271 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1274 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1275 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1276 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1277 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1278 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1279 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1280 subscribing these groups.
1281 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1282 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1284 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1285 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1286 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1287 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1288 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1289 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1290 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1291 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1293 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1294 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1295 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1296 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
1297 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
1298 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
1299 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
1300 that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1301 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
1302 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
1304 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1305 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1308 @node Changing Servers
1309 @section Changing Servers
1310 @cindex changing servers
1312 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
1313 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1314 very flaky and you want to use another.
1316 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1317 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1321 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1322 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1323 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1324 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1327 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1328 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1329 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1330 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1332 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1333 @findex gnus-change-server
1334 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1335 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1336 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1337 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1338 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1340 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1341 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1342 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1343 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1344 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1346 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1347 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1348 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1349 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1350 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1351 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1353 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1354 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1355 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1359 @section Startup Files
1360 @cindex startup files
1365 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1366 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1368 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1369 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1370 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1371 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1372 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1373 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1374 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1376 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1377 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1378 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1379 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1380 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1381 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1383 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1384 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1385 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1386 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1387 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
1388 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1389 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1390 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
1391 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1392 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1394 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1395 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1396 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1397 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1398 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1399 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1400 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1401 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1402 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1403 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1404 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1405 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1407 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1408 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1409 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1410 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1412 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1413 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1414 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1415 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1416 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1417 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1418 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1419 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1420 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1421 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1424 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1425 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1427 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1428 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1431 @vindex gnus-init-file
1432 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1433 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1434 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1435 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1436 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1437 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1438 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1439 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1440 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1446 @cindex dribble file
1449 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
1450 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1451 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1452 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1453 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1456 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1457 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1460 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1461 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
1462 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1464 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1465 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1466 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
1467 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1468 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1469 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
1471 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1472 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1473 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1476 @node The Active File
1477 @section The Active File
1479 @cindex ignored groups
1481 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1482 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1483 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1485 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1486 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
1487 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1488 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
1489 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1490 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1491 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1494 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1495 @c if you set it to anything else.
1497 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1499 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1500 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
1501 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1503 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1504 you actually subscribe to.
1506 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1507 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1508 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1509 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1511 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1512 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1513 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1514 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1515 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1516 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1518 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1519 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1520 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1523 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1524 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1525 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1526 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1527 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1528 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1530 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1531 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1533 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1534 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1536 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1537 secondary select methods.
1540 @node Startup Variables
1541 @section Startup Variables
1545 @item gnus-load-hook
1546 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1547 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1548 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1549 times you start Gnus.
1551 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1552 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1553 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1555 @item gnus-startup-hook
1556 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1557 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1559 @item gnus-started-hook
1560 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1561 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1564 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1565 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1566 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1567 generating the group buffer.
1569 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1570 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1571 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1572 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1573 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1574 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1575 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1576 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1578 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1579 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1580 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1581 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1582 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1583 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1585 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1586 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1587 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1589 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1590 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1591 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1593 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1594 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1595 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1596 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1602 @chapter Group Buffer
1603 @cindex group buffer
1605 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1607 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1608 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1609 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1610 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1611 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1612 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1613 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1614 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1615 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1616 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1617 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1618 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1619 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1620 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1621 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1622 @c human rights at 9...
1625 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1626 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1627 long as Gnus is active.
1631 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1632 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1633 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1634 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1635 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1636 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1637 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1638 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1644 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1645 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1646 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1647 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1648 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1649 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1650 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1651 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1652 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1653 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1654 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1655 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1656 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1657 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1658 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1659 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1660 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1664 @node Group Buffer Format
1665 @section Group Buffer Format
1668 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1669 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1670 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1674 @node Group Line Specification
1675 @subsection Group Line Specification
1676 @cindex group buffer format
1678 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1679 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1681 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1684 25: news.announce.newusers
1685 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1690 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1691 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1692 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1693 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1695 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1696 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1697 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1698 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1699 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1700 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1702 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1704 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1705 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1706 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1707 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1708 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1710 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1711 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1712 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1714 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1719 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1722 Whether the group is subscribed.
1725 Level of subscribedness.
1728 Number of unread articles.
1731 Number of dormant articles.
1734 Number of ticked articles.
1737 Number of read articles.
1740 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1741 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1743 Gnus uses this estimation because the NNTP protocol provides efficient
1744 access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting the true
1745 unread message count is not possible efficiently. For hysterical
1746 raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of unread
1747 messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1748 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the
1749 back end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job. If you
1750 want to work on this, please contact the Gnus mailing list.
1753 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1756 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1765 Newsgroup description.
1768 @samp{m} if moderated.
1771 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1780 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1784 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1787 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1788 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1789 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1790 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1791 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1794 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1796 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1800 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1803 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1807 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1808 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1809 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1810 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1811 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1812 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1817 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1818 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1819 group, or a bogus native group.
1822 @node Group Modeline Specification
1823 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1824 @cindex group modeline
1826 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1827 The mode line can be changed by setting
1828 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1829 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1833 The native news server.
1835 The native select method.
1839 @node Group Highlighting
1840 @subsection Group Highlighting
1841 @cindex highlighting
1842 @cindex group highlighting
1844 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1845 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1846 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1847 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1848 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1850 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1854 (cond (window-system
1855 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1856 (defface my-group-face-1
1857 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1858 (defface my-group-face-2
1859 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t))) "Second group face")
1860 (defface my-group-face-3
1861 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1862 (defface my-group-face-4
1863 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1864 (defface my-group-face-5
1865 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1867 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1868 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1869 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1870 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1871 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1872 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1875 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1877 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1884 The number of unread articles in the group.
1888 Whether the group is a mail group.
1890 The level of the group.
1892 The score of the group.
1894 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1896 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1897 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1899 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1900 topic being inserted.
1903 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1904 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1905 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1907 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1908 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1909 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1910 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1911 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1914 @node Group Maneuvering
1915 @section Group Maneuvering
1916 @cindex group movement
1918 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1919 expected, hopefully.
1925 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1926 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1927 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1933 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1934 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1935 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1939 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1940 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1944 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1945 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1949 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1950 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1951 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1955 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1956 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1957 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1960 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1966 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1967 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1968 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1973 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1974 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1975 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1979 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1980 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1981 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1984 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1985 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1986 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1987 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1991 @node Selecting a Group
1992 @section Selecting a Group
1993 @cindex group selection
1998 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1999 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2000 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2001 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2002 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2003 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2004 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
2005 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
2006 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
2007 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{N})} oldest articles.
2009 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2010 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2011 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2013 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2014 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2019 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2020 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2021 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2022 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2023 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2027 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2028 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2029 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2030 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2031 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2032 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2033 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2034 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2035 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2036 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2039 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2040 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2041 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2042 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2043 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2046 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2047 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2048 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2049 doing any processing of its contents
2050 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2051 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2052 manner will have no permanent effects.
2056 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2057 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
2058 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
2059 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
2060 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
2061 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
2062 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
2063 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
2066 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2067 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2068 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2069 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2070 Which article this is is controlled by the
2071 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2077 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2080 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2083 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2086 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2090 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2091 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2093 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2094 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2095 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2096 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2100 @node Subscription Commands
2101 @section Subscription Commands
2102 @cindex subscription
2110 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2111 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2112 Toggle subscription to the current group
2113 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2119 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2120 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2121 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2122 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2128 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2129 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2130 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2136 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2137 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2140 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2141 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2142 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2143 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2144 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2150 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2151 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2155 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2156 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2159 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2160 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2161 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2162 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2163 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2164 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2165 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2166 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2167 @file{.newsrc} file.
2171 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2181 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2182 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2183 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2184 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2185 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2186 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2191 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2192 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2193 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2197 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2198 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2199 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2201 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2202 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2203 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2204 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
2205 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2206 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2213 @section Group Levels
2217 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2218 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2219 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2220 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2221 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2223 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2229 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2230 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2231 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2232 prompted for a level.
2235 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2236 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2237 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2238 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2239 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2240 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2241 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2242 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2243 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2244 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2245 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2246 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2247 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2248 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2249 reasons of efficiency.
2251 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2252 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2254 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2255 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2256 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2257 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2258 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2259 groups are hidden, in a way.
2261 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2262 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2263 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2264 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2265 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2266 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2268 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2269 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2270 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2271 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2272 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2273 list of killed groups.)
2275 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2276 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2277 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2279 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2280 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2281 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2282 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2283 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2284 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2285 relevant valid ranges.
2287 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2288 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2289 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2290 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2291 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2292 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2295 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2296 one with the best level.
2298 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2299 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2300 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2303 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2304 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2305 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2306 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2309 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2310 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2311 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2312 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2314 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2315 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2316 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2317 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2318 to 5. The default is 6.
2322 @section Group Score
2327 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2328 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2329 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2332 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2333 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2334 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2335 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2336 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2337 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2338 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2339 least significant part.))
2341 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2342 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2343 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2344 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2345 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2346 action after each summary exit, you can add
2347 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2348 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2349 slow things down somewhat.
2352 @node Marking Groups
2353 @section Marking Groups
2354 @cindex marking groups
2356 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2357 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2358 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2359 bidding on those groups.
2361 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2362 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2363 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2371 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2372 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2378 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2379 Remove the mark from the current group
2380 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2384 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2385 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2389 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2390 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2394 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2395 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2399 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2400 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2401 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2404 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2406 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2407 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2408 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2409 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2410 the command to be executed.
2413 @node Foreign Groups
2414 @section Foreign Groups
2415 @cindex foreign groups
2417 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2418 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2419 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2420 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2427 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2428 @cindex making groups
2429 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2430 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2431 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
2435 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2436 @cindex renaming groups
2437 Rename the current group to something else
2438 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2439 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2445 @findex gnus-group-customize
2446 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2450 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2451 @cindex renaming groups
2452 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2453 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2457 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2458 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2459 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2463 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2464 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2465 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2469 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2471 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2472 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2477 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2478 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2482 @cindex (ding) archive
2483 @cindex archive group
2484 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2485 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2486 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2487 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2488 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2489 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2490 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2494 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2496 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2497 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2498 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2499 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2503 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2505 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2506 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2507 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2511 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2512 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2514 Make a group based on some file or other
2515 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2516 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2517 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2518 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2519 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2520 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2521 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2522 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2523 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2527 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2528 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2529 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2530 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2534 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2539 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2540 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2541 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2542 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2543 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
2544 @xref{Web Searches}.
2546 If you use the @code{dejanews} search engine, you can limit the search
2547 to a particular group by using a match string like
2548 @samp{~g alt.sysadmin.recovery shaving}.
2551 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2552 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2553 This function will delete the current group
2554 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2555 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2556 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2557 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2558 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
2562 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2563 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2564 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2568 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2569 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2570 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2573 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2576 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2577 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2578 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2579 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2580 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2581 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2585 @node Group Parameters
2586 @section Group Parameters
2587 @cindex group parameters
2589 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2590 Here's an example group parameter list:
2593 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2597 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
2598 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2599 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2600 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2602 Some parameters have correspondant customizable variables, each of which
2603 is an alist of regexps and values.
2605 The following group parameters can be used:
2610 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2613 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2616 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2617 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2618 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2619 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2620 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2622 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2623 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2624 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2625 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2626 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2627 list address instead.
2629 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2633 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2636 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2639 It is totally ignored
2640 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2641 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2643 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2644 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2645 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2646 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2647 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2649 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2650 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2651 sending the message.
2653 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2654 @cindex Mail List Groups
2655 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2656 entering summary buffer.
2658 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2662 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2663 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2664 of whether it has any unread articles.
2666 @item broken-reply-to
2667 @cindex broken-reply-to
2668 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2669 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2670 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2671 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2672 broken behavior. So there!
2676 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2677 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2681 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2682 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2683 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2688 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2689 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2690 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2691 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2692 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2693 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2694 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2698 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2699 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2700 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2702 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2705 @cindex total-expire
2706 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2707 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2708 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2709 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2712 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2716 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2717 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
2718 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
2719 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
2720 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
2721 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2724 @cindex score file group parameter
2725 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2726 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2727 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2730 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2731 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2732 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2733 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2736 @cindex admin-address
2737 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2738 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2739 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2740 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2744 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2745 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2749 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2752 Display the last INTEGER articles in the group. This is the same as
2753 entering the group with C-u INTEGER.
2756 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2760 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2762 Here are some examples:
2766 Display only read articles.
2769 Display everything except expirable articles.
2771 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2772 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
2776 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
2777 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
2778 @code{read}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
2779 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
2780 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{seen} and @code{recent}.
2784 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
2785 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
2786 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
2790 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")}
2791 are arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by
2792 Gnus, but provide a place for you to store information on particular
2797 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2798 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2799 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2801 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2803 @item ignored-charsets
2804 @cindex ignored-charset
2805 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
2806 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
2807 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
2809 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
2812 @cindex posting-style
2813 You can store additional posting style information for this group only
2814 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2815 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2816 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2817 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2819 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2820 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2821 like this in the group parameters:
2826 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2831 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
2832 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
2836 An item like @code{(banner . "regex")} causes any part of an article
2837 that matches the regular expression "regex" to be stripped. Instead of
2838 "regex", you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
2839 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
2840 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
2844 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
2845 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
2846 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
2847 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
2849 For example, if the INBOX.list.sieve group has the @code{(sieve
2850 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
2851 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
2852 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
2855 if address \"sender\" \"sieve-admin@@extundo.com\" @{
2856 fileinto \"INBOX.list.sieve\";
2860 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, , Top, sieve,
2863 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
2864 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2865 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2866 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2867 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2868 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2869 @code{eval}ed there.
2871 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2872 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2873 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2874 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2875 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2879 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
2880 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
2881 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
2882 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
2883 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
2885 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
2886 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect. For
2890 (setq gnus-parameters
2892 (gnus-show-threads nil)
2893 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
2894 (gnus-summary-line-format
2895 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
2899 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
2903 (gnus-use-scoring t))
2907 (broken-reply-to . t))))
2910 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
2911 the @code{to-group} example shows.
2914 @node Listing Groups
2915 @section Listing Groups
2916 @cindex group listing
2918 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2926 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2927 List all groups that have unread articles
2928 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2929 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2930 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2931 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2938 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2939 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2940 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
2941 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
2942 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
2943 unsubscribed groups).
2947 @findex gnus-group-list-level
2948 List all unread groups on a specific level
2949 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
2950 with no unread articles.
2954 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
2955 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
2956 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
2957 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
2962 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
2963 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
2967 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
2968 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
2969 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2973 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2974 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2978 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2979 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
2980 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2981 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2982 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2983 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
2984 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
2985 Take the output with some grains of salt.
2989 @findex gnus-group-apropos
2990 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
2991 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
2995 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
2996 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
2997 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3001 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3002 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3006 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3007 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3011 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3012 List groups limited within the current selection
3013 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3017 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3018 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3022 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3023 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3027 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3028 @cindex visible group parameter
3029 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3030 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3031 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3032 get the same effect.
3034 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3035 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3036 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3037 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3038 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3041 @node Sorting Groups
3042 @section Sorting Groups
3043 @cindex sorting groups
3045 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3046 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3047 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3048 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3049 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3050 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3055 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3056 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3057 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3059 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3060 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3061 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3063 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3064 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3065 Sort by group level.
3067 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3068 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3069 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3071 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3072 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3073 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3074 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3076 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3077 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3078 Sort by number of unread articles.
3080 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3081 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3082 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3084 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3085 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3086 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3091 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3092 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3096 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3097 some sorting criteria:
3101 @kindex G S a (Group)
3102 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3103 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3104 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3107 @kindex G S u (Group)
3108 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3109 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3110 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3113 @kindex G S l (Group)
3114 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3115 Sort the group buffer by group level
3116 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3119 @kindex G S v (Group)
3120 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3121 Sort the group buffer by group score
3122 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3125 @kindex G S r (Group)
3126 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3127 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3128 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3131 @kindex G S m (Group)
3132 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3133 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name
3134 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3138 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3139 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3141 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3142 commands will sort in reverse order.
3144 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3148 @kindex G P a (Group)
3149 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3150 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3151 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3154 @kindex G P u (Group)
3155 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3156 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3157 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3160 @kindex G P l (Group)
3161 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3162 Sort the groups by group level
3163 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3166 @kindex G P v (Group)
3167 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3168 Sort the groups by group score
3169 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3172 @kindex G P r (Group)
3173 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3174 Sort the groups by group rank
3175 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3178 @kindex G P m (Group)
3179 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3180 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name
3181 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3185 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3189 @node Group Maintenance
3190 @section Group Maintenance
3191 @cindex bogus groups
3196 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3197 Find bogus groups and delete them
3198 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3202 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3203 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3204 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3205 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3206 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3210 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3211 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3212 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3213 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3214 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3215 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3218 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3219 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3220 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3221 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3226 @node Browse Foreign Server
3227 @section Browse Foreign Server
3228 @cindex foreign servers
3229 @cindex browsing servers
3234 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3235 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3236 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3237 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3240 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3241 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3242 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3243 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3245 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3250 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3251 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3255 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3256 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3259 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3260 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3261 Enter the current group and display the first article
3262 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3265 @kindex RET (Browse)
3266 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3267 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3271 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3272 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3273 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3279 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3280 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3284 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3285 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3286 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3291 @section Exiting Gnus
3292 @cindex exiting Gnus
3294 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
3299 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3300 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
3301 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3302 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3306 @findex gnus-group-exit
3307 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3308 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3312 @findex gnus-group-quit
3313 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3314 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3317 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3318 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3319 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
3320 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
3321 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3326 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
3327 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
3328 trying to customize meta-variables.
3333 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3334 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3335 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3341 @section Group Topics
3344 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3345 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3346 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3347 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3348 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3349 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3353 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3354 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3365 2: alt.religion.emacs
3368 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3370 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3371 13: comp.sources.unix
3374 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3376 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3377 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3378 is a toggling command.)
3380 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3381 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and
3382 now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
3383 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
3386 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3387 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3388 @file{~/.gnus} file:
3391 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3395 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3396 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3397 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3398 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3399 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3403 @node Topic Commands
3404 @subsection Topic Commands
3405 @cindex topic commands
3407 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3408 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3409 definitions slightly.
3411 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3412 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3413 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3414 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3415 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3416 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3418 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3425 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3426 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3427 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3431 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3433 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3434 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3435 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3436 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3439 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3440 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3441 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3442 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3446 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3447 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3448 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3449 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3455 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3456 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3457 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3461 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3462 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3463 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3466 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3467 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the `cut' part of cut and paste. Then,
3468 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the `Gnus'
3469 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the `paste' part of cut and
3470 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3472 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3473 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3477 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3478 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3485 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3487 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3488 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3489 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3490 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3491 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3492 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3496 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3502 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3503 Move the current group to some other topic
3504 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3505 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3509 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3510 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3514 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3515 Copy the current group to some other topic
3516 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3517 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3521 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3522 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3523 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3527 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3528 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3529 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3533 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3534 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3535 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3536 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3537 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3538 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3539 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3542 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3543 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3547 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3548 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3549 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3553 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3554 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3555 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3559 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3560 Toggle hiding empty topics
3561 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3565 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3566 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3567 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
3570 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3571 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3572 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3573 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
3576 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3577 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3578 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3579 expiry process (if any)
3580 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3584 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3585 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3588 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3589 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3590 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3594 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3595 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3596 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3600 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3601 @cindex group parameters
3602 @cindex topic parameters
3604 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3605 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3610 @node Topic Variables
3611 @subsection Topic Variables
3612 @cindex topic variables
3614 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
3615 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
3617 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3618 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3619 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3632 Number of groups in the topic.
3634 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3636 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3639 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3640 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3641 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3644 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3645 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3647 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3648 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3649 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3653 @subsection Topic Sorting
3654 @cindex topic sorting
3656 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3662 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3663 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3664 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3665 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3668 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3669 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3670 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3671 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3674 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3675 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3676 Sort the current topic by group level
3677 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3680 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3681 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3682 Sort the current topic by group score
3683 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3686 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3687 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3688 Sort the current topic by group rank
3689 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3692 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3693 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3694 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
3695 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3698 @kindex T S e (Topic)
3699 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
3700 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
3701 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
3705 @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group sorting.
3708 @node Topic Topology
3709 @subsection Topic Topology
3710 @cindex topic topology
3713 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3719 2: alt.religion.emacs
3722 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3724 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3725 13: comp.sources.unix
3728 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3729 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3730 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3735 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3736 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3740 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3741 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3742 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3743 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3744 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3745 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3747 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3748 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3749 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3752 @node Topic Parameters
3753 @subsection Topic Parameters
3754 @cindex topic parameters
3756 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
3757 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
3758 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
3760 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3765 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3766 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3767 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3770 @item subscribe-level
3771 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
3772 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
3773 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
3777 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3778 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
3779 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
3780 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
3786 2: alt.religion.emacs
3790 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3792 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3793 13: comp.sources.unix
3797 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
3798 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
3799 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
3800 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
3801 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
3802 . "religion.SCORE")}.
3804 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
3805 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
3806 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
3807 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
3808 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
3810 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
3811 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
3812 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
3813 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
3814 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
3815 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
3816 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
3817 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
3820 @node Misc Group Stuff
3821 @section Misc Group Stuff
3824 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
3825 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
3826 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
3827 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
3828 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
3835 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3836 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3837 @xref{Server Buffer}.
3841 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3842 Start composing a message (a news by default)
3843 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
3844 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
3845 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
3846 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
3847 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
3851 @findex gnus-group-mail
3852 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
3853 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
3854 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
3855 @xref{Composing Messages}.
3859 @findex gnus-group-news
3860 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
3861 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
3862 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
3864 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
3865 This is useful for "posting" messages to mail groups without actually
3866 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
3867 in question. The corresponding backend must have a request-post method
3868 for this to work though.
3872 Variables for the group buffer:
3876 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
3877 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
3878 is called after the group buffer has been
3881 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
3882 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3883 is called after the group buffer is
3884 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
3887 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
3888 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3889 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
3890 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
3892 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3893 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3894 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
3895 whether they are empty or not.
3897 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3898 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3899 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
3900 non-ASCII group names.
3904 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3905 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
3908 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3909 @cindex UTF-8 group names
3910 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3911 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names. It
3912 is used to show non-ASCII group names. @code{((".*" utf-8))} is the
3913 default value if UTF-8 is supported, otherwise the default is nil.
3917 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3918 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
3923 @node Scanning New Messages
3924 @subsection Scanning New Messages
3925 @cindex new messages
3926 @cindex scanning new news
3932 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
3933 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
3934 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
3935 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
3936 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
3937 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
3942 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
3943 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
3944 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
3945 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
3946 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
3947 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
3948 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
3950 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
3951 @cindex activating groups
3953 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
3954 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
3959 @findex gnus-group-restart
3960 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
3961 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
3962 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
3966 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
3967 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
3969 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
3970 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
3974 @node Group Information
3975 @subsection Group Information
3976 @cindex group information
3977 @cindex information on groups
3984 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
3985 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
3988 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
3989 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
3990 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
3991 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
3992 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
3993 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
3994 for fetching the file.
3996 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
3997 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
4001 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
4003 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
4004 @cindex describing groups
4005 @cindex group description
4006 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
4007 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
4008 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
4012 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
4013 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
4014 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
4021 @findex gnus-version
4022 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
4026 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
4027 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
4030 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
4033 @findex gnus-info-find-node
4034 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
4038 @node Group Timestamp
4039 @subsection Group Timestamp
4041 @cindex group timestamps
4043 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
4044 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
4045 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
4048 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
4051 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
4053 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
4054 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
4057 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4058 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
4061 This will result in lines looking like:
4064 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
4065 0: custom 19961002T012713
4068 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
4069 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
4073 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4074 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
4079 @subsection File Commands
4080 @cindex file commands
4086 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
4087 @vindex gnus-init-file
4088 @cindex reading init file
4089 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
4090 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
4094 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
4095 @cindex saving .newsrc
4096 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
4097 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
4098 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
4101 @c @kindex Z (Group)
4102 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
4103 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
4108 @node Sieve Commands
4109 @subsection Sieve Commands
4110 @cindex group sieve commands
4112 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
4113 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
4114 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
4115 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
4116 script that can be transfered to the server somehow.
4118 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4119 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
4120 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
4121 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
4122 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
4123 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
4124 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
4125 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
4126 regenerate the Sieve script.
4128 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
4129 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
4130 is generated. If it is non-nil (the default) articles is placed in
4131 all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article is only
4132 placed in the group with the first matching rule. For example, the
4133 group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
4134 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
4135 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is nil. (When
4136 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-nil, it looks the same except that
4137 the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
4140 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
4141 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
4146 @xref{Top, ,Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
4152 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
4153 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4154 @cindex generating sieve script
4155 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
4156 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
4160 @findex gnus-sieve-update
4161 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4162 @cindex updating sieve script
4163 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
4164 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
4165 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
4170 @node Summary Buffer
4171 @chapter Summary Buffer
4172 @cindex summary buffer
4174 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
4175 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
4177 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
4178 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
4180 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
4183 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
4184 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
4185 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
4186 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
4187 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
4188 * Delayed Articles::
4189 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
4190 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
4191 * Threading:: How threads are made.
4192 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
4193 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
4194 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
4195 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
4196 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
4197 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
4198 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
4199 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
4200 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
4201 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
4202 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
4203 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
4204 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
4205 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
4206 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
4207 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
4208 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
4209 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
4210 or reselecting the current group.
4211 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
4212 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
4213 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
4214 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
4218 @node Summary Buffer Format
4219 @section Summary Buffer Format
4220 @cindex summary buffer format
4224 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
4225 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
4226 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
4232 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
4233 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
4234 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
4235 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
4238 @findex mail-extract-address-components
4239 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
4240 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
4241 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
4242 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
4243 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
4244 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
4245 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
4246 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
4247 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
4248 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
4251 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
4252 'mail-extract-address-components)
4255 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
4256 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
4257 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
4258 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
4261 @node Summary Buffer Lines
4262 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
4264 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4265 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
4266 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
4267 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
4268 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4270 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
4271 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
4272 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
4273 possible to change this. Just write a new function
4274 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
4275 @xref{Positioning Point}.
4277 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23n%]%) %s\n}.
4279 The following format specification characters and extended format
4280 specification(s) are understood:
4286 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
4287 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
4289 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
4290 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
4291 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
4293 Full @code{From} header.
4295 The name (from the @code{From} header).
4297 The name, code @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header
4298 (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
4300 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
4301 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
4302 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
4303 may be more thorough.
4305 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
4308 Number of lines in the article.
4310 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
4311 in some methods (like nnfolder).
4313 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4315 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
4318 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4319 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4321 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4322 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4324 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4325 for adopted articles.
4327 One space for each thread level.
4329 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4331 Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
4334 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4335 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4336 or has been saved. @xref{Other Marks}.
4339 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4341 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4342 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4343 default level. If the difference between
4344 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4345 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4353 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4355 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4361 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4362 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4364 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4365 article has any children.
4371 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
4372 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
4374 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4375 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4376 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
4377 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4378 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4379 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4382 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
4383 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
4384 There can only be one such area.
4386 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4387 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
4388 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4389 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4390 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4391 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4393 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4394 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4396 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
4399 @node To From Newsgroups
4400 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4404 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4405 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4406 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4407 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4408 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4412 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4413 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4414 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4418 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4419 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4422 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4423 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4426 @findex gnus-extra-header
4427 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4428 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4429 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4432 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4436 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4437 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4438 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4439 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4440 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4441 headers are used instead.
4445 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4446 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4447 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files. If
4448 you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after changing
4451 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4452 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4453 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4454 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4456 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
4460 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4462 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4463 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4464 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
4465 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4469 Now, this is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4470 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4477 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4478 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4481 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4482 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4484 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4485 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4486 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4487 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4489 Here are the elements you can play with:
4495 Unprefixed group name.
4497 Current article number.
4499 Current article score.
4503 Number of unread articles in this group.
4505 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4508 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4509 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4510 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4511 and no unselected ones.
4513 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4514 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4516 Subject of the current article.
4518 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4520 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4522 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4524 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4526 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4528 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4532 @node Summary Highlighting
4533 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4537 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4538 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4539 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4540 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4541 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4543 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4544 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4545 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4546 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4548 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4549 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4550 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4551 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4553 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4554 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4555 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4556 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4557 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4558 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4561 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4562 ((> score default) . bold))
4564 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4565 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4569 @node Summary Maneuvering
4570 @section Summary Maneuvering
4571 @cindex summary movement
4573 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4574 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4576 None of these commands select articles.
4581 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4582 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4583 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4584 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4585 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4589 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4590 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4591 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4592 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4593 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4596 @kindex G g (Summary)
4597 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4598 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4599 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4602 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4603 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4604 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4605 to the group buffer.
4607 Variables related to summary movement:
4611 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4612 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4613 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4614 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
4615 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4616 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4617 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
4618 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
4619 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the
4620 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
4621 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
4622 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
4623 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
4624 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
4626 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4627 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4628 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4629 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4630 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4631 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4632 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4634 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4636 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4637 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4638 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4639 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4640 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4642 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4643 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4644 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4645 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4646 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4647 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4648 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4649 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4652 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4653 the given number of lines from the top.
4658 @node Choosing Articles
4659 @section Choosing Articles
4660 @cindex selecting articles
4663 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4664 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
4668 @node Choosing Commands
4669 @subsection Choosing Commands
4671 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
4672 and they all select and display an article.
4674 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
4675 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
4679 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4680 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4681 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
4682 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4687 @kindex G n (Summary)
4688 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
4689 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
4690 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
4695 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
4696 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
4697 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
4702 @kindex G N (Summary)
4703 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
4704 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
4709 @kindex G P (Summary)
4710 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
4711 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
4714 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
4715 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
4716 Go to the next article with the same subject
4717 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
4720 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
4721 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
4722 Go to the previous article with the same subject
4723 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
4727 @kindex G f (Summary)
4729 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
4730 Go to the first unread article
4731 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
4735 @kindex G b (Summary)
4737 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
4738 Go to the article with the highest score
4739 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
4744 @kindex G l (Summary)
4745 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
4746 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
4749 @kindex G o (Summary)
4750 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
4752 @cindex article history
4753 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
4754 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
4755 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
4756 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
4757 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
4758 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
4763 @kindex G j (Summary)
4764 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
4765 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
4766 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
4771 @node Choosing Variables
4772 @subsection Choosing Variables
4774 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
4777 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4778 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4779 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
4780 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
4781 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
4782 the server and display it in the article buffer.
4784 @item gnus-select-article-hook
4785 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
4786 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
4787 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
4789 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
4790 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
4791 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
4792 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
4793 @findex gnus-unread-mark
4794 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
4795 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
4796 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
4797 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
4798 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
4799 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
4800 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
4801 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
4802 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
4807 @node Paging the Article
4808 @section Scrolling the Article
4809 @cindex article scrolling
4814 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4815 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4816 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
4817 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
4818 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4821 @kindex DEL (Summary)
4822 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
4823 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
4826 @kindex RET (Summary)
4827 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
4828 Scroll the current article one line forward
4829 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
4832 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
4833 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
4834 Scroll the current article one line backward
4835 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
4839 @kindex A g (Summary)
4841 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
4842 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4843 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
4844 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
4845 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
4846 the way it came from the server.
4848 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
4849 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
4850 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
4853 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4858 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
4863 @kindex A < (Summary)
4864 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
4865 Scroll to the beginning of the article
4866 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
4871 @kindex A > (Summary)
4872 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
4873 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
4877 @kindex A s (Summary)
4879 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
4880 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
4881 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
4885 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
4886 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
4891 @node Reply Followup and Post
4892 @section Reply, Followup and Post
4895 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
4896 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
4897 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
4898 * Canceling and Superseding::
4902 @node Summary Mail Commands
4903 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
4905 @cindex composing mail
4907 Commands for composing a mail message:
4913 @kindex S r (Summary)
4915 @findex gnus-summary-reply
4916 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
4917 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
4918 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
4919 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
4924 @kindex S R (Summary)
4925 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
4926 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
4927 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
4928 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
4929 command uses the process/prefix convention.
4932 @kindex S w (Summary)
4933 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
4934 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
4935 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
4936 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
4937 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
4940 @kindex S W (Summary)
4941 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
4942 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
4943 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
4944 the process/prefix convention.
4947 @kindex S v (Summary)
4948 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
4949 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
4950 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
4951 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
4952 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
4953 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
4957 @kindex S o m (Summary)
4958 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
4959 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
4960 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
4961 Forward the current article to some other person
4962 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If no prefix is given, the message
4963 is forwarded according to the value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime})
4964 and (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
4965 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
4966 as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
4967 forward as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
4968 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
4969 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
4970 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 MIME section.
4975 @kindex S m (Summary)
4976 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
4977 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
4978 Prepare a mail (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}). By default, use
4979 the posting style of the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
4980 If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
4985 @kindex S i (Summary)
4986 @findex gnus-summary-news-other-window
4987 Prepare a news (@code{gnus-summary-news-other-window}). By default,
4988 post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that. If the
4989 prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
4991 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
4992 This is useful for "posting" messages to mail groups without actually
4993 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
4994 in question. The corresponding backend must have a request-post method
4995 for this to work though.
4998 @kindex S D b (Summary)
4999 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
5000 @cindex bouncing mail
5001 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
5002 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
5003 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
5004 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
5005 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
5006 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
5007 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
5008 very well fail, though.
5011 @kindex S D r (Summary)
5012 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
5013 Not to be confused with the previous command,
5014 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
5015 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
5016 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
5017 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
5018 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
5019 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
5020 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
5022 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
5023 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
5024 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
5025 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
5026 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muß sein!
5028 This command understands the process/prefix convention
5029 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5032 @kindex S O m (Summary)
5033 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
5034 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
5035 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
5036 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5039 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
5040 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
5041 @cindex crossposting
5042 @cindex excessive crossposting
5043 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
5044 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
5046 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
5047 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
5048 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
5049 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
5050 command understands the process/prefix convention
5051 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
5055 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5056 Manual}, for more information.
5059 @node Summary Post Commands
5060 @subsection Summary Post Commands
5062 @cindex composing news
5064 Commands for posting a news article:
5070 @kindex S p (Summary)
5071 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
5072 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
5073 Prepare for posting an article (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}). By
5074 default, post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5075 If the prefix is 1, prompt for another group instead.
5080 @kindex S f (Summary)
5081 @findex gnus-summary-followup
5082 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
5083 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
5087 @kindex S F (Summary)
5089 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
5090 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
5091 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
5092 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
5093 process/prefix convention.
5096 @kindex S n (Summary)
5097 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
5098 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5099 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
5102 @kindex S N (Summary)
5103 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
5104 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5105 message through mail and include the original message
5106 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
5107 the process/prefix convention.
5110 @kindex S o p (Summary)
5111 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
5112 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
5113 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
5114 If no prefix is given, the message is forwarded according to the value
5115 of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}) and
5116 (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
5117 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
5118 as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
5119 forward as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
5120 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
5121 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
5122 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 MIME section.
5125 @kindex S O p (Summary)
5126 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
5128 @cindex making digests
5129 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
5130 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
5131 process/prefix convention.
5134 @kindex S u (Summary)
5135 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
5136 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
5137 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
5138 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
5141 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5142 Manual}, for more information.
5145 @node Summary Message Commands
5146 @subsection Summary Message Commands
5150 @kindex S y (Summary)
5151 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
5152 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
5153 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
5154 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
5155 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5160 @node Canceling and Superseding
5161 @subsection Canceling Articles
5162 @cindex canceling articles
5163 @cindex superseding articles
5165 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
5166 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
5168 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
5170 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
5172 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
5173 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
5174 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
5175 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
5176 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
5177 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5179 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
5180 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
5183 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
5184 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
5185 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
5187 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
5188 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
5189 your original article.
5191 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
5193 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
5194 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
5195 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
5198 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
5199 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
5200 have posted almost the same article twice.
5202 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
5203 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
5204 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
5205 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
5206 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
5207 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
5208 header by substituting one of those words for the word
5209 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
5210 you would do normally. The previous article will be
5211 canceled/superseded.
5213 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
5215 @node Delayed Articles
5216 @section Delayed Articles
5217 @cindex delayed sending
5218 @cindex send delayed
5220 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
5221 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
5222 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
5223 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
5226 (gnus-delay-initialize)
5229 @findex gnus-delay-article
5230 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
5231 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
5232 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
5233 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
5237 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
5238 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
5239 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
5240 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
5243 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
5244 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
5245 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
5248 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
5249 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
5250 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
5251 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
5252 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
5253 that means a time tomorrow.
5256 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
5257 couple of variables:
5260 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
5261 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
5262 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
5263 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
5265 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
5266 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
5267 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
5268 formats described above.
5270 @item gnus-delay-group
5271 @vindex gnus-delay-group
5272 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
5273 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
5274 value is @code{"delayed"}.
5276 @item gnus-delay-header
5277 @vindex gnus-delay-header
5278 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
5279 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
5280 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
5283 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
5284 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
5285 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
5286 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
5287 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
5289 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
5290 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-drafts}
5291 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
5292 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
5293 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
5294 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-drafts} function.
5297 @item gnus-delay-initialize
5298 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
5299 By default, this function installs the @kbd{C-c C-j} key binding in
5300 Message mode and @code{gnus-delay-send-drafts} in
5301 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts two optional arguments,
5302 @code{no-keymap} and @code{no-check}. If @code{no-keymap} is non-nil,
5303 the @kbd{C-c C-j} binding is not intalled. If @code{no-check} is
5304 non-nil, @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed.
5306 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to change the
5307 keymap but not to change @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. Presumably, you
5308 want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles. Just don't
5309 forget to set that up :-)
5313 @node Marking Articles
5314 @section Marking Articles
5315 @cindex article marking
5316 @cindex article ticking
5319 There are several marks you can set on an article.
5321 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
5322 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
5323 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
5325 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
5328 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
5329 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
5330 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
5334 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
5338 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
5339 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
5340 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
5344 @node Unread Articles
5345 @subsection Unread Articles
5347 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
5352 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
5353 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
5355 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
5356 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
5357 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
5358 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
5359 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
5360 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
5361 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
5364 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
5365 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
5367 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
5368 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
5369 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
5370 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
5374 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
5375 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
5377 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
5382 @subsection Read Articles
5383 @cindex expirable mark
5385 All the following marks mark articles as read.
5390 @vindex gnus-del-mark
5391 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
5392 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
5395 @vindex gnus-read-mark
5396 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
5399 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
5400 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
5401 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
5404 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
5405 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
5408 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
5409 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
5412 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
5413 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
5416 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
5417 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
5420 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
5421 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
5424 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
5425 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
5428 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
5429 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
5433 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
5434 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
5435 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
5439 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
5440 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
5442 One more special mark, though:
5446 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
5447 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
5449 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
5450 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
5451 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
5452 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
5458 @subsection Other Marks
5459 @cindex process mark
5462 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
5468 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
5469 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
5470 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
5471 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
5472 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
5475 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
5476 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
5477 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
5478 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
5480 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
5481 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
5482 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
5484 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
5485 Articles that are ``recently'' arrived in the group will be marked
5486 with an @samp{N} in the second column (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Most
5487 back end doesn't support the mark, in which case it's not shown.
5490 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
5491 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
5492 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5495 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
5496 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
5497 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
5498 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
5501 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
5502 Articles that according to the back end haven't been seen by the user
5503 before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
5504 (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all back ends support this
5505 mark, in which case it simply never appear.
5508 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
5509 Articles that haven't been seen by the user before are marked with a
5510 @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
5513 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
5514 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
5515 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
5516 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
5517 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
5520 @vindex gnus-process-mark
5521 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
5522 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
5523 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
5524 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
5525 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
5529 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
5530 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
5531 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
5533 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
5534 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
5535 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
5539 @subsection Setting Marks
5540 @cindex setting marks
5542 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
5547 @kindex M c (Summary)
5548 @kindex M-u (Summary)
5549 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
5550 @cindex mark as unread
5551 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
5552 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
5558 @kindex M t (Summary)
5559 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
5560 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
5561 @xref{Article Caching}.
5566 @kindex M ? (Summary)
5567 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
5568 Mark the current article as dormant
5569 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5573 @kindex M d (Summary)
5575 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
5576 Mark the current article as read
5577 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
5581 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
5582 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
5583 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
5588 @kindex M k (Summary)
5589 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
5590 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
5591 and then select the next unread article
5592 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
5596 @kindex M K (Summary)
5597 @kindex C-k (Summary)
5598 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
5599 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
5600 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
5603 @kindex M C (Summary)
5604 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
5605 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
5606 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
5609 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
5610 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
5611 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
5612 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
5615 @kindex M H (Summary)
5616 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
5617 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
5618 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
5621 @kindex M h (Summary)
5622 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
5623 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
5624 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
5627 @kindex C-w (Summary)
5628 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
5629 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
5630 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
5633 @kindex M V k (Summary)
5634 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
5635 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
5636 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
5640 @kindex M e (Summary)
5642 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
5643 Mark the current article as expirable
5644 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
5647 @kindex M b (Summary)
5648 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
5649 Set a bookmark in the current article
5650 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
5653 @kindex M B (Summary)
5654 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
5655 Remove the bookmark from the current article
5656 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
5659 @kindex M V c (Summary)
5660 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
5661 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
5662 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5665 @kindex M V u (Summary)
5666 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
5667 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
5668 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
5671 @kindex M V m (Summary)
5672 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
5673 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
5674 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
5675 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5678 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
5679 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
5680 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
5681 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
5682 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
5683 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
5684 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
5685 The default is @code{t}.
5688 @node Generic Marking Commands
5689 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
5691 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
5692 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
5693 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
5694 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
5695 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
5698 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
5699 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
5702 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
5703 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
5704 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
5705 to list in this manual.
5707 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
5708 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
5709 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
5710 article, you could say something like:
5713 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
5714 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5715 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
5721 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5722 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
5726 @node Setting Process Marks
5727 @subsection Setting Process Marks
5728 @cindex setting process marks
5735 @kindex M P p (Summary)
5736 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
5737 Mark the current article with the process mark
5738 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
5739 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
5743 @kindex M P u (Summary)
5744 @kindex M-# (Summary)
5745 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
5746 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
5749 @kindex M P U (Summary)
5750 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
5751 Remove the process mark from all articles
5752 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
5755 @kindex M P i (Summary)
5756 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
5757 Invert the list of process marked articles
5758 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
5761 @kindex M P R (Summary)
5762 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
5763 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5764 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
5767 @kindex M P G (Summary)
5768 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
5769 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5770 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
5773 @kindex M P r (Summary)
5774 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
5775 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
5778 @kindex M P t (Summary)
5779 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5780 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5781 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5784 @kindex M P T (Summary)
5785 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5786 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5787 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5790 @kindex M P v (Summary)
5791 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
5792 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
5793 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
5796 @kindex M P s (Summary)
5797 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
5798 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5801 @kindex M P S (Summary)
5802 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
5803 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
5804 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
5807 @kindex M P a (Summary)
5808 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
5809 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5812 @kindex M P b (Summary)
5813 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
5814 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
5815 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
5818 @kindex M P k (Summary)
5819 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
5820 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
5821 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
5824 @kindex M P y (Summary)
5825 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
5826 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
5827 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
5830 @kindex M P w (Summary)
5831 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
5832 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
5833 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
5837 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @pxref{Searching for Articles} for how to
5838 set process marks based on article body contents.
5845 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
5846 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
5847 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
5850 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
5851 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
5852 additional articles.
5858 @kindex / / (Summary)
5859 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
5860 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
5861 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
5865 @kindex / a (Summary)
5866 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
5867 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
5868 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
5872 @kindex / x (Summary)
5873 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
5874 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
5875 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
5876 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
5881 @kindex / u (Summary)
5883 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
5884 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
5885 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
5886 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
5887 dormant articles will also be excluded.
5890 @kindex / m (Summary)
5891 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
5892 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
5893 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
5896 @kindex / t (Summary)
5897 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
5898 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
5899 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
5900 articles younger than that number of days.
5903 @kindex / n (Summary)
5904 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
5905 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
5906 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
5907 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5910 @kindex / w (Summary)
5911 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
5912 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
5913 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
5917 @kindex / v (Summary)
5918 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
5919 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
5920 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
5923 @kindex / p (Summary)
5924 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-parameter
5925 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
5926 group parameter predicate
5927 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-parameter}). See @pxref{Group
5928 Parameters} for more on this predicate.
5932 @kindex M S (Summary)
5933 @kindex / E (Summary)
5934 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
5935 Include all expunged articles in the limit
5936 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
5939 @kindex / D (Summary)
5940 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
5941 Include all dormant articles in the limit
5942 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
5945 @kindex / * (Summary)
5946 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
5947 Include all cached articles in the limit
5948 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
5951 @kindex / d (Summary)
5952 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
5953 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
5954 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
5957 @kindex / M (Summary)
5958 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
5959 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
5962 @kindex / T (Summary)
5963 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
5964 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
5967 @kindex / c (Summary)
5968 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
5969 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
5970 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
5973 @kindex / C (Summary)
5974 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
5975 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
5976 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
5977 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
5980 @kindex / N (Summary)
5981 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
5982 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
5983 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
5986 @kindex / o (Summary)
5987 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
5988 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
5989 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
5997 @cindex article threading
5999 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
6000 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
6001 hierarchical fashion.
6003 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
6004 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
6005 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
6006 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
6007 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
6008 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
6009 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
6011 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
6015 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
6018 A tree-like article structure.
6021 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
6024 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
6025 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
6026 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
6027 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
6028 called loose threads.
6030 @item thread gathering
6031 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
6033 @item sparse threads
6034 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
6035 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
6041 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
6042 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
6046 @node Customizing Threading
6047 @subsection Customizing Threading
6048 @cindex customizing threading
6051 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
6052 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
6053 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
6054 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
6059 @subsubsection Loose Threads
6062 @cindex loose threads
6065 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
6066 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
6067 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
6068 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
6069 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
6070 read or killed the root in a previous session.
6072 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
6073 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
6074 There are four possible values:
6078 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
6079 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
6080 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
6081 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
6082 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
6087 @cindex adopting articles
6092 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
6093 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
6094 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
6095 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
6098 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
6099 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
6100 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
6101 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
6102 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
6103 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
6104 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6107 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
6108 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
6109 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
6113 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
6114 display them after one another.
6117 Don't gather loose threads.
6120 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6121 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6122 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
6123 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
6124 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
6125 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
6126 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
6127 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
6128 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
6129 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
6130 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
6132 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
6133 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
6134 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
6137 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6138 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6139 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
6140 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
6141 simplification is used.
6143 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6144 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6145 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
6146 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
6148 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
6150 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6156 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
6157 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
6158 "answer" "reference" "announce"
6159 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
6164 (mapconcat 'identity
6165 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
6167 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
6170 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
6173 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6174 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6175 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
6176 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
6177 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
6178 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
6180 Useful functions to put in this list include:
6183 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
6184 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
6185 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
6187 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6188 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6191 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
6192 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
6193 Remove excessive whitespace.
6196 You may also write your own functions, of course.
6199 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6200 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6201 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
6202 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
6203 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
6204 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
6205 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
6206 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
6208 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6209 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6210 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
6211 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
6212 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
6213 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
6214 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
6215 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
6216 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
6220 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6221 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6222 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
6223 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
6225 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6226 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6227 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
6230 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
6234 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6235 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
6241 @node Filling In Threads
6242 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
6245 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
6246 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
6247 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
6248 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
6249 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
6250 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
6251 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
6252 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
6253 fetching old headers only works if the back end you are using carries
6254 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
6255 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
6256 expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that.
6258 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
6259 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
6260 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
6262 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
6263 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
6264 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
6265 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
6266 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
6267 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
6268 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
6269 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
6270 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
6271 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
6272 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
6273 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
6274 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
6275 @code{nil} by default.
6277 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
6278 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
6279 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
6280 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
6281 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
6282 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
6283 web-based groups, like the @code{nnultimate} groups.
6285 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
6286 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
6287 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
6292 @node More Threading
6293 @subsubsection More Threading
6296 @item gnus-show-threads
6297 @vindex gnus-show-threads
6298 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
6299 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
6300 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
6301 slower and more awkward.
6303 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6304 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6305 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
6308 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
6309 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
6310 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
6311 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
6312 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
6313 threads are expunged.
6315 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
6316 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
6317 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
6320 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6321 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6322 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
6323 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
6324 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
6325 result in a new thread.
6327 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
6328 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
6329 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
6332 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6333 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6334 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
6335 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
6336 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
6337 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
6338 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
6339 Setting this variable to an alternate value
6340 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
6341 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
6342 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
6347 @node Low-Level Threading
6348 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
6352 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
6353 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
6354 Hook run before parsing any headers.
6356 @item gnus-alter-header-function
6357 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
6358 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
6359 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
6360 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
6361 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
6362 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
6363 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
6364 meaningful. Here's one example:
6367 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
6369 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
6370 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
6372 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
6374 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
6381 @node Thread Commands
6382 @subsection Thread Commands
6383 @cindex thread commands
6389 @kindex T k (Summary)
6390 @kindex C-M-k (Summary)
6391 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
6392 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
6393 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
6394 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
6399 @kindex T l (Summary)
6400 @kindex C-M-l (Summary)
6401 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
6402 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
6403 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
6406 @kindex T i (Summary)
6407 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
6408 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
6409 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
6412 @kindex T # (Summary)
6413 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6414 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
6415 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6418 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
6419 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6420 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
6421 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6424 @kindex T T (Summary)
6425 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
6426 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
6429 @kindex T s (Summary)
6430 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
6431 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
6432 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
6435 @kindex T h (Summary)
6436 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
6437 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
6440 @kindex T S (Summary)
6441 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
6442 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
6445 @kindex T H (Summary)
6446 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
6447 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
6450 @kindex T t (Summary)
6451 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
6452 Re-thread the current article's thread
6453 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
6454 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
6457 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
6458 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
6459 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
6460 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
6464 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
6465 understand the numeric prefix.
6470 @kindex T n (Summary)
6472 @kindex C-M-n (Summary)
6474 @kindex M-down (Summary)
6475 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
6476 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
6479 @kindex T p (Summary)
6481 @kindex C-M-p (Summary)
6483 @kindex M-up (Summary)
6484 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
6485 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
6488 @kindex T d (Summary)
6489 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
6490 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
6493 @kindex T u (Summary)
6494 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
6495 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
6498 @kindex T o (Summary)
6499 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
6500 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
6503 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
6504 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
6505 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
6506 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
6507 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
6508 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
6509 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
6510 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
6511 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
6512 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
6513 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
6514 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
6518 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
6519 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
6521 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
6522 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
6523 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
6524 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6525 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
6526 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6527 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
6528 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
6529 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
6530 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
6531 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
6533 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
6534 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
6535 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
6536 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
6537 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
6539 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
6540 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
6541 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
6543 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
6544 last function in the list. You should probably always include
6545 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
6546 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
6547 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
6548 ascending article order.
6550 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
6551 by number, you could do something like:
6554 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6555 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6556 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6557 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
6560 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
6561 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
6562 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
6563 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
6564 which the articles arrived.
6566 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
6570 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6572 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
6573 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
6576 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
6577 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
6578 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
6579 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
6582 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
6583 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
6584 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
6585 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
6586 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
6587 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
6588 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
6589 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
6590 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
6591 it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
6592 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
6593 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
6594 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
6596 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
6600 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
6601 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
6602 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
6607 @node Asynchronous Fetching
6608 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
6609 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
6610 @cindex article pre-fetch
6613 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
6614 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
6615 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
6616 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
6617 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
6619 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
6620 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
6622 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
6623 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
6624 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
6625 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
6626 connection is blocked.
6628 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
6629 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
6630 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
6631 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
6633 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
6634 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
6635 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
6636 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
6639 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
6642 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
6643 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
6644 happen automatically.
6646 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
6647 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
6648 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
6649 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
6650 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
6651 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
6652 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
6654 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
6655 @findex gnus-async-read-p
6656 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
6657 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
6658 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
6659 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
6660 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
6661 data structure as the only parameter.
6663 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
6666 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
6667 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
6668 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
6669 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
6672 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
6675 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
6676 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
6677 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
6679 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
6680 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
6681 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
6682 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
6686 Remove articles when they are read.
6689 Remove articles when exiting the group.
6692 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
6694 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
6695 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
6696 @c from the next group.
6699 @node Article Caching
6700 @section Article Caching
6701 @cindex article caching
6704 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
6705 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
6706 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
6707 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
6708 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
6710 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
6712 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
6713 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
6714 @vindex gnus-use-cache
6715 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
6716 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
6717 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
6718 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
6719 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
6721 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
6722 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
6723 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
6724 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
6725 as dormant, and don't worry.
6727 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
6729 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
6730 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
6731 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
6732 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
6733 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
6734 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
6735 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
6736 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
6737 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
6738 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
6740 @findex gnus-jog-cache
6741 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
6742 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
6743 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
6744 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
6745 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
6746 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
6747 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
6748 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
6749 not then be downloaded by this command.
6751 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
6752 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
6753 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
6754 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
6755 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
6756 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
6758 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
6759 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
6760 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
6761 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
6762 variables, the group is not cached.
6764 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
6765 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
6766 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
6767 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
6768 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
6769 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
6770 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
6771 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
6772 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
6776 @node Persistent Articles
6777 @section Persistent Articles
6778 @cindex persistent articles
6780 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
6781 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
6782 useful in my opinion.
6784 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
6785 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
6786 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
6787 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
6788 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
6789 the expiry going on at the news server.
6791 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
6792 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
6793 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
6799 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
6800 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
6803 @kindex M-* (Summary)
6804 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
6805 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
6806 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
6810 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
6812 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
6813 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
6814 interested in persistent articles:
6817 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
6821 @node Article Backlog
6822 @section Article Backlog
6824 @cindex article backlog
6826 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
6827 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
6828 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
6829 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
6830 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
6831 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
6832 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
6833 increase memory usage some.
6835 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
6836 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
6837 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
6838 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
6839 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
6840 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
6841 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
6843 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
6846 @node Saving Articles
6847 @section Saving Articles
6848 @cindex saving articles
6850 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
6851 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
6852 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
6853 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
6854 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
6856 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
6857 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
6858 unwanted headers before saving the article.
6860 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
6861 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
6862 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
6863 deleted before saving.
6869 @kindex O o (Summary)
6871 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
6872 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
6873 Save the current article using the default article saver
6874 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
6877 @kindex O m (Summary)
6878 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
6879 Save the current article in mail format
6880 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
6883 @kindex O r (Summary)
6884 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
6885 Save the current article in rmail format
6886 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
6889 @kindex O f (Summary)
6890 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
6891 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
6892 Save the current article in plain file format
6893 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
6896 @kindex O F (Summary)
6897 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
6898 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
6899 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
6902 @kindex O b (Summary)
6903 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
6904 Save the current article body in plain file format
6905 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
6908 @kindex O h (Summary)
6909 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
6910 Save the current article in mh folder format
6911 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
6914 @kindex O v (Summary)
6915 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
6916 Save the current article in a VM folder
6917 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
6921 @kindex O p (Summary)
6923 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
6924 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
6925 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
6928 @kindex O P (Summary)
6929 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
6930 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
6931 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
6932 external program Muttprint (see
6933 @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/}). The program name and
6934 options to use is controlled by the variable
6935 @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}. (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
6939 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
6940 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
6941 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
6942 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
6943 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
6944 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
6945 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
6946 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
6947 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
6948 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
6949 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
6950 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
6954 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
6955 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
6956 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
6957 functions below, or you can create your own.
6961 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
6962 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
6963 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
6964 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
6965 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
6966 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6967 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
6969 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
6970 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
6971 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
6972 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
6973 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6974 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
6976 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
6977 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
6978 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
6979 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
6980 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
6981 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6982 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
6984 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
6985 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
6986 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
6987 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
6988 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6989 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
6991 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
6992 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
6993 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
6994 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6995 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
6997 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
6998 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
6999 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
7000 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
7001 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
7004 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
7005 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
7006 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
7007 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
7008 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
7010 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7011 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7012 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
7013 reader to use this setting.
7016 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
7017 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
7018 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
7019 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
7022 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
7023 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
7024 available functions that generate names:
7028 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
7029 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
7030 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7032 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
7033 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7034 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7036 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
7037 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
7038 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7040 @item gnus-plain-save-name
7041 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7042 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7044 @item gnus-sender-save-name
7045 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
7046 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
7049 @vindex gnus-split-methods
7050 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
7051 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
7052 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
7053 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
7057 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
7058 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
7059 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
7060 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
7063 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
7064 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
7065 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
7066 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
7067 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
7068 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
7069 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
7070 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
7071 called returns a string or a list of strings.
7073 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
7074 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
7075 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
7076 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
7078 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
7079 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
7080 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
7083 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
7084 lots of mail groups called things like
7085 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
7086 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
7087 following will do just that:
7090 (defun my-save-name (group)
7091 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
7092 (substring group (match-end 0))))
7094 (setq gnus-split-methods
7095 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
7100 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7101 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
7102 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
7103 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
7104 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
7105 all the files in the top level directory
7106 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
7107 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
7108 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
7109 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
7111 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
7112 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
7113 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
7114 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
7115 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
7118 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
7122 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
7123 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
7124 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
7127 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
7128 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
7129 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
7130 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
7133 @node Decoding Articles
7134 @section Decoding Articles
7135 @cindex decoding articles
7137 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
7138 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
7141 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
7142 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
7143 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
7144 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
7145 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
7146 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
7150 @cindex article series
7151 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
7152 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
7153 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
7154 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
7155 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
7157 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
7158 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
7159 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
7161 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
7162 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
7163 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
7165 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
7166 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
7167 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
7170 @node Uuencoded Articles
7171 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
7173 @cindex uuencoded articles
7178 @kindex X u (Summary)
7179 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
7180 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
7181 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
7184 @kindex X U (Summary)
7185 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
7186 Uudecodes and saves the current series
7187 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7190 @kindex X v u (Summary)
7191 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
7192 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
7195 @kindex X v U (Summary)
7196 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
7197 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
7198 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
7202 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
7203 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
7204 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
7205 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
7206 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7208 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
7209 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
7210 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
7211 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
7214 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
7215 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
7216 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
7217 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
7218 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
7219 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
7223 @node Shell Archives
7224 @subsection Shell Archives
7226 @cindex shell archives
7227 @cindex shared articles
7229 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
7230 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
7231 some commands to deal with these:
7236 @kindex X s (Summary)
7237 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
7238 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
7241 @kindex X S (Summary)
7242 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
7243 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
7246 @kindex X v s (Summary)
7247 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
7248 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
7251 @kindex X v S (Summary)
7252 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
7253 Unshars, views and saves the current series
7254 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
7258 @node PostScript Files
7259 @subsection PostScript Files
7265 @kindex X p (Summary)
7266 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
7267 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
7270 @kindex X P (Summary)
7271 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
7272 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
7273 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
7276 @kindex X v p (Summary)
7277 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
7278 View the current PostScript series
7279 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
7282 @kindex X v P (Summary)
7283 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
7284 View and save the current PostScript series
7285 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
7290 @subsection Other Files
7294 @kindex X o (Summary)
7295 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
7296 Save the current series
7297 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
7300 @kindex X b (Summary)
7301 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
7302 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
7303 doesn't really work yet.
7307 @node Decoding Variables
7308 @subsection Decoding Variables
7310 Adjective, not verb.
7313 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
7314 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
7315 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
7319 @node Rule Variables
7320 @subsubsection Rule Variables
7321 @cindex rule variables
7323 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
7324 variables are of the form
7327 (list '(regexp1 command2)
7334 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7335 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7337 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
7338 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
7341 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7342 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
7345 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7346 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7347 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
7348 user and default view rules.
7350 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7351 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7352 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
7357 @node Other Decode Variables
7358 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
7361 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7363 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7364 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
7365 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
7366 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
7367 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
7371 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
7372 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
7375 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
7376 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
7377 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
7380 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7381 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7382 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
7383 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
7384 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
7387 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7388 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7389 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
7391 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7392 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7393 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
7394 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
7395 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
7398 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7399 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7400 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
7402 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7403 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7404 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
7405 looking for files to display.
7407 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
7408 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
7409 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
7412 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7413 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7414 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
7417 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7418 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7419 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
7422 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7423 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7424 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
7427 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7428 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7429 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
7430 decoded articles as unread.
7432 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7433 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7434 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
7435 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
7437 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7438 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7439 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
7441 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7442 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7444 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
7445 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
7446 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
7447 @code{metamail} for viewing.
7449 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7450 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7451 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
7452 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
7453 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
7454 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
7455 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
7456 simply dropped them.
7461 @node Uuencoding and Posting
7462 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
7466 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7467 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7468 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
7469 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
7470 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
7471 for you when you post the article.
7473 @item gnus-uu-post-length
7474 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
7475 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
7476 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
7478 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
7479 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
7480 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
7481 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
7482 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
7483 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
7484 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
7486 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7487 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7488 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
7489 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
7490 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
7491 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
7492 Default is @code{t}.
7498 @subsection Viewing Files
7499 @cindex viewing files
7500 @cindex pseudo-articles
7502 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
7503 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
7504 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
7505 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
7506 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
7507 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
7508 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
7510 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
7511 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
7512 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
7513 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
7515 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
7516 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
7517 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
7519 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
7520 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
7521 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
7522 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
7523 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
7525 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
7526 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
7527 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
7528 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
7529 a list of parameters to that command.
7531 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
7532 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
7533 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
7535 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
7536 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
7537 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
7540 @node Article Treatment
7541 @section Article Treatment
7543 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
7544 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
7545 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
7546 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
7547 these articles easier.
7550 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
7551 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
7552 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
7553 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
7554 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
7555 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
7556 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
7557 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
7561 @node Article Highlighting
7562 @subsection Article Highlighting
7563 @cindex highlighting
7565 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
7566 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
7571 @kindex W H a (Summary)
7572 @findex gnus-article-highlight
7573 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
7574 Do much highlighting of the current article
7575 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
7576 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
7579 @kindex W H h (Summary)
7580 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
7581 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
7582 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
7583 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
7584 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
7585 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
7586 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
7587 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
7588 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
7589 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
7590 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
7593 @kindex W H c (Summary)
7594 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
7595 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
7597 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
7600 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7602 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7603 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
7604 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
7606 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
7607 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
7608 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
7610 @item gnus-cite-face-list
7611 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
7612 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
7613 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
7614 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
7615 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
7617 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
7618 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
7619 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
7621 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7622 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7623 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
7625 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7626 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7627 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
7628 that it's a citation.
7630 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7631 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7632 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
7634 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7635 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7636 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
7638 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
7639 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
7640 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
7641 cited text belonging to the attribution.
7647 @kindex W H s (Summary)
7648 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7649 @vindex gnus-signature-face
7650 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
7651 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
7652 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
7653 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
7654 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
7659 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
7662 @node Article Fontisizing
7663 @subsection Article Fontisizing
7665 @cindex article emphasis
7667 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
7668 @kindex W e (Summary)
7669 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
7670 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
7671 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
7672 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
7674 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
7675 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
7676 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
7677 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
7678 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
7679 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
7680 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
7681 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
7685 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
7686 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
7687 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
7696 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
7697 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
7698 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
7699 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
7700 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
7701 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
7702 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
7703 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
7704 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
7705 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
7706 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
7707 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
7708 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
7710 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
7711 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
7712 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
7716 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
7719 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
7721 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
7722 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
7723 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
7724 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
7726 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
7729 @node Article Hiding
7730 @subsection Article Hiding
7731 @cindex article hiding
7733 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
7734 too much cruft in most articles.
7739 @kindex W W a (Summary)
7740 @findex gnus-article-hide
7741 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
7742 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
7743 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
7746 @kindex W W h (Summary)
7747 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
7748 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
7752 @kindex W W b (Summary)
7753 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
7754 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
7755 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
7758 @kindex W W s (Summary)
7759 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
7760 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
7764 @kindex W W l (Summary)
7765 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
7766 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7767 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
7768 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
7769 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
7770 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
7771 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
7775 @item gnus-list-identifiers
7776 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7777 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
7778 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
7783 @kindex W W p (Summary)
7784 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
7785 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7786 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
7787 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
7788 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
7789 articles that have signatures in them do:
7791 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
7793 (setq gnus-treat-strip-pgp t)
7795 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
7796 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
7798 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7801 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
7806 @kindex W W P (Summary)
7807 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
7808 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
7809 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
7812 @kindex W W B (Summary)
7813 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
7816 @cindex stripping advertisements
7817 @cindex advertisements
7818 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
7819 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
7820 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
7821 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
7822 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
7823 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
7824 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
7825 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
7826 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
7827 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
7831 @kindex W W c (Summary)
7832 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
7833 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
7834 customizing the hiding:
7838 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
7839 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
7840 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
7841 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
7842 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
7843 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
7844 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
7849 Starting point of the hidden text.
7851 Ending point of the hidden text.
7853 Number of characters in the hidden region.
7855 Number of lines of hidden text.
7858 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
7859 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
7860 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
7861 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
7862 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
7867 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
7868 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
7870 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
7871 following two variables:
7874 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
7875 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
7876 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
7877 50), hide the cited text.
7879 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
7880 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
7881 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
7886 @kindex W W C (Summary)
7887 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
7888 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
7889 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
7890 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
7891 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
7895 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
7896 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
7897 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
7899 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
7900 citation customization.
7902 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
7906 @node Article Washing
7907 @subsection Article Washing
7909 @cindex article washing
7911 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
7912 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
7914 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
7915 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
7918 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
7919 articles by default.
7924 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
7925 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
7929 @kindex W l (Summary)
7930 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
7931 Remove page breaks from the current article
7932 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
7936 @kindex W r (Summary)
7937 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
7938 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
7939 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
7940 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
7941 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
7942 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
7944 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
7945 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
7946 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
7947 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
7951 @kindex W t (Summary)
7953 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
7954 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
7955 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
7958 @kindex W v (Summary)
7959 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
7960 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
7961 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
7964 @kindex W o (Summary)
7965 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
7966 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
7969 @kindex W d (Summary)
7970 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
7971 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
7973 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
7975 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
7976 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
7977 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
7978 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
7981 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
7982 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
7983 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
7984 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
7987 @kindex W w (Summary)
7988 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
7989 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
7991 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
7995 @kindex W Q (Summary)
7996 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
7997 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
8000 @kindex W C (Summary)
8001 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
8002 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
8003 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
8006 @kindex W c (Summary)
8007 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
8008 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
8009 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
8010 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
8011 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
8014 @kindex W q (Summary)
8015 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
8016 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
8017 Quoted-Printable is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending
8018 non-ASCII (i. e., 8-bit) articles. It typically makes strings like
8019 @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which doesn't look very
8020 readable to me. Note that the this is usually done automatically by
8021 Gnus if the message in question has a @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding}
8022 header that says that this encoding has been done.
8023 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8026 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
8027 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
8028 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}).
8029 Base64 is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending non-ASCII
8030 (i. e., 8-bit) articles. Note that the this is usually done
8031 automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8032 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding has
8034 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8037 @kindex W Z (Summary)
8038 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
8039 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
8040 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
8041 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
8044 @kindex W h (Summary)
8045 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
8046 Treat HTML (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}).
8047 Note that the this is usually done automatically by Gnus if the message
8048 in question has a @code{Content-Type} header that says that this type
8050 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8053 @kindex W f (Summary)
8055 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
8056 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
8057 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
8058 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
8065 Look for and display any X-Face headers
8066 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
8067 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
8068 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
8069 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
8070 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
8071 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
8072 The default action under Emacs is to fork off the @code{display}
8073 program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For
8074 the @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
8075 like `compface' or `faces-xface' on a GNU/Linux system.} to view the
8076 face. Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image support, the
8077 default action is to display the face before the @code{From} header.
8078 (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face support---that will
8079 make display somewhat faster. If there's no native X-Face support, Gnus
8080 will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using external programs
8081 from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux
8082 system look for packages with names like @code{netpbm} or
8083 @code{libgr-progs}.}) If you want to have this function in the display
8084 hook, it should probably come last.
8085 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not @code{xface}).
8088 @kindex W b (Summary)
8089 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
8090 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
8091 @xref{Article Buttons}.
8094 @kindex W B (Summary)
8095 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
8096 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
8097 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
8100 @kindex W p (Summary)
8101 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
8102 Verify a signed control message (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}).
8103 Control messages such as @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are
8104 usually signed by the hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the PGP
8105 public key of the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
8106 message.@footnote{PGP keys for many hierarchies are available at
8107 @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
8110 @kindex W s (Summary)
8111 @findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
8112 Verify a signed (PGP, PGP/MIME or S/MIME) message
8113 (@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}).
8116 @kindex W u (Summary)
8117 @findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
8118 Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
8121 @kindex W W H (Summary)
8122 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body
8123 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
8124 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body}).
8127 @kindex W E l (Summary)
8128 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
8129 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
8130 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
8133 @kindex W E m (Summary)
8134 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
8135 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
8136 lines with a single empty line.
8137 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
8140 @kindex W E t (Summary)
8141 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
8142 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
8143 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
8146 @kindex W E a (Summary)
8147 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
8148 Do all the three commands above
8149 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
8152 @kindex W E A (Summary)
8153 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
8154 Remove all blank lines
8155 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
8158 @kindex W E s (Summary)
8159 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
8160 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
8161 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
8164 @kindex W E e (Summary)
8165 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
8166 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
8167 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
8171 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
8174 @node Article Buttons
8175 @subsection Article Buttons
8178 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
8179 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
8180 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
8181 button on these references.
8183 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
8184 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
8185 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
8190 @item gnus-button-alist
8191 @vindex gnus-button-alist
8192 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
8195 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8201 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
8202 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
8203 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
8206 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
8207 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
8208 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
8211 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
8212 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
8213 avoid false matches.
8216 This function will be called when you click on this button.
8219 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
8220 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
8224 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
8227 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
8230 @item gnus-header-button-alist
8231 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
8232 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
8233 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
8234 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
8237 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8240 @var{header} is a regular expression.
8242 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
8243 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
8244 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
8245 default values of the variables above.
8247 @item gnus-article-button-face
8248 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
8249 Face used on buttons.
8251 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
8252 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
8253 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
8257 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
8261 @subsection Article Date
8263 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
8264 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
8265 when the article was sent.
8270 @kindex W T u (Summary)
8271 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
8272 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
8273 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
8276 @kindex W T i (Summary)
8277 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
8279 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
8280 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
8283 @kindex W T l (Summary)
8284 @findex gnus-article-date-local
8285 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
8288 @kindex W T p (Summary)
8289 @findex gnus-article-date-english
8290 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
8291 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
8294 @kindex W T s (Summary)
8295 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
8296 @findex gnus-article-date-user
8297 @findex format-time-string
8298 Display the date using a user-defined format
8299 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
8300 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
8301 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
8302 for a list of possible format specs.
8305 @kindex W T e (Summary)
8306 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
8307 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
8308 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
8309 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
8310 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
8313 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
8316 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
8317 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
8320 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
8321 into wonderful absurdities.
8323 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
8326 (gnus-start-date-timer)
8329 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
8330 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
8334 @kindex W T o (Summary)
8335 @findex gnus-article-date-original
8336 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
8337 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
8338 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
8339 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
8340 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
8344 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
8345 preferred format automatically.
8348 @node Article Signature
8349 @subsection Article Signature
8351 @cindex article signature
8353 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8354 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
8355 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
8356 that says what is to be considered a signature is
8357 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
8358 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
8359 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
8360 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
8361 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
8364 (setq gnus-signature-separator
8365 '("^-- $" ; The standard
8366 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
8367 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
8368 ; line of dashes. Shame!
8369 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
8370 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
8371 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
8374 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
8377 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
8378 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
8379 signature when displaying articles.
8383 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
8386 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
8389 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
8390 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
8392 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
8393 in question is not a signature.
8396 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
8397 listed above. Here's an example:
8400 (setq gnus-signature-limit
8401 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
8404 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
8405 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
8406 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
8407 signature after all.
8410 @node Article Miscellania
8411 @subsection Article Miscellania
8415 @kindex A t (Summary)
8416 @findex gnus-article-babel
8417 Translate the article from one language to another
8418 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
8424 @section @sc{mime} Commands
8425 @cindex MIME decoding
8427 @cindex viewing attachments
8429 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
8430 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @sc{mime} part''.
8436 @kindex K v (Summary)
8437 View the @sc{mime} part.
8440 @kindex K o (Summary)
8441 Save the @sc{mime} part.
8444 @kindex K c (Summary)
8445 Copy the @sc{mime} part.
8448 @kindex K e (Summary)
8449 View the @sc{mime} part externally.
8452 @kindex K i (Summary)
8453 View the @sc{mime} part internally.
8456 @kindex K | (Summary)
8457 Pipe the @sc{mime} part to an external command.
8460 The rest of these @sc{mime} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
8465 @kindex K b (Summary)
8466 Make all the @sc{mime} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
8467 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
8471 @kindex K m (Summary)
8472 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
8473 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
8474 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
8475 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
8476 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
8479 @kindex X m (Summary)
8480 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
8481 Save all parts matching a @sc{mime} type to a directory
8482 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
8483 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8486 @kindex M-t (Summary)
8487 @findex gnus-summary-display-buttonized
8488 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
8489 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
8492 @kindex W M w (Summary)
8493 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
8494 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
8497 @kindex W M c (Summary)
8498 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
8499 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
8501 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
8502 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
8503 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
8504 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not include
8505 MIME headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic parameter to
8506 the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
8509 @kindex W M v (Summary)
8510 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
8511 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
8518 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
8519 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
8520 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8521 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
8524 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
8527 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
8531 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
8532 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
8533 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8534 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
8535 displayed or this variable is overriden by
8536 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
8539 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
8540 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
8541 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8542 this list will have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
8543 displayed. This variable overrides
8544 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
8546 To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
8547 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
8548 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} to the default value.
8550 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
8551 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
8552 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
8553 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
8554 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
8555 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
8556 save all jpegs into some directory).
8558 Here's an example function the does the latter:
8561 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
8562 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
8564 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
8565 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
8566 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
8567 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
8568 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
8571 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
8572 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
8573 Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
8575 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
8576 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
8577 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @sc{mime} parts.
8578 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
8580 Ready-made functions include@*
8581 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
8582 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
8583 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
8584 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
8585 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
8586 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
8587 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
8588 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
8589 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
8590 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
8591 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
8592 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
8594 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
8595 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
8597 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
8598 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
8599 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
8602 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
8603 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
8604 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
8605 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
8609 to your @file{.gnus} file.
8618 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
8619 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
8620 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
8621 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
8622 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
8623 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
8624 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
8626 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
8627 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
8628 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
8629 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
8631 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
8632 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
8633 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
8634 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
8635 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
8636 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
8637 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
8638 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
8640 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
8641 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
8642 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @sc{mime}
8643 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
8644 quoted-printable header encoding.
8646 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
8647 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
8648 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
8652 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
8655 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
8656 means encode all charsets),
8658 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
8659 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
8660 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
8667 @cindex coding system aliases
8668 @cindex preferred charset
8670 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
8672 If there are several @sc{mime} charsets that encode the same Emacs
8673 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
8676 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
8677 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
8680 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
8681 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @sc{mime} charset.
8683 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
8686 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
8689 This will almost do the right thing.
8691 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
8695 (codepage-setup 1251)
8696 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
8700 @node Article Commands
8701 @section Article Commands
8708 @kindex A P (Summary)
8709 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
8710 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
8711 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
8712 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will
8713 be run just before printing the buffer. An alternative way to print
8714 article is to use Muttprint (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
8719 @node Summary Sorting
8720 @section Summary Sorting
8721 @cindex summary sorting
8723 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
8724 can't really see why you'd want that.
8729 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
8730 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
8731 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
8734 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
8735 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
8736 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
8739 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
8740 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
8741 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
8744 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
8745 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
8746 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
8749 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
8750 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
8751 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
8754 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
8755 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
8756 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
8759 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
8760 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
8761 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
8764 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
8765 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
8766 Sort using the default sorting method
8767 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
8770 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
8771 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
8772 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
8773 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
8774 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
8778 @node Finding the Parent
8779 @section Finding the Parent
8780 @cindex parent articles
8781 @cindex referring articles
8786 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
8787 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
8788 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
8789 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
8790 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
8791 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
8792 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
8793 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
8794 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
8796 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
8797 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
8798 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
8799 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
8800 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
8804 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
8805 @kindex A R (Summary)
8806 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
8807 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
8810 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
8811 @kindex A T (Summary)
8812 Display the full thread where the current article appears
8813 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
8814 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
8815 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
8816 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
8817 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
8818 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
8820 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
8821 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
8822 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
8823 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
8824 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
8825 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
8828 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
8829 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
8831 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
8832 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
8833 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
8834 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
8835 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
8836 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
8837 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
8840 The current select method will be used when fetching by
8841 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
8842 by giving this command a prefix.
8844 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
8845 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
8846 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
8847 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
8848 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
8849 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
8852 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
8853 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
8854 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
8857 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
8858 then ask Deja if that fails:
8861 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
8863 (nnweb "refer" (nnweb-type dejanews))))
8866 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
8867 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox}
8868 and @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
8869 @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder} and @code{nnimap}1 are only able to locate
8870 articles that have been posted to the current group. (Anything else
8871 would be too time consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at
8875 @node Alternative Approaches
8876 @section Alternative Approaches
8878 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
8879 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
8882 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
8883 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
8888 @subsection Pick and Read
8889 @cindex pick and read
8891 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
8892 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
8893 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
8894 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
8896 @findex gnus-pick-mode
8897 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
8898 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
8899 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
8900 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
8901 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
8903 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
8908 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
8909 Pick the article or thread on the current line
8910 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
8911 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
8912 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
8913 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
8914 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
8915 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
8918 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
8919 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
8920 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
8921 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
8925 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
8926 Unpick the thread or article
8927 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
8928 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
8929 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
8930 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
8931 the thread or article at that line.
8935 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
8936 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
8937 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
8938 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
8939 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
8940 will still be visible when you are reading.
8944 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
8945 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
8946 which is mapped to the same function
8947 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
8949 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
8952 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
8955 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
8956 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
8958 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
8959 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
8960 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
8962 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
8963 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
8964 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
8965 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
8966 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
8967 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
8968 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
8972 @subsection Binary Groups
8973 @cindex binary groups
8975 @findex gnus-binary-mode
8976 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
8977 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
8978 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
8979 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
8980 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
8981 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
8984 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
8985 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
8986 command, when you have turned on this mode
8987 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
8989 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
8990 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
8994 @section Tree Display
8997 @vindex gnus-use-trees
8998 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
8999 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
9000 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
9003 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
9006 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
9007 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
9008 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
9010 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9011 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9012 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
9013 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
9014 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
9016 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
9017 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
9018 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
9019 default is @code{modeline}.
9021 @item gnus-tree-line-format
9022 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
9023 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
9024 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
9025 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
9026 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
9027 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
9033 The name of the poster.
9035 The @code{From} header.
9037 The number of the article.
9039 The opening bracket.
9041 The closing bracket.
9046 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
9048 Variables related to the display are:
9051 @item gnus-tree-brackets
9052 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
9053 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
9054 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @code{((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
9055 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close}) (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))}, and the
9056 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
9058 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9059 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9060 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
9061 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
9065 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
9066 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
9067 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
9068 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
9069 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
9070 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
9071 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
9072 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
9073 other windows displayed next to it.
9075 You may also wish to add the following hook to keep the window minimized
9079 (add-hook 'gnus-configure-windows-hook
9080 'gnus-tree-perhaps-minimize)
9083 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
9084 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
9085 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9086 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
9087 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
9088 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
9089 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
9093 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
9096 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
9106 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
9110 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
9111 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
9113 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
9115 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
9120 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
9121 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
9122 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
9125 (setq gnus-use-trees t
9126 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9127 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
9128 (gnus-add-configuration
9132 (summary 0.75 point)
9137 @xref{Window Layout}.
9140 @node Mail Group Commands
9141 @section Mail Group Commands
9142 @cindex mail group commands
9144 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
9145 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
9147 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
9148 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9153 @kindex B e (Summary)
9154 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
9155 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
9156 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
9157 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
9158 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
9161 @kindex B C-M-e (Summary)
9162 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
9163 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
9164 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
9165 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
9166 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
9169 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
9170 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
9171 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
9172 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
9173 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
9174 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
9177 @kindex B m (Summary)
9179 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
9180 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
9181 Move the article from one mail group to another
9182 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9183 @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9186 @kindex B c (Summary)
9188 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
9189 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
9190 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
9191 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9192 @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9195 @kindex B B (Summary)
9196 @cindex crosspost mail
9197 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
9198 Crosspost the current article to some other group
9199 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
9200 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
9201 be properly updated.
9204 @kindex B i (Summary)
9205 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
9206 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
9207 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
9208 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9211 @kindex B r (Summary)
9212 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
9213 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
9214 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
9215 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
9216 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
9217 Marks will be preserved if @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
9218 (which is the default).
9222 @kindex B w (Summary)
9224 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
9225 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
9226 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
9227 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
9228 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
9229 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
9232 @kindex B q (Summary)
9233 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
9234 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
9235 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
9236 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
9239 @kindex B t (Summary)
9240 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
9241 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
9242 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
9245 @kindex B p (Summary)
9246 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
9247 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
9248 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
9249 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
9250 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
9251 article from your news server (or rather, from
9252 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
9253 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
9254 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
9255 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
9256 just not have arrived yet.
9260 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
9261 @cindex moving articles
9262 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
9263 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
9264 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
9265 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
9266 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
9267 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
9268 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
9271 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
9272 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
9273 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
9274 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
9278 @node Various Summary Stuff
9279 @section Various Summary Stuff
9282 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
9283 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
9284 * Summary Generation Commands::
9285 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
9289 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
9290 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
9291 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
9293 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
9294 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
9295 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
9296 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
9297 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
9298 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
9301 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9302 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9303 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
9304 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
9305 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
9307 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9308 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9309 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
9312 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
9313 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
9314 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
9315 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
9316 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
9317 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
9318 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
9319 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
9320 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
9321 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
9323 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
9324 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
9325 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
9326 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
9327 list of articles to be selected.
9329 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
9330 the list in one particular group:
9333 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
9334 (if (string= group "some.group")
9335 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
9339 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-variables
9340 @item gnus-newsgroup-variables
9341 A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
9342 variables and their default values (when the default values are not
9343 nil), that should be made global while the summary buffer is active.
9344 These variables can be used to set variables in the group parameters
9345 while still allowing them to affect operations done in other
9346 buffers. For example:
9349 (setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
9350 '(message-use-followup-to
9351 (gnus-visible-headers .
9352 "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
9358 @node Summary Group Information
9359 @subsection Summary Group Information
9364 @kindex H f (Summary)
9365 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
9366 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
9367 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
9368 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
9369 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
9370 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
9371 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
9372 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
9373 be used for fetching the file.
9376 @kindex H d (Summary)
9377 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
9378 Give a brief description of the current group
9379 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
9380 rereading the description from the server.
9383 @kindex H h (Summary)
9384 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
9385 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
9386 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
9389 @kindex H i (Summary)
9390 @findex gnus-info-find-node
9391 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
9395 @node Searching for Articles
9396 @subsection Searching for Articles
9401 @kindex M-s (Summary)
9402 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
9403 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
9404 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
9407 @kindex M-r (Summary)
9408 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
9409 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
9410 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
9414 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
9415 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
9416 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
9417 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
9418 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
9419 search backward instead.
9421 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string #} will put the process mark on
9422 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
9425 @kindex M-& (Summary)
9426 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
9427 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
9428 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
9431 @node Summary Generation Commands
9432 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
9437 @kindex Y g (Summary)
9438 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
9439 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
9442 @kindex Y c (Summary)
9443 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
9444 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
9445 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
9450 @node Really Various Summary Commands
9451 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
9457 @kindex C-d (Summary)
9458 @kindex A D (Summary)
9459 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
9460 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
9461 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
9462 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
9463 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
9464 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
9465 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
9466 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
9470 @kindex C-M-d (Summary)
9471 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
9472 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
9473 several documents into one biiig group
9474 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
9475 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
9476 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
9477 command understands the process/prefix convention
9478 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9481 @kindex C-t (Summary)
9482 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
9483 Toggle truncation of summary lines
9484 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
9485 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
9486 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
9490 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
9491 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
9492 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
9495 @kindex C-M-e (Summary)
9496 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
9497 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
9498 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
9501 @kindex C-M-a (Summary)
9502 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
9503 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
9504 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
9509 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
9510 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
9511 @cindex summary exit
9512 @cindex exiting groups
9514 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
9515 group and return you to the group buffer.
9521 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
9523 @findex gnus-summary-exit
9524 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
9525 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
9526 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
9527 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
9528 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
9529 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
9530 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
9531 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
9532 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
9533 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
9537 @kindex Z E (Summary)
9539 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
9540 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
9541 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
9545 @kindex Z c (Summary)
9547 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
9548 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
9549 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
9550 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
9553 @kindex Z C (Summary)
9554 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
9555 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
9556 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
9559 @kindex Z n (Summary)
9560 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
9561 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
9562 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
9565 @kindex Z R (Summary)
9566 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
9567 Exit this group, and then enter it again
9568 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
9569 all articles, both read and unread.
9573 @kindex Z G (Summary)
9574 @kindex M-g (Summary)
9575 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
9576 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
9577 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
9578 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
9579 articles, both read and unread.
9582 @kindex Z N (Summary)
9583 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
9584 Exit the group and go to the next group
9585 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
9588 @kindex Z P (Summary)
9589 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
9590 Exit the group and go to the previous group
9591 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
9594 @kindex Z s (Summary)
9595 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
9596 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
9597 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
9598 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
9599 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
9602 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
9603 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
9604 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
9605 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
9607 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
9608 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
9609 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
9610 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
9611 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
9612 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
9613 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
9614 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
9615 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
9616 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
9617 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
9618 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
9620 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
9622 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
9623 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
9624 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
9625 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
9626 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
9627 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
9628 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
9629 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
9630 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
9633 @node Crosspost Handling
9634 @section Crosspost Handling
9638 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
9639 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
9640 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
9641 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
9642 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
9643 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
9646 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
9647 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
9648 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
9649 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
9650 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
9652 @cindex cross-posting
9655 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
9656 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
9657 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
9658 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
9659 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
9660 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
9661 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
9662 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
9663 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
9664 the cross reference mechanism.
9666 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
9667 @cindex overview.fmt
9668 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
9669 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
9670 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
9671 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
9672 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
9673 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
9676 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
9677 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
9678 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
9683 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
9686 @node Duplicate Suppression
9687 @section Duplicate Suppression
9689 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
9690 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
9691 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
9692 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
9697 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
9698 is evil and not very common.
9701 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
9702 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
9705 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
9706 different @sc{nntp} servers.
9709 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
9712 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
9713 well, but these four are the most common situations.
9715 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
9716 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
9717 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
9718 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
9719 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
9720 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
9721 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
9724 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
9725 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
9726 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
9727 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
9728 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
9732 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
9733 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
9734 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
9736 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
9737 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
9738 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
9739 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
9740 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
9741 session are suppressed.
9743 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
9744 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
9745 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
9746 suppression list. The default is 10000.
9748 @item gnus-duplicate-file
9749 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
9750 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
9751 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
9754 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
9755 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
9756 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
9757 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
9758 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
9759 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
9760 to you to figure out, I think.
9765 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
9766 The formats that are supported are PGP (plain text, RFC 1991 format),
9767 PGP/MIME (RFC 2015/3156) and S/MIME, however you need some external
9768 programs to get things to work:
9772 To verify or decrypt PGP messages, you have to install mailcrypt or
9773 gpg.el as well as a OpenPGP implementation (such as GnuPG). @xref{Using GPG}.
9776 To verify or decrypt S/MIME message, you need to install OpenSSL.
9777 OpenSSL 0.9.6 or newer is recommended.
9781 More information on how to set things up can be found in the message
9782 manual. @xref{Security, ,Security, message, The Message Manual}.
9785 @item mm-verify-option
9786 @vindex mm-verify-option
9787 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
9788 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
9789 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
9791 @item mm-decrypt-option
9792 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
9793 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
9794 @code{always}, always decrypt @code{known}, only decrypt known
9795 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
9800 @section Mailing List
9802 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
9803 either add a `to-list' group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
9804 possibly using @kbd{A M} in the summary buffer, or say:
9807 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'turn-on-gnus-mailing-list-mode)
9810 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
9815 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
9816 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
9817 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
9820 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
9821 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
9822 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
9825 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
9826 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
9827 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
9831 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
9832 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
9833 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
9836 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
9837 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
9838 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
9841 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
9842 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
9843 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
9847 @node Article Buffer
9848 @chapter Article Buffer
9849 @cindex article buffer
9851 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
9852 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
9853 tell Gnus otherwise.
9856 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
9857 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
9858 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
9859 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
9860 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
9864 @node Hiding Headers
9865 @section Hiding Headers
9866 @cindex hiding headers
9867 @cindex deleting headers
9869 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
9870 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
9872 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
9873 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
9874 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
9875 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
9876 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
9877 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
9878 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
9879 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
9880 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
9882 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
9886 @item gnus-visible-headers
9887 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
9888 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
9889 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
9890 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
9892 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
9893 the article and the subject, you'd say:
9896 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
9899 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
9902 @item gnus-ignored-headers
9903 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
9904 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
9905 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
9906 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
9907 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
9909 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
9910 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
9913 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
9916 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
9919 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
9920 variable will have no effect.
9924 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
9925 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
9926 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
9927 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
9928 the headers are to be displayed.
9930 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
9931 and then the subject, you might say something like:
9934 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
9937 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
9938 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
9940 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
9941 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
9942 You can hide further boring headers by setting
9943 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
9944 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
9945 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
9946 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
9949 These conditions are:
9952 Remove all empty headers.
9954 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
9955 @code{Newsgroups} header.
9957 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
9960 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
9963 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
9964 the current groups's @code{to-address} parameter.
9966 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
9969 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
9971 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
9974 To include these three elements, you could say something like;
9977 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
9978 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
9981 This is also the default value for this variable.
9988 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
9989 while people stand around yawning.
9991 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
9992 while all newsreaders die of fear.
9994 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
9995 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
9996 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
9998 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
9999 @findex gnus-display-mime
10000 Gnus pushes @sc{mime} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
10001 to display the @sc{mime} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
10002 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
10003 display, save and manipulate the @sc{mime} objects.
10005 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
10009 @findex gnus-article-press-button
10010 @item RET (Article)
10011 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
10012 Toggle displaying of the @sc{mime} object
10013 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}).
10015 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
10016 @item M-RET (Article)
10018 Prompt for a method, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
10019 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
10021 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
10023 View the @sc{mime} object as if it were a different @sc{mime} media type
10024 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}).
10026 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset
10028 Prompt for a charset, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
10029 charset (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset}).
10031 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
10033 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @sc{mime} object
10034 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
10036 @findex gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip
10037 @item C-o (Article)
10038 Prompt for a file name, then save the @sc{mime} object and strip it from
10039 the article. Then proceed to article editing, where a reasonable
10040 suggestion is being made on how the altered article should look
10041 like. The stripped @sc{mime} object will be referred via the
10042 message/external-body @sc{mime} type.
10043 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip}).
10045 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
10047 Copy the @sc{mime} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
10048 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}).
10050 @findex gnus-mime-inline-part
10052 Insert the contents of the @sc{mime} object into the buffer
10053 (@code{gnus-mime-inline-part}) as text/plain. If given a prefix, insert
10054 the raw contents without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can
10055 do semi-manual charset stuff (see
10056 @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in @pxref{Paging the
10059 @findex gnus-mime-internalize-part
10061 View the @sc{mime} object with an internal viewer. If no internal
10062 viewer is available, use an external viewer
10063 (@code{gnus-mime-internalize-part}).
10065 @findex gnus-mime-externalize-part
10067 View the @sc{mime} object with an external viewer.
10068 (@code{gnus-mime-externalize-part}).
10070 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
10072 Output the @sc{mime} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
10074 @findex gnus-mime-action-on-part
10076 Interactively run an action on the @sc{mime} object
10077 (@code{gnus-mime-action-on-part}).
10081 Gnus will display some @sc{mime} objects automatically. The way Gnus
10082 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs MIME
10085 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
10086 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
10087 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
10088 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
10089 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
10090 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
10091 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
10092 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
10093 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
10095 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
10097 Also see @pxref{MIME Commands}.
10100 @node Customizing Articles
10101 @section Customizing Articles
10102 @cindex article customization
10104 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
10105 exist. You can call these functions interactively, or you can have them
10106 called automatically when you select the articles.
10108 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
10109 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
10110 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
10111 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
10113 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
10114 for sensible values.
10118 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
10121 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
10124 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
10127 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
10130 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
10134 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
10135 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
10136 regexps in the list.
10139 A list where the first element is not a string:
10141 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
10142 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
10143 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
10147 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
10152 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
10153 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
10154 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
10155 considered to contain just a single part.
10157 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
10158 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
10159 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
10160 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
10161 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
10162 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
10163 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
10165 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
10166 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
10167 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
10168 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
10171 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
10172 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
10173 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
10174 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
10175 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
10176 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
10177 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
10178 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
10179 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
10180 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
10181 @item gnus-treat-display-picons (head)
10182 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
10183 @item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
10184 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
10185 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
10186 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
10187 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
10188 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
10189 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
10190 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
10191 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
10192 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
10193 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
10194 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
10195 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
10196 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
10197 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
10198 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
10199 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
10200 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
10201 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
10202 @item gnus-treat-strip-pgp (t, last, integer)
10203 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
10204 @item gnus-treat-translate
10205 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
10208 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
10209 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
10210 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
10211 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
10212 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
10216 @node Article Keymap
10217 @section Article Keymap
10219 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
10220 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
10221 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
10222 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
10225 A few additional keystrokes are available:
10230 @kindex SPACE (Article)
10231 @findex gnus-article-next-page
10232 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
10235 @kindex DEL (Article)
10236 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
10237 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
10240 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
10241 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
10242 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
10243 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
10244 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
10247 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
10248 @findex gnus-article-mail
10249 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
10250 given a prefix, include the mail.
10253 @kindex s (Article)
10254 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
10255 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
10256 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
10259 @kindex ? (Article)
10260 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
10261 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
10262 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
10265 @kindex TAB (Article)
10266 @findex gnus-article-next-button
10267 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
10268 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
10271 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
10272 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
10273 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
10279 @section Misc Article
10283 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
10284 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
10285 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
10286 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
10289 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
10290 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
10292 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
10293 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
10295 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
10296 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
10297 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
10298 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
10299 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
10300 the contents of the article buffer.
10302 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
10303 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
10304 Hook called in article mode buffers.
10306 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
10307 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
10308 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
10309 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
10311 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
10312 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
10313 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
10314 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
10315 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
10321 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
10322 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
10323 performed. The characters and their meaning:
10328 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
10331 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
10334 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
10335 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
10336 security status, i.e. good or bad signature.)
10339 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
10342 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
10345 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasised strings in the article buffer.
10350 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
10354 @vindex gnus-break-pages
10356 @item gnus-break-pages
10357 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
10358 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
10359 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
10360 paging will not be done.
10362 @item gnus-page-delimiter
10363 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
10364 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
10369 @node Composing Messages
10370 @chapter Composing Messages
10371 @cindex composing messages
10374 @cindex sending mail
10380 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
10381 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
10382 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
10383 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The
10384 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
10385 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
10388 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
10389 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
10390 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
10391 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
10392 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
10393 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
10394 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
10395 * Using GPG:: How to use GPG and MML to sign and encrypt messages
10398 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
10399 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
10405 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
10408 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
10409 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
10410 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
10411 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
10413 @item gnus-add-to-list
10414 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
10415 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
10416 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
10421 @node Posting Server
10422 @section Posting Server
10424 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
10425 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
10427 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
10429 @vindex gnus-post-method
10431 It can be quite complicated. Normally, Gnus will post using the same
10432 select method as you're reading from (which might be convenient if
10433 you're reading lots of groups from different private servers).
10434 However. If the server you're reading from doesn't allow posting,
10435 just reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
10436 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
10437 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
10440 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
10443 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
10444 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
10445 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
10446 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
10448 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
10449 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
10451 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
10452 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
10455 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
10456 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
10459 @node Mail and Post
10460 @section Mail and Post
10462 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
10466 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
10467 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
10468 @cindex mailing lists
10470 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
10471 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
10472 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
10473 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
10474 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
10475 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
10476 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
10477 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
10478 still a pain, though.
10482 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
10483 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
10484 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
10487 @findex ispell-message
10489 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
10492 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
10493 you're in, you could say something like the following:
10496 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
10500 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
10501 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
10503 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
10506 Modify to suit your needs.
10509 @node Archived Messages
10510 @section Archived Messages
10511 @cindex archived messages
10512 @cindex sent messages
10514 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
10515 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
10516 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
10517 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
10520 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
10521 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
10522 use to store sent messages. The default is:
10525 (nnfolder "archive"
10526 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
10527 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
10528 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
10529 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
10532 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
10533 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
10534 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
10535 directory chosen, you could say something like:
10538 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
10539 '(nnfolder "archive"
10540 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
10541 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
10542 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
10545 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
10547 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
10548 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
10549 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
10551 This variable can be used to do the following:
10556 Messages will be saved in that group.
10558 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
10559 message will not be stored in the select method given by
10560 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
10561 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
10562 has the default value shown above. Then setting
10563 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
10564 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
10565 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
10569 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
10571 an alist of regexps, functions and forms
10572 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
10575 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
10580 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
10582 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
10585 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
10587 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
10590 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
10592 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
10593 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
10594 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
10595 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
10598 More complex stuff:
10600 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
10601 '((if (message-news-p)
10606 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
10607 messages in one file per month:
10610 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
10611 '((if (message-news-p)
10613 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
10616 @c (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
10617 @c use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
10619 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
10620 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
10621 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
10622 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
10623 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
10624 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
10625 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
10626 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
10627 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
10628 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
10630 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
10631 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
10632 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
10633 this will disable archiving.
10636 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
10637 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
10638 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
10639 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
10640 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
10643 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
10644 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
10645 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
10648 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
10649 but the latter is the preferred method.
10651 @item gnus-inews-mark-gcc-as-read
10652 @vindex gnus-inews-mark-gcc-as-read
10653 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
10658 @node Posting Styles
10659 @section Posting Styles
10660 @cindex posting styles
10663 All them variables, they make my head swim.
10665 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
10666 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
10667 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
10670 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
10671 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
10672 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
10673 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
10674 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
10679 (signature "Peace and happiness")
10680 (organization "What me?"))
10682 (signature "Death to everybody"))
10683 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
10684 (organization "Emacs is it")))
10687 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
10688 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
10689 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
10690 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
10691 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
10692 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
10693 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
10694 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
10696 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
10697 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
10698 If it is the symbol @code{header}, then Gnus will look for header (the
10699 next element in the match) in the original article , and compare that to
10700 the last regexp in the match. If it's a function symbol, that function
10701 will be called with no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the
10702 variable will be referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be
10703 @code{eval}ed. In any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value,
10704 then the style is said to @dfn{match}.
10706 Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
10707 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. The
10708 attribute name can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
10709 @code{organization}, @code{address}, @code{name} or @code{body}. The
10710 attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
10711 a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
10712 article; if the value is @code{nil}, the header name will be removed.
10713 If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated, and the
10714 result is thrown away.
10716 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
10717 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
10718 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
10719 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
10720 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
10721 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable.
10723 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
10724 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
10725 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
10727 @findex message-mail-p
10728 @findex message-news-p
10730 So here's a new example:
10733 (setq gnus-posting-styles
10735 (signature-file "~/.signature")
10737 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
10738 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
10740 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
10741 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
10742 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
10744 (signature my-news-signature))
10745 (header "to" "larsi.*org"
10746 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
10747 ((posting-from-work-p)
10748 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
10749 (address "user@@bar.foo")
10750 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
10751 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
10753 (From (save-excursion
10754 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
10755 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
10757 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
10760 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
10761 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
10762 if you fill many roles.
10769 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
10770 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
10771 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
10772 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
10773 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
10775 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
10776 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
10777 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
10778 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
10779 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
10783 @vindex nndraft-directory
10784 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
10785 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
10786 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
10787 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
10788 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
10789 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
10791 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
10792 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
10795 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
10796 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
10797 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
10798 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
10799 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
10800 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
10801 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
10802 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
10803 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
10804 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
10805 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
10806 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
10807 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
10808 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
10810 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
10811 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
10812 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
10814 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
10815 @kindex D e (Draft)
10816 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
10817 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
10818 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
10820 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
10823 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
10824 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
10825 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
10826 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
10827 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
10828 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
10829 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
10832 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
10833 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
10834 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
10837 @node Rejected Articles
10838 @section Rejected Articles
10839 @cindex rejected articles
10841 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
10842 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
10843 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
10844 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
10846 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
10847 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
10848 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
10849 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
10850 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
10852 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
10853 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
10854 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
10860 Gnus has an ALPHA support to GPG that's provided by @file{gpg.el}. See
10861 @code{mm-verify-option} and @code{mm-decrypt-option} to enable Gnus to
10862 verify or decrypt messages accordingly.
10864 To use this correctly with GPG, you'll need the following lisp code in your
10865 @file{~/.emacs} or @file{~/.gnus}:
10869 (setq mml2015-use 'gpg)
10870 (setq mml1991-use 'gpg)
10871 (setq gpg-temp-directory (expand-file-name "~/.gnupg/tmp"))
10874 The @code{gpg-temp-directory} need to point to a directory with permissions set
10875 to 700, for your own safety.
10877 To sign or encrypt your message you may choose to use the MML Security
10878 menu or @kbd{C-c C-m s p} to sign your message using PGP/MIME,
10879 @kbd{C-c C-m s s} to sign your message using S/MIME. There's also
10880 @kbd{C-c C-m c p} to encrypt your message with PGP/MIME and @kbd{C-c
10881 C-m c s} to encrypt using S/MIME. @xref{Security, ,Security, message,
10882 The Message Manual}.
10884 Gnus will ask for your passphrase and then it will send your message, if
10885 you've typed it correctly.
10887 @node Select Methods
10888 @chapter Select Methods
10889 @cindex foreign groups
10890 @cindex select methods
10892 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
10893 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
10894 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
10895 personal mail group.
10897 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
10898 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
10899 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
10900 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
10901 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
10902 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
10904 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
10905 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
10907 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
10910 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
10911 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
10912 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
10913 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
10914 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
10916 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
10919 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
10920 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
10921 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
10922 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
10923 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
10924 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
10925 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
10926 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
10930 @node Server Buffer
10931 @section Server Buffer
10933 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
10934 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
10935 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
10936 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
10937 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
10938 back end represents a virtual server.
10940 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
10941 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
10942 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
10943 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
10945 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
10946 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
10947 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
10948 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
10949 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
10950 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
10951 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
10953 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
10954 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
10957 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
10958 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
10959 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
10960 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
10961 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
10962 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
10963 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
10966 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
10967 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
10970 @node Server Buffer Format
10971 @subsection Server Buffer Format
10972 @cindex server buffer format
10974 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
10975 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
10976 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
10977 variable, with some simple extensions:
10982 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
10985 The name of this server.
10988 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
10991 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
10994 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
10995 The mode line can also be customized by using the
10996 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
10997 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
11007 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
11010 @node Server Commands
11011 @subsection Server Commands
11012 @cindex server commands
11018 @findex gnus-server-add-server
11019 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
11023 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
11024 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
11027 @kindex SPACE (Server)
11028 @findex gnus-server-read-server
11029 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
11033 @findex gnus-server-exit
11034 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
11038 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
11039 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
11043 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
11044 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
11048 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
11049 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
11053 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
11054 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
11058 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
11059 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
11060 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
11065 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
11066 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
11067 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
11068 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
11073 @node Example Methods
11074 @subsection Example Methods
11076 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
11079 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
11082 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
11088 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
11089 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
11092 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
11093 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
11095 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
11096 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
11100 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
11103 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
11104 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
11106 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
11107 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
11108 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
11112 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
11115 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
11118 Here's the method for a public spool:
11122 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
11123 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
11129 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
11130 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
11131 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
11132 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
11133 should probably look something like this:
11137 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
11138 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
11139 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host")
11140 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
11143 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
11144 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
11145 configuration to the example above:
11148 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
11151 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
11152 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
11153 telnet connection to the news server as follows:
11157 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
11158 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-telnet)
11159 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
11160 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
11163 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
11164 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
11165 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
11166 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
11169 @node Creating a Virtual Server
11170 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
11172 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
11173 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
11175 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
11176 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
11177 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
11179 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
11181 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
11182 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
11183 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
11184 will contain the following:
11194 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
11195 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
11196 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
11199 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
11200 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
11201 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
11204 @node Server Variables
11205 @subsection Server Variables
11207 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
11208 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
11209 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
11210 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
11211 won't change the "derived" variables.
11213 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
11214 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
11215 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
11216 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
11217 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
11218 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
11219 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
11220 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
11221 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
11225 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
11226 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
11227 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
11231 @node Servers and Methods
11232 @subsection Servers and Methods
11234 Wherever you would normally use a select method
11235 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
11236 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
11237 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
11241 @node Unavailable Servers
11242 @subsection Unavailable Servers
11244 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
11245 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
11246 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
11247 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
11248 actually the case or not.
11250 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
11251 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
11252 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
11253 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
11254 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
11255 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
11256 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
11257 it will regard that server as ``down''.
11259 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
11260 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
11262 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
11263 with the following commands:
11269 @findex gnus-server-open-server
11270 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
11271 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
11275 @findex gnus-server-close-server
11276 Close the connection (if any) to the server
11277 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
11281 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
11282 Mark the current server as unreachable
11283 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
11286 @kindex M-o (Server)
11287 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
11288 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
11289 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
11292 @kindex M-c (Server)
11293 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
11294 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
11295 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
11299 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
11300 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
11301 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
11307 @section Getting News
11308 @cindex reading news
11309 @cindex news back ends
11311 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
11312 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
11313 or it can read from a local spool.
11316 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
11317 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
11322 @subsection @sc{nntp}
11325 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
11326 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
11327 server as the, uhm, address.
11329 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
11330 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
11331 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
11332 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
11334 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
11335 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
11336 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
11338 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
11343 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
11344 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
11345 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
11347 @cindex authentification
11348 @cindex nntp authentification
11349 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
11350 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
11351 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
11352 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
11353 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
11354 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
11355 present in this hook.
11357 @item nntp-authinfo-function
11358 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
11359 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
11360 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
11361 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
11362 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
11363 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
11364 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
11365 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
11366 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
11367 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
11368 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
11372 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
11375 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
11377 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
11378 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
11379 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
11380 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
11381 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
11382 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
11383 @samp{force} is explained below.
11387 Here's an example file:
11390 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
11391 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
11394 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
11395 have to be first, for instance.
11397 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
11398 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
11399 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
11400 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
11401 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
11402 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
11403 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
11405 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
11406 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
11412 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
11413 previously mentioned.
11415 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
11417 @item nntp-server-action-alist
11418 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
11419 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
11420 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
11421 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
11424 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
11425 '(("innd" (ding))))
11428 You probably don't want to do that, though.
11430 The default value is
11433 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
11434 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
11435 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
11438 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
11439 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
11441 @item nntp-maximum-request
11442 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
11443 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this back end
11444 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
11445 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
11446 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
11447 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
11448 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
11450 @item nntp-connection-timeout
11451 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
11452 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
11453 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
11454 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
11455 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
11456 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
11457 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
11458 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
11459 no timeouts are done.
11461 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
11462 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
11463 @c @cindex PPP connections
11464 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
11465 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
11466 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
11467 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
11468 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
11469 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
11470 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
11471 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
11472 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
11473 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
11475 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
11476 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
11477 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
11478 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
11479 @c described above.
11481 @item nntp-server-hook
11482 @vindex nntp-server-hook
11483 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
11486 @item nntp-buggy-select
11487 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
11488 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
11490 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
11491 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
11492 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
11493 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
11496 @item nntp-xover-commands
11497 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
11500 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
11501 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
11505 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
11506 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
11507 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
11508 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
11509 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
11510 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
11511 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
11512 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
11513 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
11514 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
11515 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
11517 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
11518 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
11519 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
11521 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
11522 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
11523 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
11524 server closes connection.
11526 @item nntp-record-commands
11527 @vindex nntp-record-commands
11528 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
11529 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
11530 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
11531 that doesn't seem to work.
11533 @item nntp-open-connection-function
11534 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
11535 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
11536 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
11537 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
11538 Five pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped in
11539 two categories: direct connection functions (three pre-made), and
11540 indirect ones (two pre-made).
11542 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
11543 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
11544 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
11545 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
11546 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
11547 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
11548 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
11551 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
11554 Note that not all servers support the recommended ID. This works for
11555 INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
11559 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
11560 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
11561 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
11565 @node Direct Functions
11566 @subsubsection Direct Functions
11567 @cindex direct connection functions
11569 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
11570 between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server. The behavior of these
11571 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
11572 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
11575 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
11576 @item nntp-open-network-stream
11577 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
11580 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
11581 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
11582 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
11583 this you must have OpenSSL (@uref{http://www.openssl.org}) or SSLeay
11584 installed (@uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also
11585 need @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distribution, for instance). You then
11586 define a server as follows:
11589 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
11591 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
11593 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
11594 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
11595 (nntp-port-number "snews")
11596 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
11599 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
11600 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
11601 Opens a connection to an @sc{nntp} server by simply @samp{telnet}'ing
11602 it. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have the
11603 default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
11604 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
11605 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
11606 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
11610 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
11611 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
11612 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
11615 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
11616 session, which is not a good idea.
11620 @node Indirect Functions
11621 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
11622 @cindex indirect connection functions
11624 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
11625 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @sc{nntp} server.
11626 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
11627 the "via" family of connection: they're all prefixed with "via" to make
11628 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
11629 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
11632 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
11633 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
11634 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet}
11635 to the real @sc{nntp} server from there. This is useful for instance if
11636 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
11638 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
11641 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
11642 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
11643 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
11644 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
11647 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
11648 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
11649 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
11650 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
11652 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
11655 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
11656 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
11657 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
11660 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
11661 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
11662 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
11663 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
11665 @item nntp-via-user-password
11666 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
11667 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
11669 @item nntp-via-envuser
11670 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
11671 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
11672 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
11673 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
11675 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
11676 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
11677 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
11678 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
11685 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
11690 @item nntp-via-user-name
11691 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
11692 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
11694 @item nntp-via-address
11695 @vindex nntp-via-address
11696 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
11701 @node Common Variables
11702 @subsubsection Common Variables
11704 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
11705 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
11710 @item nntp-pre-command
11711 @vindex nntp-pre-command
11712 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native connection
11713 function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream} and
11714 @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}. This is where you would put a @samp{SOCKS}
11715 wrapper for instance.
11718 @vindex nntp-address
11719 The address of the @sc{nntp} server.
11721 @item nntp-port-number
11722 @vindex nntp-port-number
11723 Port number to connect to the @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{nntp}.
11725 @item nntp-end-of-line
11726 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
11727 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
11728 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
11729 using a non native connection function.
11731 @item nntp-telnet-command
11732 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
11733 Command to use when connecting to the @sc{nntp} server through
11734 @samp{telnet}. This is NOT for an intermediate host. This is just for
11735 the real @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{telnet}.
11737 @item nntp-telnet-switches
11738 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
11739 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-telnet-command}. The default
11746 @subsection News Spool
11750 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
11751 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
11752 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
11755 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
11756 anything else) as the address.
11758 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
11759 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
11760 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
11761 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
11765 @item nnspool-inews-program
11766 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
11767 Program used to post an article.
11769 @item nnspool-inews-switches
11770 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
11771 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
11773 @item nnspool-spool-directory
11774 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
11775 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
11776 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
11778 @item nnspool-nov-directory
11779 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
11780 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
11781 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
11783 @item nnspool-lib-dir
11784 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
11785 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
11787 @item nnspool-active-file
11788 @vindex nnspool-active-file
11789 The path to the active file.
11791 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
11792 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
11793 The path to the group descriptions file.
11795 @item nnspool-history-file
11796 @vindex nnspool-history-file
11797 The path to the news history file.
11799 @item nnspool-active-times-file
11800 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
11801 The path to the active date file.
11803 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
11804 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
11805 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
11808 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
11809 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
11811 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
11812 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
11813 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
11819 @section Getting Mail
11820 @cindex reading mail
11823 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
11827 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
11828 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
11829 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
11830 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
11831 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
11832 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
11833 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
11834 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
11835 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
11836 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
11837 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
11838 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
11839 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
11840 * Archiving Mail:: How to backup your mail.
11844 @node Mail in a Newsreader
11845 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
11847 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
11848 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
11849 of a culture shock.
11851 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
11852 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
11854 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
11855 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
11856 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
11857 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
11859 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
11861 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
11862 deleted? How awful!
11864 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
11865 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
11866 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
11867 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
11870 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
11871 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
11872 they want to treat a message.
11874 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
11875 via SMTP, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
11876 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
11877 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
11878 archived somewhere else.
11880 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
11881 These are transported via @sc{nntp}, and are therefore news. But we may need
11882 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
11883 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
11884 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
11886 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
11887 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
11888 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
11890 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
11891 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
11894 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
11895 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
11896 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
11897 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
11898 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
11900 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
11901 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
11902 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
11903 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
11904 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
11905 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
11909 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
11910 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
11912 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
11913 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
11914 and things will happen automatically.
11916 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
11917 mail" back end), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
11920 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
11923 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
11924 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
11925 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
11926 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
11927 like any other group.
11929 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
11932 (setq nnmail-split-methods
11933 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
11934 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
11938 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
11939 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
11940 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
11943 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
11944 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
11945 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
11948 @node Splitting Mail
11949 @subsection Splitting Mail
11950 @cindex splitting mail
11951 @cindex mail splitting
11953 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
11954 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
11955 to be split into groups.
11958 (setq nnmail-split-methods
11959 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
11960 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
11961 ("mail.other" "")))
11964 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
11965 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
11966 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
11967 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
11968 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
11969 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
11970 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
11973 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
11976 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
11977 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
11978 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
11979 mail belongs in that group.
11981 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
11982 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
11983 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
11984 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
11985 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
11986 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
11988 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
11989 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
11990 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
11991 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
11992 thinks should carry this mail message.
11994 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
11995 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
11996 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
11997 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
11999 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
12000 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
12001 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
12002 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
12003 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
12005 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
12008 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
12009 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
12010 links. If that's the case for you, set
12011 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
12012 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
12014 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
12015 @kindex nnmail-split-history
12016 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
12017 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
12018 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
12019 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
12022 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
12023 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
12024 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
12025 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
12026 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
12027 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
12028 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
12029 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
12030 month's rent money.
12034 @subsection Mail Sources
12036 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
12037 POP mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a maildir, for
12041 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
12042 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
12043 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
12047 @node Mail Source Specifiers
12048 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
12050 @cindex mail server
12053 @cindex mail source
12055 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
12056 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
12061 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
12064 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
12065 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
12066 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
12069 The following mail source types are available:
12073 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
12079 The path of the file. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
12080 environment variable or @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}.
12083 An example file mail source:
12086 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
12089 Or using the default path:
12095 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best to
12096 use POP or @sc{imap} or the like to fetch the mail. You can not use ange-ftp
12097 file names here---it has no way to lock the mail spool while moving the
12100 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
12104 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
12107 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
12111 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
12114 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
12116 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
12119 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
12123 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used
12124 when you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
12125 That is, mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool} will be put in the
12126 group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix to be used instead
12127 of @code{.spool}.) Setting
12128 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-nil forces Gnus
12129 to scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful if you
12130 want to scan mail groups at a specified level.
12136 The path of the directory where the files are. There is no default
12140 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
12144 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
12145 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
12146 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
12147 predicate are considered.
12151 Script run before/after fetching mail.
12155 An example directory mail source:
12158 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
12163 Get mail from a POP server.
12169 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
12170 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
12173 The port number of the POP server. This can be a number (eg,
12174 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
12175 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
12176 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
12177 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
12180 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
12184 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
12188 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This should be
12189 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
12192 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
12195 The valid format specifier characters are:
12199 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
12200 included in this string.
12203 The name of the server.
12206 The port number of the server.
12209 The user name to use.
12212 The password to use.
12215 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
12216 corresponding keywords.
12219 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
12220 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
12223 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
12224 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
12227 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
12228 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
12231 @item :authentication
12232 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
12233 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
12238 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
12239 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
12241 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
12242 default user name, and default fetcher:
12248 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
12251 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
12252 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
12255 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
12258 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
12262 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
12263 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
12264 contains exactly one mail.
12270 The path of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
12271 taken from the @code{MAILDIR} environment variable or
12274 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
12275 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
12277 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
12278 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
12279 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
12282 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
12283 from locking problems).
12287 Two example maildir mail sources:
12290 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
12291 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
12295 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
12300 Get mail from a @sc{imap} server. If you don't want to use @sc{imap}
12301 as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie with nnimap), for
12302 some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar to a POP server
12303 and fetches articles from a given @sc{imap} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for
12306 Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, SSL/TLS and STARTTLS support you
12307 may need external programs and libraries, @xref{IMAP}.
12313 The name of the @sc{imap} server. The default is taken from the
12314 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
12317 The port number of the @sc{imap} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
12318 @samp{993} for SSL/TLS connections.
12321 The user name to give to the @sc{imap} server. The default is the login
12325 The password to give to the @sc{imap} server. If not specified, the user is
12329 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
12330 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
12331 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{ssl},
12332 @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
12334 @item :authentication
12335 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
12336 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
12337 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
12338 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
12341 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
12342 mapped into the `imap-shell-program' variable. This should be a
12343 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
12349 The valid format specifier characters are:
12353 The name of the server.
12356 User name from `imap-default-user'.
12359 The port number of the server.
12362 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
12363 corresponding keywords.
12366 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
12367 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
12370 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
12371 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
12372 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @sc{imap} client and mark some
12373 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{nil}.
12374 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
12375 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 §6.4.4.
12378 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
12379 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
12380 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
12381 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 §2.3.2.
12384 If non-nil, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the mailbox
12385 after finishing the fetch.
12389 An example @sc{imap} mail source:
12392 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
12394 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
12398 Get mail from a webmail server, such as www.hotmail.com,
12399 webmail.netscape.com, www.netaddress.com, www.my-deja.com.
12401 NOTE: Now mail.yahoo.com provides POP3 service, so @sc{pop} mail source
12404 NOTE: Webmail largely depends cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
12405 required for url "4.0pre.46".
12407 WARNING: Mails may lost. NO WARRANTY.
12413 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
12414 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
12417 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
12421 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
12425 If non-nil, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to trash
12426 folder after finishing the fetch.
12430 An example webmail source:
12433 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
12435 :password "secret")
12440 @item Common Keywords
12441 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
12447 If non-nil, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you use
12448 directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this example:
12452 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
12457 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
12458 useful when you use local mail and news.
12463 @subsubsection Function Interface
12465 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
12466 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
12467 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
12468 consider the following mail-source setting:
12471 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
12472 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
12475 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
12476 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
12477 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
12478 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
12479 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
12481 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
12484 @node Mail Source Customization
12485 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
12487 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
12488 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
12492 @item mail-source-crash-box
12493 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
12494 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
12495 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
12497 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
12498 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
12499 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them.
12501 @item mail-source-directory
12502 @vindex mail-source-directory
12503 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
12504 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
12505 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
12508 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
12509 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
12510 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
12511 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
12512 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
12513 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil}.
12515 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
12516 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
12517 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
12519 @item mail-source-movemail-program
12520 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
12521 If non-nil, name of program for fetching new mail. If nil,
12522 @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
12527 @node Fetching Mail
12528 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
12530 @vindex mail-sources
12531 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
12532 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
12533 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
12534 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
12536 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
12537 @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to fetch mail by
12540 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
12541 mail server, you'd say something like:
12546 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
12547 :password "secret")))
12550 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
12554 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
12555 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
12558 :password "secret")))
12562 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
12563 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
12564 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
12565 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
12566 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
12567 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
12571 @node Mail Back End Variables
12572 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
12574 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
12578 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
12579 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
12580 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
12581 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
12583 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
12584 @item nnmail-split-hook
12585 @findex article-decode-encoded-words
12586 @findex RFC 1522 decoding
12587 @findex RFC 2047 decoding
12588 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
12589 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
12590 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
12591 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
12592 in the buffer will show up in any files.
12593 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
12596 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
12597 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
12598 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
12599 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
12600 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
12601 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
12602 starting to handle the new mail) and
12603 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
12604 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
12605 default file modes the new mail files get:
12608 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
12609 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
12611 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
12612 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
12615 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
12616 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
12617 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
12618 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
12619 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
12620 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
12621 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
12623 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
12624 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
12625 @findex delete-file
12626 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
12628 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
12629 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
12630 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
12631 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
12632 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
12637 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
12638 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
12639 @cindex mail splitting
12640 @cindex fancy mail splitting
12642 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
12643 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
12644 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
12645 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
12646 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
12647 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
12649 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
12652 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
12653 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
12654 ;; from real errors.
12655 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
12657 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
12658 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
12659 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
12660 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
12661 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
12662 ;; Other mailing lists...
12663 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
12664 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
12665 ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
12666 ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
12667 ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
12668 ;; message was really cross-posted.
12669 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
12670 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
12672 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
12673 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
12677 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
12678 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
12679 the five possible split syntaxes:
12684 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
12685 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
12689 @code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict}
12690 @code{[@dots{}]}@code{]} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the
12691 first element of which is a string, then store the message as
12692 specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field} (a regexp) contains
12693 @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp)
12694 matches some string after @var{field} and before the end of the
12695 matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If none of the
12696 @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
12699 @code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
12700 element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
12701 one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
12702 the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
12705 @code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
12706 element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
12709 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
12710 (i.e., delete) this message. Use with extreme caution.
12713 @code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
12714 a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
12715 be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
12716 function should return a @var{split}.
12719 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
12720 body of the messages:
12723 (defun split-on-body ()
12725 (set-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
12726 (goto-char (point-min))
12727 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
12731 The @samp{" *nnmail incoming*"} is narrowed to the message in question
12732 when the @code{:} function is run.
12735 @code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the first
12736 element is @code{!}, then SPLIT will be processed, and FUNC will be
12737 called as a function with the result of SPLIT as argument. FUNC should
12741 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
12745 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
12746 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
12747 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
12748 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
12749 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
12751 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
12752 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
12753 are expanded as specified by the variable
12754 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
12755 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
12758 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
12759 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
12760 when all this splitting is performed.
12762 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
12763 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
12764 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
12767 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
12770 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
12771 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
12773 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
12774 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
12775 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
12776 groupings 1 through 9.
12778 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
12779 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
12780 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
12781 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
12782 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
12783 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
12784 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
12785 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
12786 it once per thread.
12788 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} and
12789 @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-nil value. And then
12790 you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} using the colon
12793 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
12794 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
12795 ;; other splits go here
12799 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
12800 non-nil, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees in the
12801 file specified by the variable @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file},
12802 together with the group it is in (the group is omitted for non-mail
12803 messages). When mail splitting is invoked, the function
12804 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks at the References (and
12805 In-Reply-To) header of each message to split and searches the file
12806 specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file} for the message ids.
12807 When it has found a parent, it returns the corresponding group name
12808 unless the group name matches the regexp
12809 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is recommended
12810 that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a somewhat higher
12811 number than the default so that the message ids are still in the cache.
12812 (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some 300 kBytes in size.)
12813 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
12814 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
12815 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
12816 messages goes into the new group.
12819 @node Group Mail Splitting
12820 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
12821 @cindex mail splitting
12822 @cindex group mail splitting
12824 @findex gnus-group-split
12825 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
12826 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
12827 You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
12828 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
12829 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
12830 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
12831 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
12832 @var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
12834 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
12835 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
12836 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
12837 rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
12839 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
12840 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
12841 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
12842 @var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
12843 matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
12844 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
12845 @var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
12847 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
12848 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
12849 parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
12850 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
12851 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
12852 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
12853 @code{gnus-group-split}.
12855 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
12856 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
12857 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
12858 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
12859 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
12860 some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
12861 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
12862 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
12863 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
12864 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
12865 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
12866 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
12867 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
12869 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
12874 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
12875 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
12877 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
12878 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
12879 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
12880 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
12882 ((split-spec . catch-all))
12885 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
12886 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
12887 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
12890 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
12891 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
12892 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
12896 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
12897 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
12898 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
12902 (: gnus-mlsplt-fancy GROUPS NO-CROSSPOST CATCH-ALL)
12905 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
12906 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
12907 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
12908 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fallback
12909 fancy split, used like @var{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
12910 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @var{split-regexp} matches the
12911 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
12912 Otherwise, if some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
12913 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
12915 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
12916 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
12917 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
12918 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
12919 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
12920 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
12921 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
12922 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
12923 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
12925 @findex gnus-group-split-update
12926 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
12927 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
12928 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
12929 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
12930 you. For example, add to your @file{.gnus}:
12933 (gnus-group-split-setup AUTO-UPDATE CATCH-ALL)
12936 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
12937 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
12938 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
12939 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
12940 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
12943 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
12944 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
12945 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
12946 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
12948 @node Incorporating Old Mail
12949 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
12950 @cindex incorporating old mail
12951 @cindex import old mail
12953 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
12954 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
12955 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
12958 Doing so can be quite easy.
12960 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
12961 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
12962 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
12963 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
12964 your @code{nnml} groups.
12970 Go to the group buffer.
12973 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
12974 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
12977 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
12980 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
12981 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
12984 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
12985 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
12988 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
12989 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
12990 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
12991 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
12992 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
12994 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
12995 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
12996 using the new mail back end.
12999 @node Expiring Mail
13000 @subsection Expiring Mail
13001 @cindex article expiry
13003 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
13004 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
13005 different approach to mail reading.
13007 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
13008 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
13009 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
13010 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
13011 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
13012 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
13015 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
13016 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
13017 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
13018 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
13019 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
13020 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
13021 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
13022 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
13024 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
13025 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
13026 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
13027 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
13028 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
13029 column in the summary buffer.
13031 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
13032 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
13033 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
13034 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
13037 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
13039 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
13040 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
13041 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
13044 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
13045 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
13046 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
13047 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
13048 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
13050 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
13051 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
13054 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
13055 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
13058 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
13059 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
13061 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
13062 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
13063 don't really mix very well.
13065 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
13066 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
13067 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
13068 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
13071 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
13072 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
13073 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
13074 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
13077 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
13079 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
13081 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
13083 ((string= group "mail.junk")
13085 ((string= group "important")
13091 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
13092 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
13094 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
13095 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
13096 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
13099 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
13100 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
13102 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
13103 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
13104 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
13105 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
13106 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
13107 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
13108 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
13109 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
13110 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
13111 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
13112 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
13113 from as its parameter) which should return a target -- either a group
13114 name or @code{delete}.
13116 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
13118 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
13121 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
13122 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
13123 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
13124 expire mail to groups according to the variable
13125 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
13128 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
13129 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
13130 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
13131 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
13132 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
13135 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
13136 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
13137 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
13138 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
13139 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
13140 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
13142 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
13143 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
13144 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
13145 easier for procmail users.
13147 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
13148 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
13149 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
13150 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
13151 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
13152 caution. Even more dangerous is the
13153 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
13154 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
13155 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
13156 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
13157 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
13158 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
13159 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
13162 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
13164 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
13165 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
13166 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
13167 auto-expire turned on.
13171 @subsection Washing Mail
13172 @cindex mail washing
13173 @cindex list server brain damage
13174 @cindex incoming mail treatment
13176 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
13177 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
13178 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
13179 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
13180 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
13181 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
13183 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
13184 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
13185 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
13188 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
13189 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
13190 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
13191 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
13194 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
13195 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
13196 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
13197 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
13198 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
13201 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
13202 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
13203 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
13204 Emacs running on MS machines.
13208 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
13209 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
13210 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
13211 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
13214 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
13215 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
13216 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
13217 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
13219 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
13220 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
13221 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
13222 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
13223 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
13224 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
13225 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
13228 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
13229 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
13232 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
13233 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
13236 This can also be done non-destructively with
13237 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
13239 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
13240 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
13241 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
13243 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
13244 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
13246 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
13247 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
13248 @code{References} headers.
13252 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
13253 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
13254 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
13258 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
13259 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
13260 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
13267 @subsection Duplicates
13269 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
13270 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
13271 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
13272 @cindex duplicate mails
13273 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
13274 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
13275 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
13276 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
13277 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
13278 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
13279 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
13280 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
13281 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
13282 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
13283 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
13284 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
13285 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
13287 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
13288 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
13289 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
13290 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
13292 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
13295 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
13296 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
13300 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
13301 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
13302 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
13303 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
13304 (any mail "mail.misc")
13311 (setq nnmail-split-methods
13312 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
13317 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
13318 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
13319 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
13320 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
13321 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
13324 @node Not Reading Mail
13325 @subsection Not Reading Mail
13327 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
13328 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
13329 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
13331 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
13332 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
13333 mail, which should help.
13335 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
13336 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
13337 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
13338 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
13339 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
13340 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
13341 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
13342 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
13343 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
13344 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
13345 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
13347 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
13348 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
13352 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
13353 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
13355 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
13356 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
13357 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
13359 There are five different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
13360 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
13361 (because it is the fastest and most flexible) is @code{nnml}
13362 (@pxref{Mail Spool}).
13365 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
13366 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
13367 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
13368 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
13369 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
13370 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
13374 @node Unix Mail Box
13375 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
13377 @cindex unix mail box
13379 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
13380 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
13381 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
13382 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
13383 which group it belongs in.
13385 Virtual server settings:
13388 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
13389 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
13390 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
13393 @item nnmbox-active-file
13394 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
13395 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
13396 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
13398 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
13399 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
13400 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
13401 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
13406 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
13410 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
13411 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
13412 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
13413 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
13414 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
13416 Virtual server settings:
13419 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
13420 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
13421 The name of the rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
13423 @item nnbabyl-active-file
13424 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
13425 The name of the active file for the rmail box. The default is
13426 @file{~/.rmail-active}
13428 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
13429 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
13430 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
13436 @subsubsection Mail Spool
13438 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
13440 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
13441 format. It should be used with some caution.
13443 @vindex nnml-directory
13444 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
13445 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
13446 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
13447 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
13449 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
13452 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
13453 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
13454 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
13455 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
13456 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
13457 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
13458 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
13459 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
13461 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
13462 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
13463 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it the fastest
13464 back end when it comes to reading mail.
13466 @cindex self contained nnml servers
13467 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnml}
13468 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
13469 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
13470 proper @code{nnml} server) and have all your marks be preserved. Marks
13471 for a group is usually stored in the @code{.marks} file (but see
13472 @code{nnml-marks-file-name}) within each @code{nnml} group's directory.
13473 Individual @code{nnml} groups are also possible to backup, use @kbd{G m}
13474 to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the nnml
13477 Virtual server settings:
13480 @item nnml-directory
13481 @vindex nnml-directory
13482 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
13483 The default is the value of `message-directory' (whose default value is
13486 @item nnml-active-file
13487 @vindex nnml-active-file
13488 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
13489 @file{~/Mail/active"}.
13491 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
13492 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
13493 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
13494 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups"}.
13496 @item nnml-get-new-mail
13497 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
13498 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
13501 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
13502 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
13503 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
13504 default is @code{nil}.
13506 @item nnml-nov-file-name
13507 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
13508 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
13510 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
13511 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
13512 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
13514 @item nnml-marks-is-evil
13515 @vindex nnml-marks-is-evil
13516 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
13517 default is @code{nil}.
13519 @item nnml-marks-file-name
13520 @vindex nnml-marks-file-name
13521 The name of the @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
13525 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
13526 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
13527 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
13528 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
13529 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
13530 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
13531 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
13536 @subsubsection MH Spool
13538 @cindex mh-e mail spool
13540 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
13541 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks file.
13542 This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than @code{nnml},
13543 but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
13545 Virtual server settings:
13548 @item nnmh-directory
13549 @vindex nnmh-directory
13550 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
13551 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
13554 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
13555 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
13556 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
13560 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
13561 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
13562 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
13563 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
13564 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
13565 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
13566 to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
13571 @subsubsection Mail Folders
13573 @cindex mbox folders
13574 @cindex mail folders
13576 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a separate
13577 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
13578 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
13581 @cindex self contained nnfolder servers
13582 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnfolder}
13583 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
13584 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
13585 proper @code{nnfolder} server) and have all your marks be preserved.
13586 Marks for a group is usually stored in a file named as the mbox file
13587 with @code{.mrk} concatenated to it (but see
13588 @code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder} directory.
13589 Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to backup, use
13590 @kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the
13591 @code{nnfolder} directory).
13593 Virtual server settings:
13596 @item nnfolder-directory
13597 @vindex nnfolder-directory
13598 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
13599 The default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
13602 @item nnfolder-active-file
13603 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
13604 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
13606 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
13607 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
13608 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
13609 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups"}
13611 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
13612 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
13613 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The default
13616 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
13617 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
13618 @cindex backup files
13619 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
13620 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
13621 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
13622 your @file{.emacs} file:
13625 (defun turn-off-backup ()
13626 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
13628 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
13631 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
13632 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
13633 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
13634 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
13635 extract some information from it before removing it.
13637 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
13638 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
13639 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
13640 default is @code{nil}.
13642 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
13643 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
13644 The extension for @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
13646 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
13647 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
13648 The directory where the @sc{nov} files should be stored. If nil,
13649 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
13651 @item nnfolder-marks-is-evil
13652 @vindex nnfolder-marks-is-evil
13653 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
13654 default is @code{nil}.
13656 @item nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
13657 @vindex nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
13658 The extension for @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.mrk}.
13660 @item nnfolder-marks-directory
13661 @vindex nnfolder-marks-directory
13662 The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If nil,
13663 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
13668 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
13669 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
13670 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
13671 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
13672 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
13673 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
13676 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
13677 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
13679 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
13680 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
13681 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
13682 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
13683 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
13685 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
13686 typically done by @sc{nntp} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
13687 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
13688 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @sc{nntp} server), and
13689 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
13690 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
13691 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
13692 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
13695 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
13696 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
13697 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
13698 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
13703 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
13704 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
13705 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
13706 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
13707 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
13708 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
13709 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
13710 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
13711 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
13712 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
13713 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
13714 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
13715 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
13720 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
13721 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
13722 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
13723 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
13724 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
13725 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
13726 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
13727 RMAIL was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
13728 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote RMAIL
13729 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
13730 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
13731 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
13732 headers/status bits stuff. RMAIL itself still exists as well, of
13733 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
13735 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
13736 filesystem, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
13741 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
13742 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
13743 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
13744 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
13745 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
13746 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
13747 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
13748 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
13749 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
13750 @sc{nntp} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
13751 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
13752 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
13753 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
13754 provided by the active file and overviews.
13756 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
13757 resource which defines available places in the filesystem to put new
13758 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
13759 tight, shared filesystems. But if you live on a personal machine where
13760 the filesystem is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
13763 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
13764 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
13769 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
13770 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
13771 individual files, but with little or no indexing support -- @code{nnmh}
13772 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
13773 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
13774 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
13775 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
13779 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
13780 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
13781 itself puts *all* one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
13782 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
13783 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
13784 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
13785 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
13786 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
13787 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
13789 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
13790 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
13791 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
13792 friendly mail back end all over.
13797 @node Browsing the Web
13798 @section Browsing the Web
13800 @cindex browsing the web
13804 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
13805 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
13806 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
13807 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
13808 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
13809 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
13810 even know what a news group is.
13812 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
13813 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
13814 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
13815 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
13816 you mad in the end.
13818 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
13821 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
13822 interfaces to these sources.
13825 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
13826 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
13827 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
13828 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
13829 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
13830 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
13833 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
13835 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
13836 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @sc{html} data
13837 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
13838 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
13839 though, you should be ok.
13841 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
13842 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
13843 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
13844 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
13845 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
13847 @node Archiving Mail
13848 @subsection Archiving Mail
13849 @cindex archiving mail
13850 @cindex backup of mail
13852 Some of the back ends, notably nnml and nnfolder, now actually store
13853 the article marks with each group. For these servers, archiving and
13854 restoring a group while preserving marks is fairly simple.
13856 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
13857 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @code{.newsrc.eld} deity
13860 To archive an entire @code{nnml} or @code{nnfolder} server, take a
13861 recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need to shut down
13862 Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or similar. You
13863 restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and adding a server
13864 definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The @ref{Article
13865 Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things might interfer
13866 with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus before you
13869 It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml} or
13870 @code{nnfolder} groups, while preserving marks. For @code{nnml}, you
13871 copy all files in the group's directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need
13872 to copy both the base folder file itself (@code{FOO}, say), and the
13873 marks file (@code{FOO.mrk} in this example). Restoring the group is
13874 done with @kbd{G m} from the Group buffer. The last step makes Gnus
13875 notice the new directory.
13878 @subsection Web Searches
13882 @cindex InReference
13883 @cindex Usenet searches
13884 @cindex searching the Usenet
13886 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
13887 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
13888 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
13889 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
13890 searches without having to use a browser.
13892 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
13893 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
13894 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
13895 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
13896 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
13898 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
13899 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
13900 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
13901 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
13902 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
13903 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
13904 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
13905 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
13906 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
13907 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
13910 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
13911 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
13912 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
13913 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
13914 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
13915 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
13917 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
13918 to use @code{nnweb}.
13920 Virtual server variables:
13925 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
13926 are @code{dejanews}, @code{dejanewsold}, @code{altavista} and
13930 @vindex nnweb-search
13931 The search string to feed to the search engine.
13933 @item nnweb-max-hits
13934 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
13935 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
13938 @item nnweb-type-definition
13939 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
13940 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
13941 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
13946 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
13950 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
13953 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
13956 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
13960 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
13967 @subsection Slashdot
13971 Slashdot (@uref{http://slashdot.org/}) is a popular news site, with
13972 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
13973 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
13975 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
13976 following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
13979 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
13980 '((nnslashdot "")))
13983 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} back end for new comments
13984 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
13985 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
13986 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
13987 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
13990 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
13991 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
13993 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
13994 comments), some light @sc{html}izations will be performed. In
13995 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
13996 @code{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @code{br} added to
13997 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @sc{html}
13998 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
14001 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
14004 @item nnslashdot-threaded
14005 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
14006 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
14007 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
14008 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
14009 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
14010 but much, much slower than untreaded.
14012 @item nnslashdot-login-name
14013 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
14014 The login name to use when posting.
14016 @item nnslashdot-password
14017 @vindex nnslashdot-password
14018 The password to use when posting.
14020 @item nnslashdot-directory
14021 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
14022 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default is
14023 @samp{~/News/slashdot/}.
14025 @item nnslashdot-active-url
14026 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
14027 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the information on
14028 news articles and comments. The default is
14029 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
14031 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
14032 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
14033 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch comments. The
14035 @samp{http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=%s&threshold=%d&commentsort=%d&mode=flat&startat=%d}.
14037 @item nnslashdot-article-url
14038 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
14039 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the news article. The
14041 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
14043 @item nnslashdot-threshold
14044 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
14045 The score threshold. The default is -1.
14047 @item nnslashdot-group-number
14048 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
14049 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
14050 updated. The default is 0.
14057 @subsection Ultimate
14059 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
14061 The Ultimate Bulletin Board (@uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/}) is
14062 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
14063 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
14064 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
14066 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
14067 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
14068 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @sc{url}
14069 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
14070 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
14071 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
14072 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
14074 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
14077 @item nnultimate-directory
14078 @vindex nnultimate-directory
14079 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is
14080 @samp{~/News/ultimate/}.
14085 @subsection Web Archive
14087 @cindex Web Archive
14089 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
14090 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
14091 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
14092 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
14095 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
14096 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
14097 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET an_egroup RET egroups RET
14098 www.egroups.com RET your@@email.address RET}. (Substitute the
14099 @sc{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
14100 @sc{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
14101 back end by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
14103 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
14106 @item nnwarchive-directory
14107 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
14108 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is
14109 @samp{~/News/warchive/}.
14111 @item nnwarchive-login
14112 @vindex nnwarchive-login
14113 The account name on the web server.
14115 @item nnwarchive-passwd
14116 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
14117 The password for your account on the web server.
14125 Some sites have RDF site summary (RSS)
14126 @uref{http://purl.org/rss/1.0/spec}. It has a quite regular and nice
14127 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
14130 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something
14131 like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET RET}, then
14134 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
14137 @item nnrss-directory
14138 @vindex nnrss-directory
14139 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
14140 @samp{~/News/rss/}.
14144 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
14145 the summary buffer.
14148 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
14149 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
14151 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
14153 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
14154 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
14157 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
14160 (require 'browse-url)
14162 (defun browse-nnrss-url( arg )
14164 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
14167 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
14168 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
14170 (browse-url (cdr url))
14171 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
14173 (eval-after-load "gnus"
14174 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
14175 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
14176 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
14179 @node Customizing w3
14180 @subsection Customizing w3
14186 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
14187 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
14188 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
14190 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
14191 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
14192 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
14195 (eval-after-load "w3"
14197 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
14198 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
14199 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
14200 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
14202 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
14205 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
14206 @sc{html} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
14214 @sc{imap} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or ...),
14215 think of it as a modernized @sc{nntp}. Connecting to a @sc{imap}
14216 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
14217 specify the network address of the server.
14219 @sc{imap} has two properties. First, @sc{imap} can do everything that
14220 POP can, it can hence be viewed as POP++. Secondly, @sc{imap} is a
14221 mail storage protocol, similar to @sc{nntp} being a news storage
14222 protocol. (@sc{imap} offers more features than @sc{nntp} because news
14223 is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.)
14225 If you want to use @sc{imap} as POP++, use an imap entry in
14226 mail-sources. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from the @sc{imap}
14227 server and store them on the local disk. This is not the usage
14228 described in this section. @xref{Mail Sources}.
14230 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
14231 entry in gnus-secondary-select-methods. With this, Gnus will
14232 manipulate mails stored on the @sc{imap} server. This is the kind of
14233 usage explained in this section.
14235 A server configuration in @code{~/.gnus} with a few @sc{imap} servers
14236 might look something like this:
14239 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
14240 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; no special configuration
14241 ; perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:
14243 (nnimap-address "localhost")
14244 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
14245 ; a UW server running on localhost
14247 (nnimap-server-port 143)
14248 (nnimap-address "localhost")
14249 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
14250 ; anonymous public cyrus server:
14251 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
14252 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
14253 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
14254 (nnimap-stream network))
14255 ; a ssl server on a non-standard port:
14257 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
14258 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
14259 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
14262 (Note that for SSL/TLS to work, you need the external library
14263 @samp{ssl.el}, see below.)
14265 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
14270 @item nnimap-address
14271 @vindex nnimap-address
14273 The address of the remote @sc{imap} server. Defaults to the virtual
14274 server name if not specified.
14276 @item nnimap-server-port
14277 @vindex nnimap-server-port
14278 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for SSL.
14280 Note that this should be an integer, example server specification:
14283 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14284 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
14287 @item nnimap-list-pattern
14288 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
14289 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
14290 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
14291 interested in a few -- some servers export your home directory via
14292 @sc{imap}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
14293 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
14295 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
14296 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
14297 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
14300 Example server specification:
14303 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14304 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
14305 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
14308 @item nnimap-stream
14309 @vindex nnimap-stream
14310 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
14311 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
14312 of SSL/TLS. (IMAP over SSL/TLS is being replaced by STARTTLS, which
14313 can be automatically detected, but it's not widely deployed yet.)
14315 Example server specification:
14318 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14319 (nnimap-stream ssl))
14322 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
14326 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5). Requires the
14327 @samp{imtest} program.
14329 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
14331 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
14332 SSL). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
14335 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL. Requires OpenSSL (the program
14336 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}) as well as the external
14337 library @samp{ssl.el}.
14339 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @sc{imap} connection.
14341 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
14344 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
14345 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD. If you're
14346 using @samp{imtest} from Cyrus IMAPD < 2.0.14 (which includes version
14347 1.5.x and 1.6.x) you need to frob @code{imap-process-connection-type}
14348 to make @code{imap.el} use a pty instead of a pipe when communicating
14349 with @samp{imtest}. You will then suffer from a line length
14350 restrictions on IMAP commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
14351 indefinitely if you have many articles in a mailbox. The variable
14352 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
14355 @vindex imap-ssl-program
14356 For SSL connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
14357 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
14358 and nnimap support it too - altough the most recent versions of
14359 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
14360 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
14361 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
14362 to OpenSSL/SSLeay. You also need @samp{ssl.el} (from the W3
14363 distribution, for instance).
14365 @vindex imap-shell-program
14366 @vindex imap-shell-host
14367 For @sc{imap} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
14368 @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
14370 @item nnimap-authenticator
14371 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
14373 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
14374 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
14376 Example server specification:
14379 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14380 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
14383 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
14387 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Require
14388 external program @code{imtest}.
14390 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos authentication. Require external program
14393 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Require
14394 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
14396 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
14398 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
14400 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as `anonymous', supplying your emailadress as password.
14403 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
14405 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
14406 Unlike Parmenides the @sc{imap} designers has decided that things that
14407 doesn't exist actually does exist. More specifically, @sc{imap} has
14408 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
14409 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
14410 nnimap does when you delete a article in Gnus (with @kbd{G DEL} or
14413 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
14414 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
14415 running in circles yet?
14417 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
14418 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
14421 The possible options are:
14426 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as "Deleted" when
14429 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
14430 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @sc{imap} clients
14431 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
14432 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
14434 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
14439 @item nnimap-importantize-dormant
14440 @vindex nnimap-importantize-dormant
14442 If non-nil, marks dormant articles as ticked (as well), for other IMAP
14443 clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will naturally still (only) be
14444 marked as ticked. This is to make dormant articles stand out, just
14445 like ticked articles, in other IMAP clients. (In other words, Gnus has
14446 two ``Tick'' marks and IMAP has only one.)
14448 Probably the only reason for frobing this would be if you're trying
14449 enable per-user persistant dormant flags, using something like:
14452 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-flag-alist)
14453 (format "gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
14454 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-predicate-alist)
14455 (format "KEYWORD gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
14458 In this case, you would not want the per-user dormant flag showing up
14459 as ticked for other users.
14461 @item nnimap-expunge-search-string
14463 @vindex nnimap-expunge-search-string
14465 This variable contain the IMAP search command sent to server when
14466 searching for articles eligible for expiring. The default is
14467 @code{"UID %s NOT SINCE %s"}, where the first @code{%s} is replaced by
14468 UID set and the second @code{%s} is replaced by a date.
14470 Probably the only useful value to change this to is
14471 @code{"UID %s NOT SENTSINCE %s"}, which makes nnimap use the Date: in
14472 messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
14473 RFC 2060 for more information on valid strings.
14475 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
14476 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
14478 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
14479 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
14480 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
14486 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
14487 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
14488 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
14493 @node Splitting in IMAP
14494 @subsection Splitting in @sc{imap}
14495 @cindex splitting imap mail
14497 Splitting is something Gnus users has loved and used for years, and now
14498 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
14499 @sc{imap} server has server side splitting and those that have splitting
14500 seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that @sc{imap}
14501 support for Gnus has to do it's own splitting.
14505 Here are the variables of interest:
14509 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
14510 @cindex splitting, crosspost
14512 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
14514 If non-nil, do crossposting if several split methods match the mail. If
14515 nil, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule} found will be used.
14517 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
14519 @item nnimap-split-inbox
14520 @cindex splitting, inbox
14522 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
14524 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @sc{imap}
14525 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to nil, which means that splitting is
14529 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
14530 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
14533 No nnmail equivalent.
14535 @item nnimap-split-rule
14536 @cindex Splitting, rules
14537 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
14539 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
14542 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
14543 sublist gives the name of the @sc{imap} mailbox to move articles
14544 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
14545 Neither did I, we need examples.
14548 (setq nnimap-split-rule
14550 "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
14551 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
14552 ("INBOX.private" "")))
14555 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
14556 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
14557 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
14559 The first string may contain `\\1' forms, like the ones used by
14560 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
14564 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
14567 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
14568 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
14569 containing the headers of the article. It should return a non-nil value
14570 if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
14572 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
14573 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
14574 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
14575 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
14576 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
14577 them every time you fetch new mail.)
14579 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
14580 end. The first rule to make a match will "win", unless you have
14581 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will "win".
14583 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
14584 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
14585 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
14587 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it needs to.
14589 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
14590 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
14591 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
14594 (setq nnimap-split-rule
14595 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
14596 ("junk" "From:.*Simon")))
14597 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
14598 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
14599 ("junk" my-junk-func)))))
14602 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
14603 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
14604 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
14605 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
14606 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
14607 group/function elements.
14609 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
14611 @item nnimap-split-predicate
14613 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
14615 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
14616 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
14618 This might be useful if you use another @sc{imap} client to read mail in
14619 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
14620 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
14623 @item nnimap-split-fancy
14624 @cindex splitting, fancy
14625 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
14626 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
14628 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
14629 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
14630 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
14632 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
14633 nnimap back ends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
14634 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
14635 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
14640 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
14641 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
14644 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
14648 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
14649 @subsection Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
14650 @cindex editing imap acls
14651 @cindex Access Control Lists
14652 @cindex Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
14654 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
14656 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @sc{imap} for
14657 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
14658 @sc{imap} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
14661 To edit a ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
14662 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with a ACL
14663 editing window with detailed instructions.
14665 Some possible uses:
14669 Giving "anyone" the "lrs" rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
14670 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
14671 follow the list without subscribing to it.
14673 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
14674 "anyone" posting ("p") capabilities to have "plussing" work (that is,
14675 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @sc{imap} mailbox
14679 @node Expunging mailboxes
14680 @subsection Expunging mailboxes
14684 @cindex Manual expunging
14686 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
14688 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
14689 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
14690 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
14692 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
14697 @node Other Sources
14698 @section Other Sources
14700 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
14701 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
14705 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
14706 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
14707 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
14708 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
14709 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
14713 @node Directory Groups
14714 @subsection Directory Groups
14716 @cindex directory groups
14718 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
14719 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
14722 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
14723 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
14724 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
14725 back end to read directories. Big deal.
14727 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
14728 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
14729 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
14730 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
14731 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
14733 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
14735 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
14736 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
14737 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
14738 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
14741 @node Anything Groups
14742 @subsection Anything Groups
14745 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
14746 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
14747 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
14750 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
14751 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
14752 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
14753 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
14754 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
14755 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
14756 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
14757 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
14758 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
14759 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
14762 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
14763 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
14764 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
14765 in the article buffer, just as usual.
14767 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
14768 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
14769 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
14770 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
14772 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
14773 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
14774 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
14775 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
14776 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
14777 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
14778 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
14779 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
14784 @item nneething-map-file-directory
14785 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
14786 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
14787 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
14789 @item nneething-exclude-files
14790 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
14791 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
14792 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
14794 @item nneething-include-files
14795 @vindex nneething-include-files
14796 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
14797 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
14799 @item nneething-map-file
14800 @vindex nneething-map-file
14801 Name of the map files.
14805 @node Document Groups
14806 @subsection Document Groups
14808 @cindex documentation group
14811 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
14812 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
14819 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
14824 The standard Unix mbox file.
14826 @cindex MMDF mail box
14828 The MMDF mail box format.
14831 Several news articles appended into a file.
14834 @cindex rnews batch files
14835 The rnews batch transport format.
14836 @cindex forwarded messages
14839 Forwarded articles.
14842 Netscape mail boxes.
14845 MIME multipart messages.
14847 @item standard-digest
14848 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
14851 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
14854 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
14855 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
14856 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
14859 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
14860 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
14861 group. And that's it.
14863 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
14864 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
14865 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
14866 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
14867 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
14868 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
14869 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
14870 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
14871 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
14872 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
14874 Virtual server variables:
14877 @item nndoc-article-type
14878 @vindex nndoc-article-type
14879 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
14880 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
14881 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
14882 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail},
14883 @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman} or @code{guess}.
14885 @item nndoc-post-type
14886 @vindex nndoc-post-type
14887 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
14888 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
14893 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
14897 @node Document Server Internals
14898 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
14900 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
14901 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
14902 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
14903 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
14905 First, here's an example document type definition:
14909 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
14910 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
14913 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
14914 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
14915 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
14916 types can be defined with very few settings:
14919 @item first-article
14920 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
14921 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
14924 @item article-begin
14925 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
14926 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
14928 @item head-begin-function
14929 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
14932 @item nndoc-head-begin
14933 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
14936 @item nndoc-head-end
14937 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
14938 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
14940 @item body-begin-function
14941 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
14945 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
14948 @item body-end-function
14949 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
14953 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
14956 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
14957 regexp will be totally ignored.
14961 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
14962 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
14963 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
14964 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
14965 something that's palatable for Gnus:
14968 @item prepare-body-function
14969 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
14970 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
14971 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
14973 @item article-transform-function
14974 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
14975 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
14976 body of the article.
14978 @item generate-head-function
14979 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
14980 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
14981 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
14982 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
14986 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
14991 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
14992 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
14993 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
14994 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
14995 (head-end . "^ ?$")
14996 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
14997 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
14998 (subtype digest guess))
15001 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
15002 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
15003 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
15004 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
15005 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
15007 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
15008 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
15009 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
15010 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
15011 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
15012 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
15013 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
15014 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
15015 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
15016 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
15024 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
15025 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
15026 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
15028 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
15029 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
15030 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
15033 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
15034 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
15035 that interested in doing things properly.
15037 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
15038 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
15041 First some terminology:
15046 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
15047 get news and/or mail from.
15050 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
15051 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
15054 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
15058 @item message packets
15059 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
15060 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
15061 default, where @var{x} is a number.
15063 @item response packets
15064 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
15065 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
15066 default, where @var{x} is a number.
15076 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
15077 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
15078 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
15079 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
15082 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
15085 You put the packet in your home directory.
15088 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} back end as
15089 the native or secondary server.
15092 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
15093 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
15096 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
15100 You transfer this packet to the server.
15103 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
15106 You then repeat until you die.
15110 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
15111 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
15114 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
15115 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
15116 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
15120 @node SOUP Commands
15121 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
15123 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
15127 @kindex G s b (Group)
15128 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
15129 Pack all unread articles in the current group
15130 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
15131 process/prefix convention.
15134 @kindex G s w (Group)
15135 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
15136 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
15139 @kindex G s s (Group)
15140 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
15141 Send all replies from the replies packet
15142 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
15145 @kindex G s p (Group)
15146 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
15147 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
15150 @kindex G s r (Group)
15151 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
15152 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
15155 @kindex O s (Summary)
15156 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
15157 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
15158 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
15159 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
15164 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
15169 @item gnus-soup-directory
15170 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
15171 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
15172 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
15174 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
15175 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
15176 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
15177 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
15179 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
15180 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
15181 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
15182 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
15184 @item gnus-soup-packer
15185 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
15186 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
15187 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
15189 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
15190 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
15191 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
15192 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
15194 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
15195 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
15196 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
15198 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
15199 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
15200 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
15201 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
15207 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
15210 @code{nnsoup} is the back end for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
15211 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
15212 you can read them at leisure.
15214 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
15218 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
15219 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
15220 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
15221 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
15223 @item nnsoup-directory
15224 @vindex nnsoup-directory
15225 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
15226 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
15228 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
15229 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
15230 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
15231 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
15233 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
15234 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
15235 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
15236 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
15237 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
15239 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
15240 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
15241 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
15242 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
15244 @item nnsoup-active-file
15245 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
15246 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
15247 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
15248 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
15249 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
15251 @item nnsoup-packer
15252 @vindex nnsoup-packer
15253 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
15254 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
15256 @item nnsoup-unpacker
15257 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
15258 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
15259 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
15261 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
15262 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
15263 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
15266 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
15267 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
15268 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
15271 @item nnsoup-always-save
15272 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
15273 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
15279 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
15281 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
15282 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
15283 more for that to happen.
15285 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
15286 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
15287 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
15290 In specific, this is what it does:
15293 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
15294 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
15297 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
15298 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
15299 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
15302 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
15303 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
15304 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
15307 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
15308 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
15309 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
15311 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
15317 @item nngateway-address
15318 @vindex nngateway-address
15319 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
15321 @item nngateway-header-transformation
15322 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
15323 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
15324 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
15325 transformation should be called, and defaults to
15326 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
15327 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
15330 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
15331 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
15332 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
15335 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
15338 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
15341 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
15344 The following pre-defined functions exist:
15346 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
15349 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
15350 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
15351 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
15353 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
15355 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
15356 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
15357 @code{nngateway-address}.
15362 (setq gnus-post-method
15364 "mail2news@@replay.com"
15365 (nngateway-header-transformation
15366 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
15374 So, to use this, simply say something like:
15377 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
15382 @node Combined Groups
15383 @section Combined Groups
15385 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
15389 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
15390 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
15394 @node Virtual Groups
15395 @subsection Virtual Groups
15397 @cindex virtual groups
15398 @cindex merging groups
15400 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
15403 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
15404 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
15405 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
15407 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
15408 regexp to match component groups.
15410 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
15411 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
15412 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
15413 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
15414 the virtual group.)
15416 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
15417 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
15420 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
15423 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
15424 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
15426 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
15427 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
15428 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
15429 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
15432 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
15435 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
15436 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
15437 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
15439 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
15440 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
15441 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
15442 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
15443 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
15445 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
15446 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
15447 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
15449 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
15450 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
15451 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
15452 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
15453 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
15454 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
15455 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
15456 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
15457 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
15458 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
15459 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
15461 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
15462 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
15463 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
15464 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
15465 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
15466 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
15467 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
15469 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
15470 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
15474 @node Kibozed Groups
15475 @subsection Kibozed Groups
15479 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
15480 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a back end that will do this for
15481 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
15482 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
15484 @kindex G k (Group)
15485 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
15488 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
15489 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
15490 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
15491 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
15493 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
15494 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
15495 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
15497 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
15498 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
15499 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
15500 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
15501 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
15502 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
15503 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
15504 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
15506 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
15507 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
15508 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
15509 Stranger things have happened.
15511 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
15512 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
15514 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
15515 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
15516 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
15517 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
15518 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
15519 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
15521 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
15522 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
15525 @node Gnus Unplugged
15526 @section Gnus Unplugged
15531 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
15533 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
15534 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
15535 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
15536 read news. Believe it or not.
15538 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
15539 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
15540 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
15541 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
15542 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
15544 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
15545 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
15546 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
15547 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
15548 reading news on a machine.
15550 Using Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple.
15554 First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a machine
15555 that has full connection to the net. Go ahead. I'll still be waiting
15559 Then, put the following magical incantation at the end of your
15560 @file{.gnus.el} file:
15567 That's it. Gnus is now an ``offline'' newsreader.
15569 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
15572 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
15573 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
15574 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
15575 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
15576 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
15577 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
15578 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
15579 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
15580 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
15581 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
15586 @subsection Agent Basics
15588 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
15590 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
15591 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
15592 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
15593 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
15595 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
15596 connected to the net continuously.
15598 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
15599 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
15601 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
15606 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
15607 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
15608 already fetched while in this mode.
15611 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
15612 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
15613 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
15614 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode, see (@pxref{Mail
15615 Source Specifiers}).
15618 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
15619 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{g}
15620 to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J
15621 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
15622 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
15625 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
15626 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
15627 then you read the news offline.
15630 And then you go to step 2.
15633 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
15639 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
15640 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
15641 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
15642 @kbd{J a} the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
15643 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}). This will typically be only the
15644 primary select method, which is listed on the bottom in the buffer.
15647 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
15654 @node Agent Categories
15655 @subsection Agent Categories
15657 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
15658 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
15659 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
15660 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
15661 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
15662 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
15663 you're interested in the articles anyway.
15665 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
15666 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
15667 Groups that do not belong in any other category belong to the
15668 @code{default} category. Gnus has its own buffer for creating and
15669 managing categories.
15672 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
15673 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
15674 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
15678 @node Category Syntax
15679 @subsubsection Category Syntax
15681 A category consists of two things.
15685 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
15686 are eligible for downloading; and
15689 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
15690 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
15691 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
15694 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
15695 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
15696 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
15697 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
15699 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
15700 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
15701 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
15703 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
15704 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
15705 operators sprinkled in between.
15707 Perhaps some examples are in order.
15709 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
15710 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
15716 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
15717 short (for some value of ``short'').
15719 Here's a more complex predicate:
15728 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
15729 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
15732 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
15733 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
15734 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
15736 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
15737 you want to do, you can write your own.
15741 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
15742 lines; default 100.
15745 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
15746 lines; default 200.
15749 True iff the article has a download score less than
15750 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
15753 True iff the article has a download score greater than
15754 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
15757 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
15758 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
15759 checksum and sees whether articles match.
15768 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
15769 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
15770 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
15773 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
15774 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
15775 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
15776 something along the lines of the following:
15779 (defun my-article-old-p ()
15780 "Say whether an article is old."
15781 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
15782 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
15785 with the predicate then defined as:
15788 (not my-article-old-p)
15791 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
15792 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
15793 wherever. (Note: this would have to be at a point *after*
15794 @code{gnus-agent} has been loaded via @code{(gnus-agentize)})
15797 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
15798 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
15799 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
15802 and simply specify your predicate as:
15808 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
15809 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
15810 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
15811 just don't give a damn.
15813 The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
15814 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
15815 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
15816 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
15817 parameters like so:
15820 (agent-predicate . short)
15823 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
15824 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
15825 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
15827 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
15830 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
15833 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
15834 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
15835 predicate is assumed to be a list.
15838 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
15839 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
15840 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
15841 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
15842 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
15843 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
15845 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
15846 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
15847 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
15848 if it's to be specific to that group.
15850 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
15857 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
15858 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
15864 Category specification
15868 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
15874 Group Parameter specification
15877 (agent-score ("from"
15878 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
15883 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
15889 These score files must *only* contain the permitted scoring keywords
15896 Category specification
15899 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
15905 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
15909 Group Parameter specification
15912 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
15915 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
15920 Use @code{normal} score files
15922 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
15923 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
15924 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
15925 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
15927 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
15928 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
15929 files for a group, *filtering out* those sections that do not
15930 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
15934 Category Specification
15941 Group Parameter specification
15944 (agent-score . file)
15949 @node Category Buffer
15950 @subsubsection Category Buffer
15952 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
15953 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
15954 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
15956 The following commands are available in this buffer:
15960 @kindex q (Category)
15961 @findex gnus-category-exit
15962 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
15965 @kindex k (Category)
15966 @findex gnus-category-kill
15967 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
15970 @kindex c (Category)
15971 @findex gnus-category-copy
15972 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
15975 @kindex a (Category)
15976 @findex gnus-category-add
15977 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
15980 @kindex p (Category)
15981 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
15982 Edit the predicate of the current category
15983 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
15986 @kindex g (Category)
15987 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
15988 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
15989 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
15992 @kindex s (Category)
15993 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
15994 Edit the download score rule of the current category
15995 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
15998 @kindex l (Category)
15999 @findex gnus-category-list
16000 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
16004 @node Category Variables
16005 @subsubsection Category Variables
16008 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
16009 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
16010 Hook run in category buffers.
16012 @item gnus-category-line-format
16013 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
16014 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
16015 Variables}). Valid elements are:
16019 The name of the category.
16022 The number of groups in the category.
16025 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
16026 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
16027 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
16029 @item gnus-agent-short-article
16030 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
16031 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
16033 @item gnus-agent-long-article
16034 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
16035 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
16037 @item gnus-agent-low-score
16038 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
16039 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
16042 @item gnus-agent-high-score
16043 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
16044 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
16050 @node Agent Commands
16051 @subsection Agent Commands
16053 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
16054 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
16055 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
16059 * Group Agent Commands::
16060 * Summary Agent Commands::
16061 * Server Agent Commands::
16064 You can run a complete batch fetch from the command line with the
16065 following incantation:
16067 @cindex gnus-agent-batch-fetch
16069 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch-fetch
16074 @node Group Agent Commands
16075 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
16079 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
16080 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
16081 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
16082 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
16085 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
16086 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
16087 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
16090 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
16091 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
16092 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
16093 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
16096 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
16097 @findex gnus-group-send-drafts
16098 Send all sendable messages in the draft group
16099 (@code{gnus-group-send-drafts}). @xref{Drafts}.
16102 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
16103 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
16104 Add the current group to an Agent category
16105 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
16106 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
16109 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
16110 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
16111 Remove the current group from its category, if any
16112 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
16113 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
16116 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
16117 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
16118 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
16124 @node Summary Agent Commands
16125 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
16129 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
16130 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
16131 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
16134 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
16135 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
16136 Remove the downloading mark from the article
16137 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
16140 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
16141 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
16142 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
16145 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
16146 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
16147 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
16150 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
16151 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
16152 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
16153 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
16158 @node Server Agent Commands
16159 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
16163 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
16164 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
16165 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
16166 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
16169 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
16170 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
16171 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
16172 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
16178 @subsection Agent Expiry
16180 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
16181 @findex gnus-agent-expire
16182 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
16183 @cindex Agent expiry
16184 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
16187 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
16188 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
16189 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
16190 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
16191 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
16192 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
16194 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
16195 if @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
16196 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
16197 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
16198 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
16201 @node Agent and IMAP
16202 @subsection Agent and IMAP
16204 The Agent work with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
16205 since there are some conceptual differences between @sc{nntp} and
16206 @sc{imap}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
16207 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @sc{imap} Disconnected Mode client.
16209 The first thing to keep in mind is that all flags (read, ticked, etc)
16210 are kept on the @sc{imap} server, rather than in @code{.newsrc} as is the
16211 case for nntp. Thus Gnus need to remember flag changes when
16212 disconnected, and synchronize these flags when you plug back in.
16214 Gnus keep track of flag changes when reading nnimap groups under the
16215 Agent by default. When you plug back in, by default Gnus will check if
16216 you have any changed any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these
16217 with the server. This behavior is customizable with
16218 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
16220 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
16221 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
16222 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, the
16223 default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so ask if
16224 you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has any other
16225 value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
16227 If you do not wish to automatically synchronize flags when you
16228 re-connect, this can be done manually with the
16229 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
16230 in the group buffer by default.
16232 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
16233 expect from a disconnected @sc{imap} client, including:
16238 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
16241 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
16245 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by "pushing"
16246 all local flags to the server, but rather incrementally update the
16247 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
16248 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on a article, quit the group and
16249 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
16250 removed from the server when you "synchronize". The queued flag
16251 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
16252 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
16255 @node Outgoing Messages
16256 @subsection Outgoing Messages
16258 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
16259 stored in the draft groups (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view them there
16260 after posting, and edit them at will.
16262 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
16263 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
16264 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
16265 messages in the draft group.
16269 @node Agent Variables
16270 @subsection Agent Variables
16273 @item gnus-agent-directory
16274 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
16275 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
16276 @file{~/News/agent/}.
16278 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
16279 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
16280 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
16281 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
16282 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
16285 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
16286 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
16287 Hook run when connecting to the network.
16289 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
16290 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
16291 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
16296 @node Example Setup
16297 @subsection Example Setup
16299 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
16300 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
16301 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
16304 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @sc{nntp}
16305 ;;; from your ISP's server.
16306 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
16308 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
16309 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
16310 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
16312 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
16313 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
16315 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
16319 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
16320 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
16323 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
16324 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
16325 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
16326 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
16327 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
16330 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
16331 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
16332 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
16333 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
16334 back all the killed groups.)
16336 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
16337 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
16338 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
16341 @node Batching Agents
16342 @subsection Batching Agents
16344 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
16345 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
16346 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
16350 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
16354 @node Agent Caveats
16355 @subsection Agent Caveats
16357 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
16358 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
16362 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the
16367 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists
16368 in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
16374 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
16375 articles; when it's plugged, it only talks to your ISP.
16382 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
16383 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
16384 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
16387 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
16388 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
16389 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
16390 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
16391 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
16393 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
16394 before generating the summary buffer.
16396 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
16397 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
16398 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
16400 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
16401 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
16402 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
16403 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
16406 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
16407 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
16408 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
16409 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
16410 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
16411 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
16412 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
16413 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
16414 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
16415 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
16416 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
16417 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
16418 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
16419 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
16420 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
16421 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
16422 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
16426 @node Summary Score Commands
16427 @section Summary Score Commands
16428 @cindex score commands
16430 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
16431 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
16432 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
16433 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
16434 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
16436 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
16437 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
16438 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
16439 score file the current one.
16441 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
16446 @kindex V s (Summary)
16447 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
16448 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
16451 @kindex V S (Summary)
16452 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
16453 Display the score of the current article
16454 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
16457 @kindex V t (Summary)
16458 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
16459 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
16460 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
16463 @kindex V R (Summary)
16464 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
16465 Run the current summary through the scoring process
16466 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
16467 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
16468 effect you're having.
16471 @kindex V c (Summary)
16472 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
16473 Make a different score file the current
16474 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
16477 @kindex V e (Summary)
16478 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
16479 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
16480 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
16484 @kindex V f (Summary)
16485 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
16486 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
16487 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
16490 @kindex V F (Summary)
16491 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
16492 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
16493 after editing score files.
16496 @kindex V C (Summary)
16497 @findex gnus-score-customize
16498 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
16499 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
16503 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
16508 @kindex V m (Summary)
16509 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
16510 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
16511 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
16514 @kindex V x (Summary)
16515 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
16516 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
16517 expunge all articles below this score
16518 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
16521 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
16522 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
16525 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
16526 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
16530 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
16531 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
16533 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
16534 keys are available:
16538 Score on the author name.
16541 Score on the subject line.
16544 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
16547 Score on the @code{References} line.
16553 Score on the number of lines.
16556 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
16559 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
16560 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
16561 @file{ADAPT} files.)
16570 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
16576 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
16577 what headers you are scoring on.
16589 Substring matching.
16592 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
16621 Greater than number.
16626 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
16627 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
16628 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
16632 Temporary score entry.
16635 Permanent score entry.
16638 Immediately scoring.
16643 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
16644 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
16645 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
16646 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
16648 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
16649 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
16650 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
16651 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
16652 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
16654 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
16655 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
16656 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
16657 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
16658 current score file.
16660 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
16661 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
16662 pretend they are keymaps or not.
16665 @node Group Score Commands
16666 @section Group Score Commands
16667 @cindex group score commands
16669 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
16674 @kindex W f (Group)
16675 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
16676 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
16677 all the time. This command will flush the cache
16678 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
16682 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
16684 @findex gnus-batch-score
16685 @cindex batch scoring
16687 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
16691 @node Score Variables
16692 @section Score Variables
16693 @cindex score variables
16697 @item gnus-use-scoring
16698 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
16699 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
16700 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
16702 @item gnus-kill-killed
16703 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
16704 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
16705 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
16706 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
16707 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
16708 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
16709 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
16711 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
16712 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
16713 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
16714 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
16715 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
16717 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
16718 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
16719 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
16720 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
16722 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
16723 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
16724 @cindex score cache
16725 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
16726 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
16727 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
16728 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
16729 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
16730 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
16733 @item gnus-save-score
16734 @vindex gnus-save-score
16735 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
16736 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
16737 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
16739 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
16740 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
16741 across group visits.
16743 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
16744 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
16745 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
16746 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
16747 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
16748 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
16749 manually entered data.
16751 @item gnus-summary-default-score
16752 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
16753 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
16755 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
16756 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
16757 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
16758 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
16759 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
16760 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
16762 @item gnus-score-over-mark
16763 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
16764 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
16765 default. Default is @samp{+}.
16767 @item gnus-score-below-mark
16768 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
16769 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
16770 default. Default is @samp{-}.
16772 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
16773 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
16774 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
16775 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
16777 Predefined functions available are:
16780 @item gnus-score-find-single
16781 @findex gnus-score-find-single
16782 Only apply the group's own score file.
16784 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
16785 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
16786 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
16787 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
16788 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
16789 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
16790 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
16791 then a regexp match is done.
16793 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
16794 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
16796 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
16797 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
16798 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
16799 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
16801 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
16802 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
16803 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
16804 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
16805 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
16809 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
16810 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
16811 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
16812 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
16813 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
16814 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
16815 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
16818 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
16819 overall score file, you could use the value
16821 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
16822 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
16825 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
16826 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
16827 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
16828 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
16829 are expired. It's 7 by default.
16831 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
16832 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
16833 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
16834 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
16835 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
16836 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
16837 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
16840 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
16841 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
16842 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
16844 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
16845 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
16846 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
16847 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
16848 threading---according to the current value of
16849 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
16850 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
16851 simplified in this manner.
16856 @node Score File Format
16857 @section Score File Format
16858 @cindex score file format
16860 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
16861 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
16862 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
16864 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
16868 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
16870 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
16872 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
16874 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
16879 (mark-and-expunge -10)
16883 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
16884 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
16885 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
16886 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
16890 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
16891 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
16893 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
16894 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
16895 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
16897 Six keys are supported by this alist:
16902 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
16903 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
16904 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
16905 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
16906 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
16907 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
16908 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
16909 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
16910 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
16911 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
16912 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
16913 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
16914 to articles that matches these score entries.
16916 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
16917 score entry has one to four elements.
16921 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
16922 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
16926 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
16927 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
16928 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
16929 is successful. If this element is not present, the
16930 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
16931 instead. This is 1000 by default.
16934 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
16935 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
16936 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
16937 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
16938 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
16941 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
16942 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
16943 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
16944 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
16947 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
16948 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
16949 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
16950 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
16951 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
16952 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
16953 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
16954 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
16955 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
16956 instead, if you feel like.
16959 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
16960 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
16962 These predicates are true if
16965 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
16968 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
16969 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
16976 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
16977 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
16978 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
16979 it's not. I think.)
16981 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
16982 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
16983 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
16984 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
16987 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
16988 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
16989 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
16990 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
16991 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
16992 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
16993 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
16997 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
16998 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
16999 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
17000 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
17001 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
17002 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
17003 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
17004 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
17007 @item Head, Body, All
17008 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
17012 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
17013 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
17014 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
17015 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
17016 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
17017 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
17018 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
17022 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
17023 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
17024 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
17025 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
17026 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
17027 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
17028 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
17029 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
17030 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
17031 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
17032 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
17036 @cindex Score File Atoms
17038 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
17039 lower than this number will be marked as read.
17042 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
17043 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
17045 @item mark-and-expunge
17046 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
17047 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
17050 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
17051 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
17052 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
17053 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
17054 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
17057 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
17058 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
17061 @item exclude-files
17062 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
17063 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
17067 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
17068 ignored when handling global score files.
17071 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
17072 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
17073 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
17074 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
17077 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
17078 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
17079 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
17080 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
17082 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
17086 (mark-and-expunge -100)
17089 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
17090 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
17091 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
17092 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
17093 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
17095 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
17096 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
17097 scoring rules exist.
17100 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
17101 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
17102 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
17103 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
17104 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
17105 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
17106 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
17107 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
17108 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
17109 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
17110 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
17114 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
17115 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
17116 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
17117 file for a number of groups.
17120 @cindex local variables
17121 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
17122 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
17123 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
17124 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
17125 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
17129 @node Score File Editing
17130 @section Score File Editing
17132 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
17133 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
17134 with a mode for that.
17136 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
17137 additional commands:
17142 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
17143 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
17144 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
17145 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
17148 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
17149 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
17150 Insert the current date in numerical format
17151 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
17152 you were wondering.
17155 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
17156 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
17157 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
17158 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
17159 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
17164 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
17166 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
17167 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
17169 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
17170 e} to begin editing score files.
17173 @node Adaptive Scoring
17174 @section Adaptive Scoring
17175 @cindex adaptive scoring
17177 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
17178 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
17179 stupidity, to be precise.
17181 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
17182 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
17183 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
17184 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
17185 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
17186 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
17187 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
17188 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
17189 variable to @code{(word line)}.
17191 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
17192 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
17193 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
17194 might look something like this:
17197 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
17198 '((gnus-unread-mark)
17199 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
17200 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
17201 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
17202 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
17203 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
17204 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
17205 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
17206 (gnus-ancient-mark)
17207 (gnus-low-score-mark)
17208 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
17211 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
17212 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
17213 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
17214 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
17215 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
17216 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
17219 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
17220 will be applied to each article.
17222 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
17223 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
17224 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
17225 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
17227 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
17228 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
17229 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
17230 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
17232 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
17233 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
17234 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
17235 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
17237 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
17238 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
17239 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
17240 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
17241 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
17242 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
17244 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
17245 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
17246 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
17247 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
17248 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
17249 aspirins afterwards.)
17251 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
17252 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
17253 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
17255 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
17256 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
17257 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
17259 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
17260 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
17261 let you use different rules in different groups.
17263 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
17264 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
17265 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
17268 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
17269 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
17270 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
17271 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
17272 the length of the match is less than
17273 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
17274 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
17277 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
17278 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
17279 headers. If you adapt on words, the
17280 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
17281 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
17284 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
17285 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
17286 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
17287 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
17288 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
17291 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
17292 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
17293 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
17294 score with 30 points.
17296 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
17297 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
17298 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
17299 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
17300 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
17302 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
17303 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
17304 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
17305 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
17306 variable defaults til @code{nil}.
17308 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
17309 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
17310 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
17311 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
17313 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
17314 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
17315 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
17316 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
17318 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
17319 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
17320 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
17321 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
17322 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
17324 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
17325 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
17326 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
17328 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
17329 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
17330 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
17331 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
17334 @node Home Score File
17335 @section Home Score File
17337 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
17338 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
17339 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
17340 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
17342 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
17343 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
17344 could perhaps use the same home score file.
17346 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
17347 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
17352 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
17356 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
17357 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
17361 A list. The elements in this list can be:
17365 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
17366 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
17369 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
17370 the home score file.
17373 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
17376 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
17381 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
17384 (setq gnus-home-score-file
17385 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
17388 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
17389 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
17391 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
17393 (setq gnus-home-score-file
17394 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
17397 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
17398 Other functions include
17401 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
17402 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
17403 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
17404 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
17408 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
17409 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
17410 their own home score files:
17413 (setq gnus-home-score-file
17414 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
17415 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
17416 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
17417 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
17420 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
17421 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
17422 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
17423 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
17424 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
17426 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
17427 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
17428 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
17429 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
17430 precedence over this variable.
17433 @node Followups To Yourself
17434 @section Followups To Yourself
17436 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
17437 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
17438 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
17439 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
17440 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
17441 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
17445 @item gnus-score-followup-article
17446 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
17447 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
17450 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
17451 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
17452 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
17456 @vindex message-sent-hook
17457 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
17458 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
17460 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
17464 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
17465 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
17469 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
17470 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
17473 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
17474 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
17479 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
17483 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
17484 is system-dependent.
17487 @node Scoring On Other Headers
17488 @section Scoring On Other Headers
17489 @cindex scoring on other headers
17491 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
17492 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
17493 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
17494 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
17495 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
17497 Now, there's not much you can do about this for news groups, but for
17498 mail groups, you have greater control. In the @pxref{To From
17499 Newsgroups} section of the manual, it's explained in greater detail what
17500 this mechanism does, but here's a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on
17501 how to allow scoring on the @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
17503 Put the following in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
17506 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
17507 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
17510 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
17511 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
17512 time if you have much mail.
17514 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
17515 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
17521 @section Scoring Tips
17522 @cindex scoring tips
17528 @cindex scoring crossposts
17529 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
17530 the @code{Xref} header.
17532 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
17535 @item Multiple crossposts
17536 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
17537 more than, say, 3 groups:
17540 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
17544 @item Matching on the body
17545 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
17546 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
17547 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
17548 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
17549 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
17550 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
17551 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
17554 @item Marking as read
17555 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
17556 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
17557 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
17561 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
17563 @item Negated character classes
17564 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
17565 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
17566 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
17570 @node Reverse Scoring
17571 @section Reverse Scoring
17572 @cindex reverse scoring
17574 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
17575 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
17576 like this in your score file:
17580 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
17585 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
17586 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
17589 @node Global Score Files
17590 @section Global Score Files
17591 @cindex global score files
17593 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
17594 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
17595 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
17597 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
17598 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
17599 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
17601 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
17602 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
17603 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
17604 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
17605 files are applicable to which group.
17607 To use the score file
17608 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
17609 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
17613 (setq gnus-global-score-files
17614 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
17615 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
17618 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
17620 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
17621 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
17622 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
17623 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
17625 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
17626 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
17628 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
17629 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
17630 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
17631 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
17632 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
17633 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
17635 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
17641 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
17643 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
17645 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
17647 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
17648 lowered out of existence.
17650 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
17651 articles completely.
17654 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
17655 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
17656 old articles for a long time.
17659 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
17660 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
17661 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
17662 holding our breath yet?
17666 @section Kill Files
17669 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
17670 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
17671 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
17673 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
17674 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
17675 files into score files.
17677 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
17678 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
17679 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
17680 that isn't a very good idea.
17682 Normal kill files look like this:
17685 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
17686 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
17690 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
17691 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
17693 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
17694 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
17697 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
17702 @kindex M-k (Summary)
17703 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
17704 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
17707 @kindex M-K (Summary)
17708 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
17709 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
17712 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
17717 @kindex M-k (Group)
17718 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
17719 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
17722 @kindex M-K (Group)
17723 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
17724 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
17727 Kill file variables:
17730 @item gnus-kill-file-name
17731 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
17732 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
17733 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
17734 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
17735 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
17736 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
17738 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
17739 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
17740 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
17741 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
17744 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
17745 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
17746 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
17747 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
17748 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
17749 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
17750 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
17751 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
17752 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
17754 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
17755 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
17756 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
17761 @node Converting Kill Files
17762 @section Converting Kill Files
17764 @cindex converting kill files
17766 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
17767 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
17768 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
17771 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
17772 You can fetch it from
17773 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
17775 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
17776 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
17777 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
17785 GroupLens (@uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/}) is a
17786 collaborative filtering system that helps you work together with other
17787 people to find the quality news articles out of the huge volume of
17788 news articles generated every day.
17790 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
17791 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
17792 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
17793 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
17794 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
17795 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
17796 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
17797 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
17800 @sc{Note:} Unfortunately the GroupLens system seems to have shut down,
17801 so this section is mostly of historical interest.
17804 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
17805 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
17806 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
17807 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
17811 @node Using GroupLens
17812 @subsection Using GroupLens
17814 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
17816 @uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
17817 better bit in town at the moment.
17819 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
17823 @item gnus-use-grouplens
17824 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
17825 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
17826 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
17828 @item grouplens-pseudonym
17829 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
17830 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
17831 with the Better Bit Bureau.
17833 @item grouplens-newsgroups
17834 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
17835 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
17839 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
17840 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
17841 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
17842 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
17843 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
17844 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
17847 @node Rating Articles
17848 @subsection Rating Articles
17850 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
17851 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
17852 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
17853 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
17856 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
17861 @kindex r (GroupLens)
17862 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
17863 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
17866 @kindex k (GroupLens)
17867 @findex grouplens-score-thread
17868 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
17869 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
17870 threads in rec.humor.
17874 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
17875 the score of the article you're reading.
17880 @kindex n (GroupLens)
17881 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
17882 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
17885 @kindex , (GroupLens)
17886 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
17887 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
17891 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
17892 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
17895 @node Displaying Predictions
17896 @subsection Displaying Predictions
17898 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
17899 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
17900 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
17901 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
17902 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
17904 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
17905 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
17906 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
17907 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
17908 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
17909 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
17910 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
17911 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
17912 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
17913 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
17914 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
17915 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
17916 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
17918 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
17919 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
17920 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
17921 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
17923 The following are valid values for that variable.
17926 @item prediction-spot
17927 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
17930 @item confidence-interval
17931 A numeric confidence interval.
17933 @item prediction-bar
17934 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
17936 @item confidence-bar
17937 Numerical confidence.
17939 @item confidence-spot
17940 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
17942 @item prediction-num
17943 Plain-old numeric value.
17945 @item confidence-plus-minus
17946 Prediction +/- confidence.
17951 @node GroupLens Variables
17952 @subsection GroupLens Variables
17956 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
17957 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
17958 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
17959 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23n%]%)
17962 @item grouplens-bbb-host
17963 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
17966 @item grouplens-bbb-port
17967 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
17969 @item grouplens-score-offset
17970 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
17971 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
17974 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
17975 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
17976 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
17981 @node Advanced Scoring
17982 @section Advanced Scoring
17984 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
17985 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
17986 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
17987 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
17988 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
17990 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
17994 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
17995 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
17996 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
18000 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
18001 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
18003 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
18004 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
18005 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
18006 non-@code{nil} value.
18008 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
18009 operator, and various match operators.
18016 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
18017 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
18018 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
18023 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
18024 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
18025 then this operator will return @code{false}.
18030 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
18031 logical negation of the value of its argument.
18035 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
18036 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
18037 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
18038 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
18039 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
18040 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
18041 the ancestry you want to go.
18043 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
18044 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
18045 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
18046 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
18047 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
18050 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
18051 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
18053 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
18054 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
18057 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
18058 when he's talking about Gnus:
18062 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
18063 ("subject" "Gnus"))
18069 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
18073 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
18080 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
18081 really don't want to read what he's written:
18085 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
18086 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
18090 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
18091 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
18092 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
18099 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
18100 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
18101 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
18102 ("body" "white.*socks"))
18106 The possibilities are endless.
18109 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
18110 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
18112 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
18113 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
18114 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
18115 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
18116 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
18117 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
18118 @samp{subject}) first.
18120 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
18121 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
18132 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
18133 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
18139 ("subject" "Gnus")))
18146 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
18147 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
18152 @section Score Decays
18153 @cindex score decays
18156 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
18157 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
18158 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
18159 use them in any sensible way.
18161 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
18162 @findex gnus-decay-score
18163 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
18164 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
18165 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
18166 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
18167 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
18168 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
18169 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
18170 definition of that function:
18173 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
18175 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
18176 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
18179 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
18181 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
18183 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
18186 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
18187 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
18188 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
18189 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
18193 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
18196 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
18199 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
18203 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
18204 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
18205 the new score, which should be an integer.
18207 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
18208 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
18213 @include message.texi
18214 @chapter Emacs MIME
18215 @include emacs-mime.texi
18217 @include sieve.texi
18225 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
18226 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
18227 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
18228 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
18229 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
18230 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
18231 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
18232 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
18233 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
18234 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
18235 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
18236 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
18237 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
18238 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
18239 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
18240 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
18241 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
18242 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
18246 @node Process/Prefix
18247 @section Process/Prefix
18248 @cindex process/prefix convention
18250 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
18251 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
18253 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
18254 command to be performed on.
18258 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
18259 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
18260 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
18261 with the current one.
18263 @vindex transient-mark-mode
18264 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
18265 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
18267 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
18268 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
18271 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
18272 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
18274 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
18277 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
18278 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
18279 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
18280 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
18282 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
18283 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
18284 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
18285 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
18286 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
18287 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
18288 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
18289 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
18291 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
18292 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
18293 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
18294 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
18295 expirable, you could say `M P b M-& E'.
18299 @section Interactive
18300 @cindex interaction
18304 @item gnus-novice-user
18305 @vindex gnus-novice-user
18306 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
18307 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
18308 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
18309 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
18312 @item gnus-expert-user
18313 @vindex gnus-expert-user
18314 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
18315 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
18316 matter how strange.
18318 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
18319 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
18320 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
18321 is @code{t} by default.
18323 @item gnus-interactive-exit
18324 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
18325 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
18330 @node Symbolic Prefixes
18331 @section Symbolic Prefixes
18332 @cindex symbolic prefixes
18334 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
18335 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
18336 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
18337 rule of 900 to the current article.
18339 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
18340 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
18341 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
18342 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
18343 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
18344 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
18345 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
18347 @kindex M-i (Summary)
18348 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
18349 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
18350 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
18351 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
18352 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
18353 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
18354 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
18355 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
18357 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
18358 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
18359 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
18361 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
18365 @node Formatting Variables
18366 @section Formatting Variables
18367 @cindex formatting variables
18369 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
18370 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
18371 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
18372 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
18373 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
18376 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
18377 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
18378 lots of percentages everywhere.
18381 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
18382 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
18383 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
18384 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
18385 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
18386 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
18387 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
18388 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
18391 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
18392 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
18393 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
18394 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
18395 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
18396 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
18397 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
18398 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
18400 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
18401 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
18403 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
18404 @findex gnus-update-format
18405 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
18406 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
18407 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
18408 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
18412 @node Formatting Basics
18413 @subsection Formatting Basics
18415 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
18416 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
18417 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
18419 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
18420 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
18421 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
18422 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
18423 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
18426 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
18427 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
18428 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
18429 less than 4 characters wide.
18431 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
18432 @samp{%&user-date;}.
18434 @node Mode Line Formatting
18435 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
18437 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
18438 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
18439 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
18440 with the following two differences:
18445 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
18448 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
18449 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
18450 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
18451 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
18452 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
18453 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
18454 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
18459 @node Advanced Formatting
18460 @subsection Advanced Formatting
18462 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
18463 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
18464 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
18465 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
18467 These are the valid modifiers:
18472 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
18476 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
18481 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
18484 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
18489 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
18492 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
18495 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
18498 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
18502 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
18503 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
18504 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
18505 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
18506 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
18507 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
18508 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
18510 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
18511 last operation, padding.
18513 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
18514 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
18515 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
18516 @xref{Compilation}.
18519 @node User-Defined Specs
18520 @subsection User-Defined Specs
18522 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
18523 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
18524 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
18525 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
18526 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
18527 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
18528 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
18529 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
18530 should protect against that.
18532 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
18533 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
18535 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
18536 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
18537 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
18538 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
18542 @node Formatting Fonts
18543 @subsection Formatting Fonts
18545 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
18546 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
18547 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
18548 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
18551 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
18552 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
18553 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
18554 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
18555 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
18556 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
18558 Text inside the @samp{%<} and @samp{%>} specifiers will get the special
18559 @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you
18560 say @samp{%1<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The
18561 @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or symbols
18562 naming functions that return a string. Under @code{balloon-help-mode},
18563 when the mouse passes over text with this property set, a balloon window
18564 will appear and display the string. Please refer to the doc string of
18565 @code{balloon-help-mode} for more information on this.
18567 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
18570 ;; Create three face types.
18571 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
18572 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
18574 ;; We want the article count to be in
18575 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
18576 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
18577 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
18579 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
18580 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
18582 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
18583 (setq gnus-group-line-format
18584 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
18587 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
18588 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
18590 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
18591 mode-line variables.
18593 @node Positioning Point
18594 @subsection Positioning Point
18596 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
18597 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
18598 line. You can customize this behaviour in three different ways.
18600 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
18602 @findex gnus-goto-colon
18603 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
18604 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
18606 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
18607 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%C} specifier. If you
18608 put a @samp{%C} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
18613 @subsection Tabulation
18615 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
18616 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
18617 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
18618 about lining up the following text afterwards.
18620 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs--@samp{%=}. There are two
18621 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
18623 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
18624 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
18625 This is the soft tabulator.
18627 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
18628 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
18629 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
18632 @node Wide Characters
18633 @subsection Wide Characters
18635 Proportional fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
18636 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
18637 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
18639 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
18640 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
18641 these coutries, that's not true.
18643 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
18644 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
18645 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
18646 prettieer. The default value is @code{t}.
18650 @node Window Layout
18651 @section Window Layout
18652 @cindex window layout
18654 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
18656 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
18657 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
18658 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
18659 @code{t} by default.
18661 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
18662 glitches. Use at your own peril.
18664 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
18665 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
18666 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
18669 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
18670 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
18671 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
18675 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
18676 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
18677 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
18678 possible names is listed below.
18680 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
18681 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
18684 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
18688 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
18689 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
18690 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
18691 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
18692 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
18693 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
18694 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
18695 size spec per split.
18697 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
18698 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
18699 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
18700 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
18701 present) gets focus.
18703 Here's a more complicated example:
18706 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
18707 (summary 0.25 point)
18708 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
18712 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
18713 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
18714 occupy, not a percentage.
18716 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
18717 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
18718 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
18719 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
18720 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
18723 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
18726 (article (horizontal 1.0
18731 (summary 0.25 point)
18736 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
18737 @code{horizontal} thingie?
18739 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
18740 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
18741 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
18742 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
18743 the screen is to be given to this strip.
18745 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
18746 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
18747 lines from the splits.
18749 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
18753 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
18754 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
18755 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
18756 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
18757 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
18758 size = number | frame-params
18759 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
18762 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
18763 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
18764 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
18765 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
18767 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
18768 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
18769 @cindex window height
18770 @cindex window width
18771 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
18772 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
18773 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
18774 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
18775 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
18776 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
18778 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
18779 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
18780 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
18781 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
18783 @findex gnus-configure-frame
18784 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
18785 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
18786 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
18787 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
18788 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
18789 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
18790 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
18791 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
18792 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
18793 configuration list.
18796 (gnus-configure-frame
18800 (article 0.3 point))
18808 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
18809 @code{frame} split:
18812 (gnus-configure-frame
18815 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
18817 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
18818 (user-position . t)
18819 (left . -1) (top . 1))
18824 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
18825 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
18826 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
18827 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
18828 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
18829 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
18830 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
18831 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
18833 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
18834 be found in its default value.
18836 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
18837 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
18838 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
18842 (message (horizontal 1.0
18843 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
18845 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
18850 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
18851 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
18852 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
18857 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
18858 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
18859 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
18860 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
18861 (name . "Message"))
18862 (message 1.0 point))))
18865 @findex gnus-add-configuration
18866 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
18867 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
18868 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
18869 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
18872 (gnus-add-configuration
18873 '(article (vertical 1.0
18875 (summary .25 point)
18879 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
18880 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
18881 Gnus has been loaded.
18883 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
18884 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
18885 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
18886 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
18887 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
18889 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
18890 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
18891 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
18894 @subsection Example Window Configurations
18898 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
18899 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
18914 (gnus-add-configuration
18917 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
18919 (summary 0.16 point)
18922 (gnus-add-configuration
18925 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
18926 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
18932 @node Faces and Fonts
18933 @section Faces and Fonts
18938 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
18939 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
18940 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
18945 @section Compilation
18946 @cindex compilation
18947 @cindex byte-compilation
18949 @findex gnus-compile
18951 Remember all those line format specification variables?
18952 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
18953 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
18954 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
18955 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
18956 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
18959 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
18960 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
18961 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
18962 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
18963 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
18964 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
18965 them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
18969 @section Mode Lines
18972 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
18973 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
18974 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
18975 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
18976 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
18977 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
18978 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
18981 @cindex display-time
18983 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
18984 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
18985 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
18986 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
18987 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
18988 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
18989 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
18990 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
18993 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
18995 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
18996 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
18998 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
18999 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
19000 (length display-time-string)))))
19003 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
19004 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
19005 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
19006 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
19007 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
19010 @node Highlighting and Menus
19011 @section Highlighting and Menus
19013 @cindex highlighting
19016 @vindex gnus-visual
19017 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
19018 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
19019 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
19022 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
19023 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
19026 @item group-highlight
19027 Do highlights in the group buffer.
19028 @item summary-highlight
19029 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
19030 @item article-highlight
19031 Do highlights in the article buffer.
19033 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
19035 Create menus in the group buffer.
19037 Create menus in the summary buffers.
19039 Create menus in the article buffer.
19041 Create menus in the browse buffer.
19043 Create menus in the server buffer.
19045 Create menus in the score buffers.
19047 Create menus in all buffers.
19050 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
19051 buffers, you could say something like:
19054 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
19057 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
19060 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
19063 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
19064 in all Gnus buffers.
19066 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
19069 @item gnus-mouse-face
19070 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
19071 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
19072 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
19076 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
19080 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
19081 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
19082 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
19084 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
19085 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
19086 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
19088 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
19089 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
19090 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
19092 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
19093 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
19094 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
19096 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
19097 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
19098 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
19100 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
19101 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
19102 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
19113 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
19114 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
19115 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
19116 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
19117 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
19121 @vindex gnus-carpal
19122 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
19123 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
19124 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
19129 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
19130 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
19131 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
19133 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
19134 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
19135 Face used on buttons.
19137 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
19138 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
19139 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
19141 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
19142 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
19143 Buttons in the group buffer.
19145 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
19146 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
19147 Buttons in the summary buffer.
19149 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
19150 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
19151 Buttons in the server buffer.
19153 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
19154 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
19155 Buttons in the browse buffer.
19158 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
19159 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
19160 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
19168 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
19169 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
19170 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
19171 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
19172 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
19174 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
19175 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
19176 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
19178 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
19179 been idle for thirty minutes:
19182 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
19185 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
19189 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
19192 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
19193 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
19194 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
19196 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
19197 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
19198 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
19199 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
19201 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
19202 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
19203 @var{idle} minutes.
19205 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
19206 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
19209 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
19210 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
19211 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
19213 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
19214 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
19215 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
19216 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
19218 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
19219 your @file{.gnus} file:
19221 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
19223 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
19226 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
19227 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
19228 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
19229 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
19230 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
19231 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
19232 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
19233 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
19234 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
19235 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
19236 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
19238 @findex gnus-demon-init
19239 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
19240 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
19241 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
19242 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
19243 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
19245 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
19246 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
19247 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
19256 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
19257 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
19259 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
19260 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
19261 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
19262 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
19265 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
19266 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
19267 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
19268 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
19270 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
19271 this will make spam disappear.
19273 There are some variables to customize, of course:
19276 @item gnus-use-nocem
19277 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
19278 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
19281 @item gnus-nocem-groups
19282 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
19283 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
19284 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
19285 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
19287 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
19288 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
19289 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
19290 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
19291 "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo"
19292 "hweede@@snafu.de")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
19294 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at
19295 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
19297 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
19298 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
19299 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
19300 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
19301 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
19302 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
19303 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
19304 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
19305 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
19306 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
19308 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
19309 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
19312 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
19315 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
19316 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
19319 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
19322 The specs are applied left-to-right.
19325 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
19326 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
19328 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
19329 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
19330 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
19331 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
19333 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
19334 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
19337 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
19339 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
19347 This might be dangerous, though.
19349 @item gnus-nocem-directory
19350 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
19351 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
19352 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
19354 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
19355 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
19356 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
19357 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
19358 might then see old spam.
19360 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
19361 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
19362 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
19363 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
19364 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
19367 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
19368 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
19369 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
19370 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
19374 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
19375 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
19376 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
19377 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
19384 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
19385 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
19386 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
19388 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
19389 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
19390 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
19391 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
19392 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
19393 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
19394 @code{undo} function.
19396 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
19397 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
19398 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
19399 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
19400 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
19401 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
19402 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
19403 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
19404 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
19405 never be totally undoable.
19407 @findex gnus-undo-mode
19408 @vindex gnus-use-undo
19410 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
19411 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
19412 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
19413 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
19418 @section Moderation
19421 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
19422 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
19423 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
19426 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
19430 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
19433 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
19435 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
19440 You split your incoming mail by matching on
19441 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
19442 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
19445 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
19446 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
19449 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
19450 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
19454 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
19457 (setq gnus-moderated-list
19458 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
19462 @node XEmacs Enhancements
19463 @section XEmacs Enhancements
19466 XEmacs is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has taken
19470 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
19471 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
19472 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
19473 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
19486 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
19487 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
19488 over your shoulder as you read news.
19491 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
19492 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
19493 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
19494 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
19495 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
19500 @subsubsection Picon Basics
19502 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
19511 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
19512 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
19513 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
19514 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
19515 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
19516 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
19517 @code{GIF} formats.
19520 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
19521 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
19522 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
19523 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
19524 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
19526 @vindex gnus-picons-database
19527 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
19528 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
19529 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
19530 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
19531 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
19534 @node Picon Requirements
19535 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
19537 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must have @code{x} support
19538 compiled into XEmacs. To display color picons which are much nicer
19539 than the black & white one, you also need one of @code{xpm} or
19540 @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
19542 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
19543 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
19544 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
19545 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
19546 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
19547 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable name, not @code{xface})
19550 @subsubsection Easy Picons
19552 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
19553 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
19556 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
19557 (setq gnus-treat-display-picons t)
19560 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
19561 containing the Picons databases.
19563 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
19566 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
19567 "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
19572 @subsubsection Hard Picons
19580 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
19581 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
19582 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
19583 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
19584 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
19589 @item gnus-picons-database
19590 @vindex gnus-picons-database
19591 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
19592 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
19593 subdirectories. This is only useful if
19594 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
19595 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
19597 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
19598 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
19599 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
19600 engine is @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
19601 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
19602 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
19603 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
19605 @item gnus-picons-display-where
19606 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
19607 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
19608 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
19609 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
19610 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
19611 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
19612 routines---@pxref{Window Layout}.
19614 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
19615 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
19616 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
19621 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
19622 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
19624 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
19625 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
19628 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
19630 @item gnus-article-display-picons
19631 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
19632 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
19633 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer.
19635 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
19636 @findex gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
19637 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present.
19638 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the function name, not @code{xface})
19644 @node Picon Useless Configuration
19645 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
19653 The following variables offer further control over how things are
19654 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
19655 don't need to worry about.
19659 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
19660 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
19661 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
19662 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
19664 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
19665 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
19666 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
19667 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
19669 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
19670 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
19671 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
19672 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
19673 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
19675 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
19676 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
19677 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
19678 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
19679 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
19680 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
19681 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
19682 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable name, not @code{xface})
19684 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
19685 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
19686 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
19687 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
19688 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable name, not @code{xface})
19690 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
19691 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
19692 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
19693 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
19694 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
19695 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
19696 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
19698 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
19699 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
19700 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
19701 Defaults to @code{nil}.
19703 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
19704 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
19705 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
19706 Defaults to @code{t}.
19708 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
19709 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
19710 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
19711 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
19713 @item gnus-picons-setup-hook
19714 @vindex gnus-picons-setup-hook
19715 Hook run in the picon buffer, if that is displayed.
19717 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
19718 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
19719 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
19720 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
19722 If @code{nil}, display the picons in the @code{From} and
19723 @code{Newsgroups} lines. This is the default.
19725 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
19726 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
19727 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
19728 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
19729 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
19730 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
19731 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
19732 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
19743 @subsection Smileys
19748 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
19753 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
19754 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
19756 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
19757 @file{.gnus.el} file:
19760 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
19763 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
19764 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
19765 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
19766 text and maps that to file names.
19768 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
19769 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
19770 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
19771 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
19772 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
19773 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
19775 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
19776 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
19778 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
19779 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
19780 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
19782 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
19783 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
19787 @item smiley-data-directory
19788 @vindex smiley-data-directory
19789 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
19791 @item smiley-flesh-color
19792 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
19793 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
19795 @item smiley-features-color
19796 @vindex smiley-features-color
19797 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
19799 @item smiley-tongue-color
19800 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
19801 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
19803 @item smiley-circle-color
19804 @vindex smiley-circle-color
19805 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
19807 @item smiley-mouse-face
19808 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
19809 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
19815 @subsection Toolbar
19825 @item gnus-use-toolbar
19826 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
19827 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
19828 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
19829 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
19831 @item gnus-group-toolbar
19832 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
19833 The toolbar in the group buffer.
19835 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
19836 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
19837 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
19839 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
19840 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
19841 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
19847 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
19850 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
19851 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
19852 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
19853 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
19854 unusual directory structure.
19856 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
19857 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
19858 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
19859 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
19861 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
19862 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
19863 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
19864 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
19865 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
19866 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
19868 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
19869 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
19870 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
19884 @node Fuzzy Matching
19885 @section Fuzzy Matching
19886 @cindex fuzzy matching
19888 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
19889 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
19891 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
19892 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
19893 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
19895 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
19896 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
19897 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
19898 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
19899 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
19902 @node Thwarting Email Spam
19903 @section Thwarting Email Spam
19907 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
19909 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
19910 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
19911 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
19912 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
19913 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
19914 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
19915 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
19916 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
19919 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
19920 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
19921 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
19922 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
19923 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
19924 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
19928 The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
19929 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
19931 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
19932 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
19933 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
19934 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
19935 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
19936 part of the mail address.)
19939 (setq message-default-news-headers
19940 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
19943 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
19944 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
19949 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
19950 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
19951 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
19957 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
19958 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
19959 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
19960 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
19962 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @code{smtp} server
19963 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
19964 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
19965 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
19966 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
19967 your fancy split rule in this way:
19972 (to "larsi" "misc")
19976 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
19977 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
19978 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
19979 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
19980 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
19982 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
19983 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
19984 at @* @uref{http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html}.
19985 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
19986 cosmic balance somewhat.
19988 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
19989 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
19990 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
19991 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
19994 @node Various Various
19995 @section Various Various
20001 @item gnus-home-directory
20002 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
20003 defaults to @file{~/}.
20005 @item gnus-directory
20006 @vindex gnus-directory
20007 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
20008 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
20009 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
20011 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
20012 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
20013 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
20014 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
20016 @item gnus-default-directory
20017 @vindex gnus-default-directory
20018 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
20019 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
20020 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
20021 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
20022 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
20023 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
20026 @vindex gnus-verbose
20027 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
20028 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
20029 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
20030 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
20031 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
20033 @item gnus-verbose-backends
20034 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
20035 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
20036 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
20038 @item nnheader-max-head-length
20039 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
20040 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
20041 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
20042 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
20043 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
20044 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
20045 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
20046 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
20047 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
20049 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
20050 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
20051 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
20052 read when doing the operation described above.
20054 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
20055 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
20057 @cindex invalid characters in file names
20058 @cindex characters in file names
20059 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
20060 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
20061 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
20064 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
20068 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
20069 Windows (phooey) systems.
20071 @item gnus-hidden-properties
20072 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
20073 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
20074 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
20075 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
20077 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
20078 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
20079 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
20080 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
20081 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
20083 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
20084 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
20085 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
20087 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
20088 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
20090 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
20091 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
20092 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
20093 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
20096 @sc{imap} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
20104 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
20105 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
20107 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
20109 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
20115 Not because of victories @*
20118 but for the common sunshine,@*
20120 the largess of the spring.
20124 but for the day's work done@*
20125 as well as I was able;@*
20126 not for a seat upon the dais@*
20127 but at the common table.@*
20132 @chapter Appendices
20135 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
20136 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
20137 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
20138 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
20139 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
20140 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
20141 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
20142 * Frequently Asked Questions::
20150 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
20151 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
20153 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
20154 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
20155 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
20156 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
20157 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
20159 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
20160 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
20161 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
20162 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
20163 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
20164 appropriate name, don't you think?)
20166 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
20167 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
20168 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
20169 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
20172 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
20173 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
20174 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
20175 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
20176 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
20177 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
20178 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
20179 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
20180 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
20184 @node Gnus Versions
20185 @subsection Gnus Versions
20186 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
20188 @cindex September Gnus
20189 @cindex Quassia Gnus
20191 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
20192 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
20193 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
20195 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
20196 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
20198 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
20199 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
20201 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
20202 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
20204 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
20205 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
20208 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun.
20210 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
20211 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
20212 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'' -- don't panic. Don't let it know
20213 that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever you do, don't
20214 run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach. Find a proper
20215 released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
20218 @node Other Gnus Versions
20219 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
20222 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
20223 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
20224 Japan. It's based on a library called @sc{semi}, which provides
20225 @sc{mime} capabilities.
20227 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
20228 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
20229 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
20230 @sc{mime} and multilingualization things, especially important for
20237 What's the point of Gnus?
20239 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
20240 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
20241 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
20242 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
20243 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
20244 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
20245 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
20246 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
20247 keep track of millions of people who post?
20249 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
20250 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
20251 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
20252 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
20253 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
20254 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
20255 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
20256 every one of you to explore and invent.
20258 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
20259 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
20262 @node Compatibility
20263 @subsection Compatibility
20265 @cindex compatibility
20266 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
20267 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
20268 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
20273 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
20277 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
20280 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
20283 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
20284 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
20285 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
20286 important variables have their values copied into their global
20287 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
20288 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
20290 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
20291 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
20292 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
20293 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
20294 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
20298 @cindex highlighting
20299 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
20300 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
20301 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
20302 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
20303 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
20304 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
20307 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
20308 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
20309 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
20310 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
20312 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
20313 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
20314 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
20315 to stop doing it the old way.
20317 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
20319 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
20321 @cindex reporting bugs
20323 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
20324 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
20325 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
20327 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
20328 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
20329 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
20330 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
20335 @subsection Conformity
20337 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
20338 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
20345 There are no known breaches of this standard.
20349 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
20351 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
20352 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
20353 We do have some breaches to this one.
20359 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
20360 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
20361 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
20362 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
20363 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
20368 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
20369 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
20370 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
20371 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
20375 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
20376 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
20381 @subsection Emacsen
20387 Gnus should work on :
20395 XEmacs 20.4 and up.
20399 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
20400 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
20403 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
20404 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
20405 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
20409 @node Gnus Development
20410 @subsection Gnus Development
20412 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
20413 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
20414 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
20415 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
20416 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
20417 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
20418 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
20419 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
20421 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
20422 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
20423 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
20424 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
20425 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
20428 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
20429 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
20430 In particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
20431 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
20432 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
20434 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
20435 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
20436 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
20437 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
20438 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
20439 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
20440 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
20441 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
20442 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
20443 can't be assumed to do so.
20448 @subsection Contributors
20449 @cindex contributors
20451 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
20452 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
20453 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
20454 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
20455 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
20456 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
20457 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
20458 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
20459 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
20460 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
20462 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
20468 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
20471 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
20472 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @sc{mime} and
20473 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
20474 functionality and stuff.
20477 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
20478 well as numerous other things).
20481 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
20484 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
20487 Justin Sheehy--the FAQ maintainer.
20490 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
20493 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
20494 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
20497 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
20500 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
20501 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
20504 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
20507 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
20510 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
20513 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
20516 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
20517 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
20520 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
20523 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
20526 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
20529 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
20533 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
20536 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
20539 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
20542 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
20543 well as autoconf support.
20547 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
20548 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
20550 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
20559 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
20563 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
20573 Alexei V. Barantsev,
20588 Massimo Campostrini,
20593 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
20594 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
20598 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
20601 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
20607 Michael Welsh Duggan,
20612 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
20616 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
20624 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
20626 Michelangelo Grigni,
20630 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
20632 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
20634 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
20641 François Felix Ingrand,
20642 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c ?
20643 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
20645 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
20656 Peter Skov Knudsen,
20657 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
20659 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
20660 Thor Kristoffersen,
20663 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
20681 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
20682 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
20689 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
20694 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
20698 John McClary Prevost,
20704 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
20709 Christian von Roques,
20712 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
20719 Philippe Schnoebelen,
20721 Randal L. Schwartz,
20735 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
20740 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
20756 Katsumi Yamaoka @c Yamaoka
20761 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
20762 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
20763 (550kB and counting).
20765 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
20768 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
20769 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
20773 @subsection New Features
20774 @cindex new features
20777 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
20778 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
20779 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
20780 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
20781 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
20784 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
20785 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
20786 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
20789 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
20791 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
20796 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
20797 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
20800 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
20801 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
20804 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
20807 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
20808 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
20809 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
20812 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
20813 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
20814 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
20815 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
20818 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
20819 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
20822 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
20823 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
20824 (@pxref{The Active File}).
20827 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
20828 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
20831 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
20832 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
20833 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
20836 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
20837 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
20838 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
20841 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
20842 the @file{.emacs} file.
20845 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
20846 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
20849 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
20850 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
20853 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
20854 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
20857 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
20858 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
20861 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
20862 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
20865 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
20868 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
20869 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
20872 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
20873 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
20876 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
20877 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
20880 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
20883 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
20884 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
20887 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
20891 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
20895 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
20896 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
20899 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
20905 @node September Gnus
20906 @subsubsection September Gnus
20910 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
20914 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
20919 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
20920 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
20924 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
20925 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
20929 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
20933 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
20934 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
20937 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
20941 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
20944 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
20947 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
20950 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
20954 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
20955 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
20958 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
20962 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
20966 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
20970 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
20974 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
20977 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
20978 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
20981 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
20985 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
20986 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
20989 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
20992 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
20993 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
20994 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
20997 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
21001 The Gnus cache is much faster.
21004 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
21008 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
21009 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
21012 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
21013 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
21016 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
21017 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
21020 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
21021 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
21022 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
21025 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
21026 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
21029 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
21032 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
21035 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
21038 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
21041 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
21042 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
21045 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
21049 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
21052 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
21057 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
21060 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
21064 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
21067 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
21071 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
21074 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
21077 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
21078 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
21081 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
21082 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
21086 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
21087 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
21090 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
21094 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
21095 buffer to allow easier treatment.
21098 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
21101 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
21105 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
21109 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
21110 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
21113 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
21117 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
21118 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
21121 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
21122 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
21125 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
21129 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
21132 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
21135 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
21141 @subsubsection Red Gnus
21143 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
21147 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
21154 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
21157 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
21158 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
21161 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
21162 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
21166 Article washing status can be displayed in the
21167 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
21170 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
21173 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
21174 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
21177 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
21181 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
21182 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
21186 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
21187 Server Internals}).
21190 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
21194 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
21197 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
21198 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
21201 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
21202 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
21203 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
21206 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
21207 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
21210 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
21211 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
21214 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
21218 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
21219 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
21222 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
21223 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
21226 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
21230 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
21233 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
21237 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
21238 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
21241 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
21242 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
21245 A new command for reading collections of documents
21246 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
21247 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
21250 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
21254 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @sc{nntp}
21255 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
21258 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
21259 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
21260 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
21263 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
21264 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
21268 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
21272 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
21276 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
21281 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
21285 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
21289 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
21290 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
21293 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
21299 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
21301 New features in Gnus 5.6:
21306 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
21307 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
21308 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
21311 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
21312 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
21313 group, which is created automatically.
21316 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
21320 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
21323 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
21324 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
21327 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
21331 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
21334 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
21335 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
21338 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
21341 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
21342 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
21345 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
21346 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
21349 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
21350 control over simplification.
21353 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
21356 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
21360 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
21363 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
21366 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
21367 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
21368 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
21371 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
21372 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
21375 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
21379 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
21380 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
21383 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
21384 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
21387 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
21391 A history of where mails have been split is available.
21394 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
21397 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
21398 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
21401 A new function for citing in Message has been
21402 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
21405 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
21408 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
21412 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
21413 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
21416 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
21417 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
21420 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
21423 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
21427 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
21428 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
21430 New features in Gnus 5.8:
21435 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
21436 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
21438 If you used procmail like in
21441 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
21442 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
21443 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
21444 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
21447 this now has changed to
21451 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
21455 More information is available in the info doc at Select Methods ->
21456 Getting Mail -> Mail Sources
21459 Gnus is now a MIME-capable reader. This affects many parts of
21460 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
21463 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
21464 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
21467 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
21468 called to position point.
21471 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
21472 summary buffers and NOV files.
21475 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
21476 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
21479 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
21480 subtly different manner.
21483 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
21484 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
21485 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
21488 Gnus can now read IMAP mail via @code{nnimap}.
21496 @section The Manual
21500 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
21501 either @code{texi2dvi}
21503 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
21504 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
21506 to get what you hold in your hands now.
21508 The following conventions have been used:
21513 This is a @samp{string}
21516 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
21519 This is a @file{file}
21522 This is a @code{symbol}
21526 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
21530 (setq flargnoze "yes")
21533 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
21536 (setq flumphel 'yes)
21539 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
21540 ever get them confused.
21544 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
21545 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
21546 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
21547 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
21548 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
21549 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
21550 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
21556 @node On Writing Manuals
21557 @section On Writing Manuals
21559 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
21560 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
21561 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
21562 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
21563 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
21564 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
21567 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
21568 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
21569 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
21572 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
21573 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
21578 @section Terminology
21580 @cindex terminology
21585 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
21586 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
21587 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
21588 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
21589 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
21593 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
21594 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
21595 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
21596 not posting, and replying is not following up.
21600 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
21604 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
21609 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of back ends, both news and mail
21610 back ends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
21611 is all done by the back ends.
21615 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
21616 default, way of getting news.
21620 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
21621 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends for getting
21626 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
21627 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
21631 A message that has been posted as news.
21634 @cindex mail message
21635 A message that has been mailed.
21639 A mail message or news article
21643 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
21648 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
21653 A line from the head of an article.
21657 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
21658 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
21662 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
21663 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
21664 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
21665 normal @sc{head} format.
21669 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
21670 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
21671 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
21672 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
21673 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
21674 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
21676 @item killed groups
21677 @cindex killed groups
21678 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
21679 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
21681 @item zombie groups
21682 @cindex zombie groups
21683 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
21686 @cindex active file
21687 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
21688 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
21689 is rather large, as you might surmise.
21692 @cindex bogus groups
21693 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
21694 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
21695 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
21698 @cindex activating groups
21699 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
21700 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
21701 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
21705 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
21707 @item select method
21708 @cindex select method
21709 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
21712 @item virtual server
21713 @cindex virtual server
21714 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
21715 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
21716 whole is a virtual server.
21720 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
21721 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
21724 @item ephemeral groups
21725 @cindex ephemeral groups
21726 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
21727 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
21728 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
21731 @cindex solid groups
21732 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
21733 group buffer are solid groups.
21735 @item sparse articles
21736 @cindex sparse articles
21737 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
21738 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
21742 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
21743 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
21747 @cindex thread root
21748 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
21749 articles in the thread.
21753 An article that has responses.
21757 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
21761 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
21762 specified by RFC 1153.
21768 @node Customization
21769 @section Customization
21770 @cindex general customization
21772 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
21773 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
21774 for some quite common situations.
21777 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
21778 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
21779 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
21780 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
21784 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
21785 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
21787 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
21788 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
21789 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
21793 @item gnus-read-active-file
21794 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
21795 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
21796 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
21797 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
21798 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
21800 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
21801 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
21802 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
21803 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
21807 @node Slow Terminal Connection
21808 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
21810 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
21811 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
21812 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
21816 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
21817 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
21818 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
21819 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
21820 horizontal and vertical recentering.
21822 @item gnus-visible-headers
21823 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
21824 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
21825 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
21826 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
21828 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
21830 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
21831 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
21832 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
21835 @item gnus-use-full-window
21836 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
21837 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
21838 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
21839 want to read them anyway.
21841 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
21842 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
21845 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
21846 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
21847 lines, which might save some time.
21851 @node Little Disk Space
21852 @subsection Little Disk Space
21855 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
21856 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
21860 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
21861 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
21862 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
21863 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
21866 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
21867 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
21868 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
21869 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
21872 @item gnus-save-killed-list
21873 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
21874 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
21875 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
21876 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
21882 @subsection Slow Machine
21883 @cindex slow machine
21885 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
21886 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
21888 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
21889 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
21891 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
21892 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
21893 summary buffer faster.
21897 @node Troubleshooting
21898 @section Troubleshooting
21899 @cindex troubleshooting
21901 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
21909 Make sure your computer is switched on.
21912 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
21913 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
21917 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
21918 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
21919 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
21920 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
21923 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
21927 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
21928 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
21929 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
21930 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
21931 something like that.
21934 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
21937 @cindex reporting bugs
21939 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
21941 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
21942 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
21943 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
21944 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
21946 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
21947 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
21948 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
21949 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
21952 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
21953 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
21954 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
21955 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
21956 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
21957 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
21959 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
21960 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
21961 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
21965 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
21966 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
21968 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
21969 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
21971 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
21972 @cindex ding mailing list
21973 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
21974 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
21978 @node Gnus Reference Guide
21979 @section Gnus Reference Guide
21981 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
21982 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
21983 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
21984 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
21987 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
21988 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
21989 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
21990 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
21991 and general methods of operation.
21994 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
21995 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
21996 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
21997 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
21998 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
21999 * Group Info:: The group info format.
22000 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
22001 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
22002 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
22006 @node Gnus Utility Functions
22007 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
22008 @cindex Gnus utility functions
22009 @cindex utility functions
22011 @cindex internal variables
22013 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
22014 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
22015 Below is a list of the most common ones.
22019 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
22020 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
22021 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
22023 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
22024 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
22025 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
22027 @item gnus-group-real-name
22028 @findex gnus-group-real-name
22029 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
22032 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
22033 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
22034 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
22035 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
22037 @item gnus-get-info
22038 @findex gnus-get-info
22039 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
22041 @item gnus-group-unread
22042 @findex gnus-group-unread
22043 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
22047 @findex gnus-active
22048 The active entry for @var{group}.
22050 @item gnus-set-active
22051 @findex gnus-set-active
22052 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
22054 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
22055 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
22056 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
22059 @item gnus-continuum-version
22060 @findex gnus-continuum-version
22061 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
22062 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
22065 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
22066 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
22067 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
22069 @item gnus-news-group-p
22070 @findex gnus-news-group-p
22071 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
22073 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
22074 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
22075 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
22077 @item gnus-server-to-method
22078 @findex gnus-server-to-method
22079 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
22081 @item gnus-server-equal
22082 @findex gnus-server-equal
22083 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
22085 @item gnus-group-native-p
22086 @findex gnus-group-native-p
22087 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
22089 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
22090 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
22091 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
22093 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
22094 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
22095 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
22097 @item group-group-find-parameter
22098 @findex group-group-find-parameter
22099 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
22100 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
22102 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
22103 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
22104 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
22106 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
22107 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
22108 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
22110 @item gnus-check-backend-function
22111 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
22112 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
22113 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
22116 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
22120 @item gnus-read-method
22121 @findex gnus-read-method
22122 Prompts the user for a select method.
22127 @node Back End Interface
22128 @subsection Back End Interface
22130 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
22131 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
22132 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
22133 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
22134 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
22135 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
22137 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
22138 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
22139 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
22140 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
22141 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
22142 been opened, the function should fail.
22144 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
22145 name. Take this example:
22149 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
22150 (nntp-port-number 4324))
22153 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
22154 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
22156 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
22157 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
22158 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
22160 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
22161 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
22162 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
22164 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
22165 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
22166 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
22167 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
22168 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
22169 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
22172 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
22173 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
22174 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
22175 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
22178 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
22179 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
22180 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
22181 possible for later articles to `re-use' older article numbers without
22182 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
22183 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
22184 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
22185 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
22186 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
22187 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
22189 The previous paragraph already mentions all the `hard' restrictions that
22190 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
22191 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
22192 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
22193 the `no-reuse' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
22194 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
22195 of numbers as long as possible.
22197 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
22200 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
22203 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
22204 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
22205 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
22206 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
22207 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
22208 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
22212 @node Required Back End Functions
22213 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
22217 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
22219 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
22220 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
22221 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
22222 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
22224 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
22225 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
22226 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
22227 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
22229 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
22230 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
22231 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
22232 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
22233 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
22234 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
22235 number, do maximum fetches.
22237 Here's an example HEAD:
22240 221 1056 Article retrieved.
22241 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
22242 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
22243 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
22244 Subject: Re: Something very droll
22245 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
22246 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
22248 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
22249 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
22250 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
22254 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
22255 these in the data buffer.
22257 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
22261 head = error / valid-head
22262 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
22263 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
22264 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
22265 header = <text> eol
22268 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
22269 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
22273 nov-buffer = *nov-line
22274 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
22275 field = <text except TAB>
22278 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
22282 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
22284 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
22285 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
22287 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
22288 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
22289 server. In fact, it should do so.
22291 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
22292 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
22295 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
22297 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
22298 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
22301 There should be no data returned.
22304 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
22306 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
22307 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
22308 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
22309 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
22311 There should be no data returned.
22314 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
22316 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
22317 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
22318 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
22319 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
22321 There should be no data returned.
22324 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
22326 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
22328 There should be no data returned.
22331 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
22333 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
22334 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
22335 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
22336 it would be nice if that were possible.
22338 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
22339 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
22340 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
22341 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
22342 into its article buffer.
22344 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
22345 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
22346 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
22347 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
22348 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
22349 on successful article retrieval.
22352 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
22354 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
22355 making @var{group} the current group.
22357 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
22360 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
22363 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
22366 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
22367 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
22368 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
22369 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
22370 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
22371 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
22372 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
22373 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
22376 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
22377 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
22378 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
22382 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
22384 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
22385 a no-op on most back ends.
22387 There should be no data returned.
22390 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
22392 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
22395 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
22398 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
22399 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
22402 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
22403 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
22406 active-file = *active-line
22407 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
22409 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
22412 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
22413 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
22414 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
22417 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
22419 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
22420 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
22421 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
22422 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
22423 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
22424 clear if the posting could not be completed.
22426 There should be no result data from this function.
22431 @node Optional Back End Functions
22432 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
22436 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
22438 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
22439 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
22440 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
22442 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
22443 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
22444 former is in the same format as the data from
22445 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
22446 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
22449 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
22453 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
22455 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
22456 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all the
22457 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
22458 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
22459 should return the (altered) group info.
22461 There should be no result data from this function.
22464 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
22466 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
22467 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
22468 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
22469 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
22470 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
22471 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
22472 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
22473 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
22475 There should be no result data from this function.
22478 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
22480 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
22481 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
22482 @code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @sc{imap}) however carry
22483 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
22484 propagate the mark information to the server.
22486 ACTION is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
22489 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
22492 RANGE is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. ACTION is
22493 @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove marks
22494 (preserving all marks not mentioned). MARK is a list of marks; where
22495 each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are @code{read},
22496 @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
22497 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend},
22498 @code{forward} and @code{recent}, but your back end should, if
22499 possible, not limit itself to these.
22501 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
22502 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
22503 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
22504 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
22506 An example action list:
22509 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
22510 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
22511 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
22514 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
22515 mark on (currently not used for anything).
22517 There should be no result data from this function.
22519 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
22521 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
22522 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
22523 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
22524 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
22525 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
22527 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
22528 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
22529 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
22532 There should be no result data from this function.
22535 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
22537 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
22538 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
22539 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query the
22540 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
22541 to be heeded---if the back end decides that it is too much work just
22542 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
22543 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
22545 There should be no result data from this function.
22548 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
22550 The result data from this function should be a description of
22554 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
22556 description = <text>
22559 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
22561 The result data from this function should be the description of all
22562 groups available on the server.
22565 description-buffer = *description-line
22569 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
22571 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
22572 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
22573 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
22574 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
22575 in the active buffer format.
22577 It is okay for this function to return `too many' groups; some back ends
22578 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
22579 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
22580 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
22581 many groups, so nnml and the like are probably safe. But for back ends
22582 like nntp, where the groups have been created by the server, it is quite
22583 likely that there can be many groups.
22586 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
22588 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
22590 There should be no return data.
22593 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
22595 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
22596 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
22597 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
22598 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
22599 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
22602 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
22605 There should be no result data returned.
22608 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
22611 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
22612 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
22614 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
22615 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
22616 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
22617 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
22618 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
22619 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
22621 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
22622 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
22625 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
22626 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
22628 There should be no data returned.
22631 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
22633 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
22634 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
22635 this function in short order.
22637 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
22638 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
22640 There should be no data returned.
22643 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
22645 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
22646 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
22648 There should be no data returned.
22651 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
22653 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
22654 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
22655 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
22657 There should be no data returned.
22660 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
22662 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
22663 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
22665 There should be no data returned.
22670 @node Error Messaging
22671 @subsubsection Error Messaging
22673 @findex nnheader-report
22674 @findex nnheader-get-report
22675 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
22676 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
22677 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
22678 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
22679 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
22680 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
22683 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
22685 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
22688 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
22689 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
22690 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
22691 takes one argument---the server symbol.
22693 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
22694 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
22695 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
22698 @node Writing New Back Ends
22699 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
22701 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
22702 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
22703 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
22704 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
22705 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
22708 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
22709 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
22710 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
22712 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
22713 package called @code{nnoo}.
22715 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
22716 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
22722 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
22723 parameters. For instance:
22726 (nnoo-declare nndir
22730 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
22731 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
22734 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
22735 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
22736 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
22738 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
22739 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
22740 a function in those back ends.
22743 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
22744 "Where nndir will look for groups."
22745 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
22748 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
22749 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
22750 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
22752 @item nnoo-define-basics
22753 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
22757 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
22761 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
22762 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
22763 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
22765 @item nnoo-map-functions
22766 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
22767 functions from the parent back ends.
22770 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
22771 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
22772 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
22775 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
22776 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
22777 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
22778 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
22781 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
22782 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
22783 haven't already been defined.
22789 nnmh-request-newgroups)
22793 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
22794 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
22795 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
22800 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
22803 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
22804 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
22808 (require 'nnheader)
22812 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
22814 (nnoo-declare nndir
22817 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
22818 "Where nndir will look for groups."
22819 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
22821 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
22822 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
22825 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
22827 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
22828 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
22829 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
22831 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
22832 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
22834 ;;; Interface functions.
22836 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
22838 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
22839 (setq nndir-directory
22840 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
22842 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
22843 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
22844 (push `(nndir-current-group
22845 ,(file-name-nondirectory
22846 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
22848 (push `(nndir-top-directory
22849 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
22851 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
22853 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
22854 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
22855 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
22856 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
22857 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
22861 nnmh-status-message
22863 nnmh-request-newgroups))
22869 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
22870 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
22872 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
22873 @findex gnus-declare-backend
22874 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
22875 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
22876 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
22878 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
22879 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
22884 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
22887 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
22889 The abilities can be:
22893 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
22895 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
22897 This back end supports both mail and news.
22899 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
22902 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
22903 articles and groups.
22905 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
22906 true for almost all back ends.
22907 @item prompt-address
22908 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
22909 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
22910 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
22914 @node Mail-like Back Ends
22915 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
22917 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
22918 back ends is the heavy dependence by the mail back ends on common
22919 functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
22920 @code{nnml-request-scan}:
22923 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
22924 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
22925 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
22928 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
22929 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
22932 This function takes four parameters.
22936 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
22939 @item exit-function
22940 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
22942 @item temp-directory
22943 Where the temporary files should be stored.
22946 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
22947 performed for one group only.
22950 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
22951 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
22952 find the article number assigned to this article.
22954 The function also uses the following variables:
22955 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
22956 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
22957 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
22958 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
22962 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
22963 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
22967 @node Score File Syntax
22968 @subsection Score File Syntax
22970 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
22971 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
22972 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
22974 Here's a typical score file:
22978 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
22985 BNF definition of a score file:
22988 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
22989 element = rule / atom
22990 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
22991 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
22992 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
22993 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
22995 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
22996 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
22997 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
22998 date-header = "date"
22999 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
23000 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
23001 score = "nil" / <integer>
23002 date = "nil" / <natural number>
23003 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
23004 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
23005 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
23006 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
23007 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
23008 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
23009 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
23010 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
23011 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
23012 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
23013 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
23014 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
23015 exclude-files / read-only / touched
23016 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
23017 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
23018 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
23019 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
23020 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
23021 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
23022 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
23023 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
23024 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
23025 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
23026 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
23027 eval = "eval" space <form>
23028 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
23031 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
23034 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
23035 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
23036 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
23037 one looong line, then that's ok.
23039 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
23040 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
23044 @subsection Headers
23046 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
23047 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
23048 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
23049 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
23051 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
23052 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
23053 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
23054 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
23055 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
23056 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
23057 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
23059 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
23060 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
23061 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
23062 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
23063 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
23065 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
23066 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
23072 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
23073 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
23075 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
23076 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
23077 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
23078 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
23080 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
23084 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
23087 is transformed into
23090 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
23093 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
23094 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
23097 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
23100 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
23101 is slightly tricky:
23104 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
23110 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
23113 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
23119 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
23126 and is equal to the previous range.
23128 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
23129 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
23130 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
23134 range = simple-range / normal-range
23135 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
23136 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
23137 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
23138 number *[ " " contents ]
23141 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
23142 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
23143 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
23144 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
23145 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
23150 @subsection Group Info
23152 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
23153 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
23154 describes the group.
23156 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
23157 second is a more complex one:
23160 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
23162 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
23163 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
23165 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
23168 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
23169 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
23170 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
23171 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
23172 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
23173 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
23174 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
23175 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
23176 this section is about.
23178 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
23179 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
23180 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
23182 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
23185 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
23186 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
23187 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
23188 group = quote <string> quote
23189 ralevel = rank / level
23190 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
23191 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
23192 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
23194 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
23195 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
23196 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
23197 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
23200 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
23201 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
23204 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
23205 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
23208 @item gnus-info-group
23209 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
23210 @findex gnus-info-group
23211 @findex gnus-info-set-group
23212 Get/set the group name.
23214 @item gnus-info-rank
23215 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
23216 @findex gnus-info-rank
23217 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
23218 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
23220 @item gnus-info-level
23221 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
23222 @findex gnus-info-level
23223 @findex gnus-info-set-level
23224 Get/set the group level.
23226 @item gnus-info-score
23227 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
23228 @findex gnus-info-score
23229 @findex gnus-info-set-score
23230 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
23232 @item gnus-info-read
23233 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
23234 @findex gnus-info-read
23235 @findex gnus-info-set-read
23236 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
23238 @item gnus-info-marks
23239 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
23240 @findex gnus-info-marks
23241 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
23242 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
23244 @item gnus-info-method
23245 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
23246 @findex gnus-info-method
23247 @findex gnus-info-set-method
23248 Get/set the group select method.
23250 @item gnus-info-params
23251 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
23252 @findex gnus-info-params
23253 @findex gnus-info-set-params
23254 Get/set the group parameters.
23257 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
23258 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
23260 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
23261 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
23262 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
23263 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
23266 @node Extended Interactive
23267 @subsection Extended Interactive
23268 @cindex interactive
23269 @findex gnus-interactive
23271 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
23272 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
23273 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
23276 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
23277 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
23282 The best thing to do would have been to implement
23283 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
23284 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
23285 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
23286 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
23287 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
23288 @code{interactive}.
23290 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
23295 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
23296 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
23300 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
23301 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
23302 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
23305 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
23309 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
23313 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
23319 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
23320 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
23324 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
23325 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
23326 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
23328 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
23329 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
23330 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
23331 Gnus, that's very useful.
23333 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
23334 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
23335 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
23336 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
23337 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
23338 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
23339 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
23340 following function:
23343 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
23347 (,function ,@@args))
23351 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
23352 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
23353 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
23356 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
23357 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
23358 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
23360 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
23361 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
23362 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
23365 @node Various File Formats
23366 @subsection Various File Formats
23369 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
23370 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
23374 @node Active File Format
23375 @subsubsection Active File Format
23377 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
23378 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
23381 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
23384 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
23385 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
23386 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
23387 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
23388 no.general 1000 900 y
23391 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
23394 active = *group-line
23395 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
23396 group = <non-white-space string>
23398 high-number = <non-negative integer>
23399 low-number = <positive integer>
23400 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
23403 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
23404 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
23407 @node Newsgroups File Format
23408 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
23410 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
23411 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
23412 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
23415 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
23416 Here's the definition:
23420 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
23421 group = <non-white-space string>
23423 description = <string>
23428 @node Emacs for Heathens
23429 @section Emacs for Heathens
23431 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
23432 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
23433 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
23434 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
23435 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
23436 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
23437 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
23441 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
23442 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
23447 @subsection Keystrokes
23451 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
23454 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
23457 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
23458 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
23459 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
23460 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
23461 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
23462 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
23464 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
23465 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
23466 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
23467 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
23468 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
23469 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
23470 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
23472 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
23473 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
23474 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
23475 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
23476 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
23477 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
23478 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
23480 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
23481 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
23482 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
23483 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
23484 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
23490 @subsection Emacs Lisp
23492 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
23493 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
23494 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
23495 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
23497 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
23498 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
23499 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
23500 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
23501 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
23502 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
23503 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
23506 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
23507 write the following:
23510 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
23513 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
23514 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
23515 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
23518 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
23519 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
23520 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
23521 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
23522 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
23524 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
23525 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
23526 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
23530 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
23534 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
23537 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
23538 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
23541 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
23544 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
23545 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
23548 @include gnus-faq.texi
23568 @c Local Variables:
23570 @c coding: iso-8859-1
23572 % LocalWords: BNF mucho detailmenu cindex kindex kbd
23573 % LocalWords: findex Gnusae vindex dfn dfn samp nntp setq nnspool nntpserver
23574 % LocalWords: nnmbox newusers Blllrph NEWGROUPS dingnusdingnusdingnus
23575 % LocalWords: pre fab rec comp nnslashdot regex ga ga sci nnml nnbabyl nnmh
23576 % LocalWords: nnfolder emph looong eld newsreaders defun init elc pxref