1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*- -*- coding: iso-latin-1 -*-
4 @settitle Pterodactyl Gnus Manual
9 @c * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
14 @setchapternewpage odd
18 \documentclass[twoside,a4paper,openright,11pt]{book}
19 \usepackage[latin1]{inputenc}
20 \usepackage{pagestyle}
28 \newcommand{\gnuschaptername}{}
29 \newcommand{\gnussectionname}{}
31 \newcommand{\gnusbackslash}{/}
33 \newcommand{\gnusxref}[1]{See ``#1'' on page \pageref{#1}}
34 \newcommand{\gnuspxref}[1]{see ``#1'' on page \pageref{#1}}
36 \newcommand{\gnuskindex}[1]{\index{#1}}
37 \newcommand{\gnusindex}[1]{\index{#1}}
39 \newcommand{\gnustt}[1]{{\fontfamily{pfu}\fontsize{10pt}{10}\selectfont #1}}
40 \newcommand{\gnuscode}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
41 \newcommand{\gnussamp}[1]{``{\fontencoding{OT1}\fontfamily{pfu}\fontsize{10pt}{10}\selectfont #1}''}
42 \newcommand{\gnuslisp}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
43 \newcommand{\gnuskbd}[1]{`\gnustt{#1}'}
44 \newcommand{\gnusfile}[1]{`\gnustt{#1}'}
45 \newcommand{\gnusdfn}[1]{\textit{#1}}
46 \newcommand{\gnusi}[1]{\textit{#1}}
47 \newcommand{\gnusstrong}[1]{\textbf{#1}}
48 \newcommand{\gnusemph}[1]{\textit{#1}}
49 \newcommand{\gnusvar}[1]{{\fontsize{10pt}{10}\selectfont\textsl{\textsf{#1}}}}
50 \newcommand{\gnussc}[1]{\textsc{#1}}
51 \newcommand{\gnustitle}[1]{{\huge\textbf{#1}}}
52 \newcommand{\gnusauthor}[1]{{\large\textbf{#1}}}
53 \newcommand{\gnusresult}[1]{\gnustt{=> #1}}
55 \newcommand{\gnusbullet}{{${\bullet}$}}
56 \newcommand{\gnusdollar}{\$}
57 \newcommand{\gnusampersand}{\&}
58 \newcommand{\gnuspercent}{\%}
59 \newcommand{\gnushash}{\#}
60 \newcommand{\gnushat}{\symbol{"5E}}
61 \newcommand{\gnusunderline}{\symbol{"5F}}
62 \newcommand{\gnusnot}{$\neg$}
63 \newcommand{\gnustilde}{\symbol{"7E}}
64 \newcommand{\gnusless}{{$<$}}
65 \newcommand{\gnusgreater}{{$>$}}
66 \newcommand{\gnusbraceleft}{{$>$}}
67 \newcommand{\gnusbraceright}{{$>$}}
69 \newcommand{\gnushead}{\raisebox{-1cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-head.eps,height=1cm}}}
70 \newcommand{\gnusinteresting}{
71 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\gnushead]{\gnushead}
74 \newcommand{\gnuscleardoublepage}{\ifodd\count0\mbox{}\clearpage\thispagestyle{empty}\mbox{}\clearpage\else\clearpage\fi}
76 \newcommand{\gnuspagechapter}[1]{
83 \newcommand{\gnuschapter}[2]{
85 \ifdim \gnusdimen = 0pt\setcounter{page}{1}\pagestyle{gnus}\pagenumbering{arabic} \gnusdimen 1pt\fi
87 \renewcommand{\gnussectionname}{}
88 \renewcommand{\gnuschaptername}{#2}
91 \begin{picture}(500,500)(0,0)
92 \put(480,350){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{#1}}
93 \put(40,300){\makebox(500,50)[bl]{{\Huge\bf{#2}}}}
98 \newcommand{\gnusfigure}[3]{
100 \mbox{}\ifodd\count0\hspace*{-0.8cm}\else\hspace*{-3cm}\fi\begin{picture}(440,#2)
107 \newcommand{\gnusicon}[1]{
108 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\raisebox{-1.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/#1-up.ps,height=1.5cm}}]{\raisebox{-1cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/#1-up.ps,height=1cm}}}
111 \newcommand{\gnuspicon}[1]{
112 \margindex{\epsfig{figure=#1,width=2cm}}
115 \newcommand{\gnusxface}[2]{
116 \margindex{\epsfig{figure=#1,width=1cm}\epsfig{figure=#2,width=1cm}}
119 \newcommand{\gnussmiley}[2]{
120 \margindex{\makebox[2cm]{\hfill\epsfig{figure=#1,width=0.5cm}\hfill\epsfig{figure=#2,width=0.5cm}\hfill}}
123 \newcommand{\gnusitemx}[1]{\mbox{}\vspace*{-\itemsep}\vspace*{-\parsep}\item#1}
125 \newcommand{\gnussection}[1]{
126 \renewcommand{\gnussectionname}{#1}
130 \newenvironment{codelist}%
135 \newenvironment{kbdlist}%
141 \newenvironment{dfnlist}%
146 \newenvironment{stronglist}%
151 \newenvironment{samplist}%
156 \newenvironment{varlist}%
161 \newenvironment{emphlist}%
166 \newlength\gnusheadtextwidth
167 \setlength{\gnusheadtextwidth}{\headtextwidth}
168 \addtolength{\gnusheadtextwidth}{1cm}
170 \newpagestyle{gnuspreamble}%
175 \hspace*{-0.23cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\mbox{}}\textbf{\hfill\roman{page}}}
179 \hspace*{-3.25cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\roman{page}\hfill\mbox{}}}
188 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo.eps,height=1cm}}
190 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo.eps,height=1cm}}
195 \newpagestyle{gnusindex}%
200 \hspace*{-0.23cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\gnuschaptername\hfill\arabic{page}}}}
204 \hspace*{-3.25cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\arabic{page}\hfill\gnuschaptername}}}
212 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo.eps,height=1cm}}
214 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo.eps,height=1cm}}
224 \makebox[12cm]{\hspace*{3.1cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\arabic{chapter}.\arabic{section}} \textbf{\gnussectionname\hfill\arabic{page}}}}}
228 \makebox[12cm]{\hspace*{-2.95cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\arabic{page}\hfill\gnuschaptername}}}}
236 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo.eps,height=1cm}}
238 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo.eps,height=1cm}}
243 \pagenumbering{roman}
244 \pagestyle{gnuspreamble}
254 %\addtolength{\oddsidemargin}{-5cm}
255 %\addtolength{\evensidemargin}{-5cm}
257 \addtolength{\textheight}{2cm}
259 \gnustitle{\gnustitlename}\\
262 \hspace*{0cm}\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo.eps,height=15cm}
265 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
272 \thispagestyle{empty}
274 Copyright \copyright{} 1995,96,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
276 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
277 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
278 are preserved on all copies.
280 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
281 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
282 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
283 permission notice identical to this one.
285 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
286 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
295 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
297 Copyright (C) 1995,96,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
299 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
300 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
301 are preserved on all copies.
304 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
305 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
306 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
307 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
310 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
311 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
312 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
313 permission notice identical to this one.
315 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
316 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
322 @title Pterodactyl Gnus Manual
324 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
327 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
328 Copyright @copyright{} 1995,96,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
330 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
331 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
332 are preserved on all copies.
334 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
335 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
336 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
337 permission notice identical to this one.
339 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
340 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
349 @top The Gnus Newsreader
353 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
354 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
355 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
358 This manual corresponds to Pterodactyl Gnus .
369 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
370 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
372 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
373 being accused of plagiarism:
375 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
376 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
377 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you can
378 even read news with it!
380 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
381 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
382 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
383 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
384 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
391 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
392 * The Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
393 * The Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
394 * The Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
395 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
396 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
397 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
398 * Various:: General purpose settings.
399 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
400 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
401 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
402 * Key Index:: Key Index.
406 @chapter Starting Gnus
411 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
412 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
415 @findex gnus-other-frame
416 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
417 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
418 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
420 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
421 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
422 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
424 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
425 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
428 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
429 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
430 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
431 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
432 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
433 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
434 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
435 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
436 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
437 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
438 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
442 @node Finding the News
443 @section Finding the News
446 @vindex gnus-select-method
448 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
449 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
450 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
451 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
454 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
455 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
458 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
461 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
464 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
467 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
468 certainly be much faster.
470 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
472 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
473 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
474 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
475 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
476 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
477 that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
479 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
480 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
481 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
482 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
484 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
485 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
486 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
487 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
488 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
489 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
490 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
491 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
492 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
495 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
497 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
498 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
499 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
500 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
501 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
502 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
504 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
506 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
507 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
508 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
509 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
510 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
511 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
514 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
515 would typically set this variable to
518 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
523 @section The First Time
524 @cindex first time usage
526 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
527 be subscribed by default.
529 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
530 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
531 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
532 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
535 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
536 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
537 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
539 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
540 help you with most common problems.
542 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
543 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
547 @node The Server is Down
548 @section The Server is Down
549 @cindex server errors
551 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
552 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
553 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
555 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
556 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
557 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
558 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
559 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
560 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
561 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
563 @findex gnus-no-server
564 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
566 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
567 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
568 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
569 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
570 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
571 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
576 @section Slave Gnusae
579 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
580 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
581 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
582 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
584 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
587 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
588 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
589 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
590 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
591 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
592 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
593 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
595 Anyways, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
596 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
597 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
598 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
599 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
600 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
601 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
602 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
604 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
605 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
608 @node Fetching a Group
609 @section Fetching a Group
610 @cindex fetching a group
612 @findex gnus-fetch-group
613 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
614 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
615 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
616 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
617 It takes the group name as a parameter.
625 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
626 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
627 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
628 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
629 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
630 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
631 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
632 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the backends for new groups even
633 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
636 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
637 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
638 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
642 @node Checking New Groups
643 @subsection Checking New Groups
645 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
646 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
647 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
648 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
649 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
650 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
651 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
652 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
653 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
654 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
656 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
657 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
658 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
659 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
660 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
661 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
662 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
663 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
664 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
665 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
666 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
668 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
669 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
670 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
671 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
672 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
673 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
676 @node Subscription Methods
677 @subsection Subscription Methods
679 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
680 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
681 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
683 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
684 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
686 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
690 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
691 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
692 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
693 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
694 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
696 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
697 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
698 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
699 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
701 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
702 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
703 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
705 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
706 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
707 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
708 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
709 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
710 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
711 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
712 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
713 up. Or something like that.
715 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
716 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
717 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
718 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
719 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
721 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
722 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
725 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
726 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
727 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
728 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
729 topic parameter that looks like
735 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
738 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
743 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
744 A closely related variable is
745 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
746 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
747 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
748 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
751 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
752 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
753 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
754 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
757 @node Filtering New Groups
758 @subsection Filtering New Groups
760 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
761 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
762 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
765 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
768 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
769 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
770 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
771 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
772 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
773 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
774 subscribing these groups.
775 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
776 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
778 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
779 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
780 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
781 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
782 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
783 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
784 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
785 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
787 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
788 Yet another variable that meddles here is
789 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
790 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
791 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
792 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
793 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
794 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
795 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
796 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
798 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
799 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
802 @node Changing Servers
803 @section Changing Servers
804 @cindex changing servers
806 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
807 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
808 very flaky and you want to use another.
810 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
811 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
815 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
816 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
817 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
818 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
821 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
822 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
823 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
824 functions more than absolutely necessary.
826 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
827 @findex gnus-change-server
828 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
829 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
830 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
831 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
832 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
834 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
835 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
836 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
837 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
838 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
840 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
841 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
842 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
843 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
844 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
845 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
847 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
848 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
849 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
853 @section Startup Files
854 @cindex startup files
859 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
860 information is traditionally stored in this file.
862 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
863 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
864 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
865 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
866 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
867 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
868 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
870 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
871 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
872 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
873 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
874 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
875 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
877 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
878 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
879 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
880 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
881 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
882 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
883 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
884 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
885 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
886 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
888 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
889 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
890 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
891 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
892 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
893 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
894 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
895 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
896 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
897 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
898 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
899 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
901 @vindex gnus-startup-file
902 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
903 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
904 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
906 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
907 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
908 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
909 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
910 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
911 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
912 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
913 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
914 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
915 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
918 (defun turn-off-backup ()
919 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
921 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
922 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
925 @vindex gnus-init-file
926 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
927 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
928 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
929 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
930 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
931 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
932 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
933 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
934 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
943 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
944 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
945 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
946 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
947 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
950 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
951 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
954 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
955 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
956 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
958 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
959 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
960 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
961 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
962 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
963 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
965 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
966 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
967 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
970 @node The Active File
971 @section The Active File
973 @cindex ignored groups
975 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
976 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
977 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
979 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
980 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
981 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
982 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
983 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
984 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
985 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
988 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
989 @c if you set it to anything else.
991 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
993 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
994 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
995 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
997 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
998 you actually subscribe to.
1000 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1001 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1002 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1003 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1005 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1006 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1007 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1008 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1009 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1010 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1012 Some news servers (Leafnode and old versions of INN, for instance) do
1013 not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these servers, @code{nil}
1014 is probably the most efficient value for this variable.
1016 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1017 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1018 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1019 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1020 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1021 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1023 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1024 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1026 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1027 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1029 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1030 secondary select methods.
1033 @node Startup Variables
1034 @section Startup Variables
1038 @item gnus-load-hook
1039 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1040 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1041 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1042 times you start Gnus.
1044 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1045 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1046 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1048 @item gnus-startup-hook
1049 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1050 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1052 @item gnus-started-hook
1053 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1054 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1057 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1058 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1059 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1060 generating the group buffer.
1062 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1063 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1064 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1065 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1066 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1067 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1068 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1069 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1071 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1072 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1073 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1074 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1075 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1076 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1078 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1079 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1080 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1082 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1083 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1084 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1086 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1087 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1088 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1089 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1094 @node The Group Buffer
1095 @chapter The Group Buffer
1096 @cindex group buffer
1098 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1099 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1100 long as Gnus is active.
1104 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1105 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group.ps,height=9cm}}
1106 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1107 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1108 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1109 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1110 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1111 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1117 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1118 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1119 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1120 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1121 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1122 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1123 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1124 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1125 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1126 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1127 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1128 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1129 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1130 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1131 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1132 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1133 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1137 @node Group Buffer Format
1138 @section Group Buffer Format
1141 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1142 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1143 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1147 @node Group Line Specification
1148 @subsection Group Line Specification
1149 @cindex group buffer format
1151 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1152 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1154 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1157 25: news.announce.newusers
1158 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1163 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1164 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1165 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1166 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1168 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1169 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1170 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1171 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1172 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1173 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1175 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1177 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1178 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
1179 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
1180 never examined by Gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
1183 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1184 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1185 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1187 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1192 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1195 Whether the group is subscribed.
1198 Level of subscribedness.
1201 Number of unread articles.
1204 Number of dormant articles.
1207 Number of ticked articles.
1210 Number of read articles.
1213 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1214 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1217 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1220 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1229 Newsgroup description.
1232 @samp{m} if moderated.
1235 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1244 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1248 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1251 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1252 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1253 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1254 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1255 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1258 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1260 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1264 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1268 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1269 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1270 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1271 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1272 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1273 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1278 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1279 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1280 group, or a bogus native group.
1283 @node Group Modeline Specification
1284 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1285 @cindex group modeline
1287 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1288 The mode line can be changed by setting
1289 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1290 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1294 The native news server.
1296 The native select method.
1300 @node Group Highlighting
1301 @subsection Group Highlighting
1302 @cindex highlighting
1303 @cindex group highlighting
1305 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1306 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1307 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1308 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1309 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1311 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1315 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-1
1316 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))))
1317 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-2
1318 '((t (:foreground "SeaGreen" :bold t))))
1319 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-3
1320 '((t (:foreground "SpringGreen" :bold t))))
1321 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-4
1322 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))))
1323 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-5
1324 '((t (:foreground "SkyBlue" :bold t))))
1326 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1327 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1328 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1329 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1330 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1331 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1334 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1336 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1343 The number of unread articles in the group.
1347 Whether the group is a mail group.
1349 The level of the group.
1351 The score of the group.
1353 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1355 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1356 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1358 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1359 topic being inserted.
1362 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1363 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1364 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1366 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1367 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1368 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1369 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1370 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1373 @node Group Maneuvering
1374 @section Group Maneuvering
1375 @cindex group movement
1377 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1378 expected, hopefully.
1384 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1385 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1386 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1392 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1393 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1394 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1398 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1399 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1403 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1404 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1408 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1409 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1410 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1414 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1415 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1416 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1419 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1425 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1426 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1427 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1432 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1433 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1434 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1438 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1439 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1440 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1443 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1444 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1445 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1446 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1450 @node Selecting a Group
1451 @section Selecting a Group
1452 @cindex group selection
1457 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1458 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1459 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1460 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1461 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1462 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1463 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
1464 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
1465 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
1466 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{N})} oldest articles.
1470 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1471 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1472 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1473 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1474 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1478 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1479 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1480 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1481 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1482 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1483 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1484 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
1485 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
1486 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
1487 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
1490 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
1491 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1492 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
1493 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1494 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1497 @kindex M-C-RET (Group)
1498 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
1499 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
1500 doing any processing of its contents
1501 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
1502 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
1503 manner will have no permanent effects.
1507 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1508 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
1509 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
1510 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
1511 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
1512 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
1513 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
1514 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
1517 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
1518 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
1519 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
1520 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
1525 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
1526 full summary buffer.
1529 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
1532 Select the highest scored article in the group when entering the
1537 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function will
1538 be called to place point on a subject line, and/or select some article.
1539 Useful functions include:
1542 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-subject
1543 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article, but
1544 don't select the article.
1546 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-article
1547 Select the first unread article.
1549 @item gnus-summary-best-unread-article
1550 Select the highest-scored unread article.
1554 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
1555 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
1556 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
1560 @node Subscription Commands
1561 @section Subscription Commands
1562 @cindex subscription
1570 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
1571 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
1572 Toggle subscription to the current group
1573 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
1579 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
1580 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
1581 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
1582 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
1588 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
1589 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
1590 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
1596 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
1597 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
1600 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
1601 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
1602 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
1603 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
1604 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
1610 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
1611 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
1615 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
1616 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
1619 @kindex S C-k (Group)
1620 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
1621 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
1622 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
1623 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
1624 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
1625 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
1626 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
1627 @file{.newsrc} file.
1631 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1641 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
1642 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
1643 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
1644 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
1645 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
1646 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
1651 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
1652 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
1653 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
1657 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1658 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
1659 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1661 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1662 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1663 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1664 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
1665 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
1666 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
1673 @section Group Levels
1677 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
1678 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
1679 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
1680 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
1681 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1683 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
1689 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
1690 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
1691 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
1692 prompted for a level.
1695 @vindex gnus-level-killed
1696 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
1697 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
1698 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
1699 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
1700 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
1701 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
1702 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
1703 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
1704 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
1705 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
1706 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
1707 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
1708 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
1709 reasons of efficiency.
1711 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
1712 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
1714 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
1715 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
1716 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
1718 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
1719 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
1720 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
1721 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
1722 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
1723 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
1724 relevant valid ranges.
1726 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
1727 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
1728 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
1729 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
1730 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
1731 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
1734 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
1735 All groups with a level less than or equal to
1736 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
1739 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
1740 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
1741 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
1742 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
1745 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
1746 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
1747 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
1748 use this level as the ``work'' level.
1750 @vindex gnus-activate-level
1751 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
1752 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
1753 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
1754 to 5. The default is 6.
1758 @section Group Score
1763 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
1764 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
1765 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
1768 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
1769 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
1770 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
1771 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
1772 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
1773 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
1774 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
1775 least significant part.))
1777 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
1778 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
1779 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
1780 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
1781 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
1782 action after each summary exit, you can add
1783 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
1784 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
1785 slow things down somewhat.
1788 @node Marking Groups
1789 @section Marking Groups
1790 @cindex marking groups
1792 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
1793 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
1794 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
1795 bidding on those groups.
1797 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
1798 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
1799 with the process mark and then execute the command.
1807 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
1808 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
1814 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
1815 Remove the mark from the current group
1816 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
1820 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
1821 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
1825 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
1826 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
1830 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
1831 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
1835 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
1836 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
1837 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
1840 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
1842 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
1843 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
1844 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
1845 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
1846 the command to be executed.
1849 @node Foreign Groups
1850 @section Foreign Groups
1851 @cindex foreign groups
1853 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
1854 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
1855 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
1856 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
1863 @findex gnus-group-make-group
1864 @cindex making groups
1865 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
1866 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
1867 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
1871 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
1872 @cindex renaming groups
1873 Rename the current group to something else
1874 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
1875 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
1881 @findex gnus-group-customize
1882 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
1886 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
1887 @cindex renaming groups
1888 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
1889 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
1893 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
1894 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
1895 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
1899 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
1900 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
1901 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
1905 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
1907 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
1908 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
1913 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
1914 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
1918 @cindex (ding) archive
1919 @cindex archive group
1920 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
1921 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
1922 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
1923 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
1924 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
1925 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
1926 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
1930 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
1932 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
1933 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
1934 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
1935 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
1939 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
1941 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
1942 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
1943 @xref{Anything Groups}.
1947 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
1948 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
1950 Make a group based on some file or other
1951 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1952 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
1953 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
1954 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs},
1955 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{nsmail} and @code{forward}.
1956 If you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
1957 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
1961 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
1962 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
1963 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
1964 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
1968 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
1973 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
1974 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1975 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
1976 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
1977 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
1978 @xref{Web Searches}.
1980 If you use the @code{dejanews} search engine, you can limit the search
1981 to a particular group by using a match string like
1982 @samp{~g alt.sysadmin.recovery shaving}.
1985 @kindex G DEL (Group)
1986 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
1987 This function will delete the current group
1988 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
1989 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
1990 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
1991 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
1992 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
1996 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
1997 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
1998 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2002 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2003 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2004 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2007 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2010 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2011 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2012 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2013 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2014 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2015 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2019 @node Group Parameters
2020 @section Group Parameters
2021 @cindex group parameters
2023 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2024 Here's an example group parameter list:
2027 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2031 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
2032 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2033 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2034 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2036 The following group parameters can be used:
2041 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2044 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2047 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2048 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2049 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2050 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2051 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2053 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2054 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2055 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2056 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2057 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2058 list address instead.
2062 Address used when doing a @kbd{a} in that group.
2065 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2068 It is totally ignored
2069 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2070 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2072 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2073 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2074 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2075 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2076 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2078 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2079 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2080 sending the message.
2084 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2085 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2086 of whether it has any unread articles.
2088 @item broken-reply-to
2089 @cindex broken-reply-to
2090 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2091 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2092 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2093 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2094 broken behavior. So there!
2098 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2099 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2103 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2104 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2105 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2110 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2111 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2112 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2113 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2114 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2115 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2116 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2120 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2121 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2122 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2125 @cindex total-expire
2126 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2127 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2128 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2129 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2134 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2135 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
2136 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
2137 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
2138 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
2139 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2142 @cindex score file group parameter
2143 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2144 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2145 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2148 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2149 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2150 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2151 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2154 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2155 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2156 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2157 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2160 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2161 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2165 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2168 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2173 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")}
2174 are arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by
2175 Gnus, but provide a place for you to store information on particular
2179 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2180 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2181 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2183 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
2184 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2185 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2186 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2187 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2188 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2189 @code{eval}ed there.
2191 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2192 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2193 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2194 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2195 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2198 You can store additional posting style information for this group only
2199 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2200 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2201 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2202 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2204 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2205 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2206 like this in the group parameters:
2211 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2216 Use the @kbd{G p} command to edit group parameters of a group. You
2217 might also be interested in reading about topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
2221 @node Listing Groups
2222 @section Listing Groups
2223 @cindex group listing
2225 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2233 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2234 List all groups that have unread articles
2235 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2236 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2237 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2238 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2245 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2246 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2247 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
2248 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
2249 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
2250 unsubscribed groups).
2254 @findex gnus-group-list-level
2255 List all unread groups on a specific level
2256 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
2257 with no unread articles.
2261 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
2262 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
2263 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
2264 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
2269 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
2270 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
2274 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
2275 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
2276 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2280 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2281 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2285 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2286 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
2287 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2288 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2289 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2290 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
2291 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
2292 Take the output with some grains of salt.
2296 @findex gnus-group-apropos
2297 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
2298 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
2302 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
2303 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
2304 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
2308 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2309 @cindex visible group parameter
2310 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
2311 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
2312 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
2313 get the same effect.
2315 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
2316 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
2317 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
2318 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
2319 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
2322 @node Sorting Groups
2323 @section Sorting Groups
2324 @cindex sorting groups
2326 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
2327 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
2328 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
2329 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
2330 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
2331 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
2336 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2337 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2338 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
2340 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2341 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2342 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
2344 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
2345 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
2346 Sort by group level.
2348 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
2349 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
2350 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
2352 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2353 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2354 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
2355 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
2357 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2358 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2359 Sort by number of unread articles.
2361 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
2362 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
2363 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
2368 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
2369 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
2373 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
2374 some sorting criteria:
2378 @kindex G S a (Group)
2379 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2380 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
2381 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2384 @kindex G S u (Group)
2385 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
2386 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
2387 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2390 @kindex G S l (Group)
2391 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
2392 Sort the group buffer by group level
2393 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
2396 @kindex G S v (Group)
2397 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
2398 Sort the group buffer by group score
2399 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2402 @kindex G S r (Group)
2403 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
2404 Sort the group buffer by group rank
2405 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2408 @kindex G S m (Group)
2409 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
2410 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
2411 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
2415 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
2416 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2418 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
2419 commands will sort in reverse order.
2421 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
2425 @kindex G P a (Group)
2426 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
2427 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
2428 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
2431 @kindex G P u (Group)
2432 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
2433 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
2434 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
2437 @kindex G P l (Group)
2438 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
2439 Sort the groups by group level
2440 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
2443 @kindex G P v (Group)
2444 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
2445 Sort the groups by group score
2446 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2449 @kindex G P r (Group)
2450 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
2451 Sort the groups by group rank
2452 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2455 @kindex G P m (Group)
2456 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
2457 Sort the groups alphabetically by backend name
2458 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
2464 @node Group Maintenance
2465 @section Group Maintenance
2466 @cindex bogus groups
2471 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
2472 Find bogus groups and delete them
2473 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
2477 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
2478 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
2479 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
2480 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
2481 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
2485 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
2486 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
2487 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
2488 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
2491 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
2492 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
2493 Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
2494 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
2499 @node Browse Foreign Server
2500 @section Browse Foreign Server
2501 @cindex foreign servers
2502 @cindex browsing servers
2507 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
2508 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
2509 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
2510 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
2513 @findex gnus-browse-mode
2514 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
2515 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
2516 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
2518 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
2523 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2524 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2528 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2529 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2532 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
2533 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
2534 Enter the current group and display the first article
2535 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
2538 @kindex RET (Browse)
2539 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
2540 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
2544 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
2545 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
2546 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2552 @findex gnus-browse-exit
2553 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
2557 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
2558 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
2559 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
2564 @section Exiting Gnus
2565 @cindex exiting Gnus
2567 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
2572 @findex gnus-group-suspend
2573 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
2574 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
2575 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
2579 @findex gnus-group-exit
2580 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
2581 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
2585 @findex gnus-group-quit
2586 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
2587 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
2590 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
2591 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
2592 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
2593 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
2594 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
2599 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
2600 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
2601 trying to customize meta-variables.
2606 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
2607 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
2608 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
2614 @section Group Topics
2617 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
2618 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
2619 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
2620 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
2621 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
2622 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
2626 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
2627 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group-topic.ps,height=9cm}}
2638 2: alt.religion.emacs
2641 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2643 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2644 13: comp.sources.unix
2647 @findex gnus-topic-mode
2649 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
2650 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
2651 is a toggling command.)
2653 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
2654 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
2655 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
2656 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
2659 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
2660 the hook for the group mode:
2663 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
2667 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
2668 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
2669 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
2670 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
2671 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
2675 @node Topic Variables
2676 @subsection Topic Variables
2677 @cindex topic variables
2679 Now, if you select a topic, it will fold/unfold that topic, which is
2680 really neat, I think.
2682 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
2683 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
2684 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
2697 Number of groups in the topic.
2699 Number of unread articles in the topic.
2701 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
2704 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
2705 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
2706 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
2709 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
2710 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
2712 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
2713 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
2714 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
2717 @node Topic Commands
2718 @subsection Topic Commands
2719 @cindex topic commands
2721 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
2722 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
2723 definitions slightly.
2729 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
2730 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
2731 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
2735 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
2736 Move the current group to some other topic
2737 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2738 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2742 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
2743 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
2747 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
2748 Copy the current group to some other topic
2749 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2750 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2754 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
2755 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
2756 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
2757 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
2758 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
2759 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
2760 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
2763 This command uses the process/prefix convention
2764 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2768 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
2769 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2770 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
2774 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
2775 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2776 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
2780 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
2781 Toggle hiding empty topics
2782 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
2786 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
2787 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
2788 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
2791 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
2792 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
2793 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
2794 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
2798 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
2800 @findex gnus-topic-indent
2801 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2802 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
2803 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
2806 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
2807 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
2808 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2809 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
2813 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
2815 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
2816 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
2817 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
2818 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
2819 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
2820 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
2823 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
2824 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
2825 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the expiry
2826 process (if any) (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}).
2830 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
2831 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
2832 topic will be removed along with the topic.
2836 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
2837 Yank the previously killed group or topic
2838 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
2843 @findex gnus-topic-rename
2844 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
2847 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
2848 @findex gnus-topic-delete
2849 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
2853 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
2854 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
2855 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
2859 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
2860 @cindex group parameters
2861 @cindex topic parameters
2863 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
2864 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
2870 @subsection Topic Sorting
2871 @cindex topic sorting
2873 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
2879 @kindex T S a (Topic)
2880 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2881 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
2882 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2885 @kindex T S u (Topic)
2886 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
2887 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
2888 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2891 @kindex T S l (Topic)
2892 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
2893 Sort the current topic by group level
2894 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
2897 @kindex T S v (Topic)
2898 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
2899 Sort the current topic by group score
2900 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2903 @kindex T S r (Topic)
2904 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
2905 Sort the current topic by group rank
2906 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2909 @kindex T S m (Topic)
2910 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
2911 Sort the current topic alphabetically by backend name
2912 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
2916 @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group sorting.
2919 @node Topic Topology
2920 @subsection Topic Topology
2921 @cindex topic topology
2924 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
2930 2: alt.religion.emacs
2933 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2935 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2936 13: comp.sources.unix
2939 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
2940 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
2941 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
2946 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
2947 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
2951 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
2952 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
2953 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
2954 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
2955 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
2956 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
2958 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
2959 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
2960 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
2963 @node Topic Parameters
2964 @subsection Topic Parameters
2965 @cindex topic parameters
2967 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
2968 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
2969 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
2971 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
2976 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
2977 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
2978 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
2983 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
2984 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
2985 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
2986 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
2992 2: alt.religion.emacs
2996 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2998 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2999 13: comp.sources.unix
3003 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
3004 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
3005 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
3006 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
3007 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
3008 . "religion.SCORE")}.
3010 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
3011 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
3012 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
3013 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
3014 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
3016 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
3017 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
3018 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
3019 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
3020 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
3021 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
3022 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
3023 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
3026 @node Misc Group Stuff
3027 @section Misc Group Stuff
3030 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
3031 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
3032 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
3033 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
3040 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3041 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3042 @xref{The Server Buffer}.
3046 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3047 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a
3048 prefix, the current group name will be used as the default.
3052 @findex gnus-group-mail
3053 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
3057 Variables for the group buffer:
3061 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
3062 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
3063 is called after the group buffer has been
3066 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
3067 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3068 is called after the group buffer is
3069 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
3072 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
3073 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3074 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
3075 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
3077 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3078 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3079 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
3080 whether they are empty or not.
3085 @node Scanning New Messages
3086 @subsection Scanning New Messages
3087 @cindex new messages
3088 @cindex scanning new news
3094 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
3095 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
3096 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
3097 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
3098 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
3099 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
3104 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
3105 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
3106 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
3107 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
3108 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
3109 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
3110 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
3112 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
3113 @cindex activating groups
3115 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
3116 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
3121 @findex gnus-group-restart
3122 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
3123 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
3124 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
3128 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
3129 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
3131 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
3132 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
3136 @node Group Information
3137 @subsection Group Information
3138 @cindex group information
3139 @cindex information on groups
3146 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
3147 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
3150 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
3151 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
3152 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
3153 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
3154 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
3155 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
3156 for fetching the file.
3158 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
3159 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
3163 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
3165 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
3166 @cindex describing groups
3167 @cindex group description
3168 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
3169 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
3170 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
3174 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
3175 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
3176 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
3183 @findex gnus-version
3184 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
3188 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
3189 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
3192 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
3195 @findex gnus-info-find-node
3196 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
3200 @node Group Timestamp
3201 @subsection Group Timestamp
3203 @cindex group timestamps
3205 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
3206 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
3207 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
3210 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
3213 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
3215 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
3216 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
3219 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3220 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
3223 This will result in lines looking like:
3226 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
3227 0: custom 19961002T012713
3230 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
3231 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
3235 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3236 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
3241 @subsection File Commands
3242 @cindex file commands
3248 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
3249 @vindex gnus-init-file
3250 @cindex reading init file
3251 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
3252 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
3256 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
3257 @cindex saving .newsrc
3258 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
3259 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
3260 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
3263 @c @kindex Z (Group)
3264 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
3265 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
3270 @node The Summary Buffer
3271 @chapter The Summary Buffer
3272 @cindex summary buffer
3274 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
3275 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
3277 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
3278 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
3280 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
3283 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
3284 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
3285 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
3286 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
3287 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
3288 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
3289 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
3290 * Threading:: How threads are made.
3291 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
3292 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
3293 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
3294 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
3295 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
3296 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
3297 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
3298 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
3299 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
3300 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
3301 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
3302 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
3303 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
3304 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
3305 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
3306 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
3307 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
3308 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
3309 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
3310 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
3314 @node Summary Buffer Format
3315 @section Summary Buffer Format
3316 @cindex summary buffer format
3320 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
3321 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary.ps,width=7.5cm}}
3322 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-article.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
3328 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
3329 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
3330 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
3331 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
3334 @findex mail-extract-address-components
3335 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
3336 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
3337 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
3338 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
3339 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
3340 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
3341 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
3342 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
3343 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
3344 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
3347 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
3348 'mail-extract-address-components)
3351 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
3352 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
3353 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
3354 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
3357 @node Summary Buffer Lines
3358 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
3360 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3361 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
3362 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
3363 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
3364 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3366 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
3368 The following format specification characters are understood:
3374 Subject string. List identifiers stripped, @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
3376 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
3377 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
3378 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
3380 Full @code{From} header.
3382 The name (from the @code{From} header).
3384 The name, code @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header
3385 (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
3387 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
3388 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
3389 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
3390 may be more thorough.
3392 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
3395 Number of lines in the article.
3397 Number of characters in the article.
3399 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3401 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
3402 pushes everything after it off the screen).
3404 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
3405 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3407 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
3408 for adopted articles.
3410 One space for each thread level.
3412 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
3417 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
3418 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
3422 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
3424 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
3425 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
3426 default level. If the difference between
3427 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
3428 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
3436 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
3438 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
3444 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
3445 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
3447 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
3448 article has any children.
3454 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
3455 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
3456 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
3457 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
3458 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
3459 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
3462 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
3463 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
3464 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
3465 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
3466 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
3467 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
3469 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
3470 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
3472 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
3475 @node To From Newsgroups
3476 @subsection To From Newsgroups
3480 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
3481 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
3482 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
3483 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
3484 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
3488 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
3489 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
3490 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
3494 (setq gnus-extra-headers
3495 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
3498 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
3499 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
3502 @findex gnus-extra-header
3503 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
3504 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
3505 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
3508 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
3512 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
3513 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
3514 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
3515 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
3516 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
3517 headers are used instead.
3521 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
3522 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
3523 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files. If
3524 you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after changing
3527 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3528 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
3529 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
3530 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
3532 In summary, you'd typically do something like the following:
3535 (setq gnus-extra-headers
3537 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
3538 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
3539 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20f%]%) %s\n")
3540 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
3544 Now, this is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
3545 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
3552 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
3553 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
3556 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
3557 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
3559 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
3560 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
3561 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
3562 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
3564 Here are the elements you can play with:
3570 Unprefixed group name.
3572 Current article number.
3574 Current article score.
3578 Number of unread articles in this group.
3580 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
3583 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
3584 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
3585 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
3586 and no unselected ones.
3588 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
3589 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
3591 Subject of the current article.
3593 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
3595 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
3597 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3599 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3601 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
3603 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
3607 @node Summary Highlighting
3608 @subsection Summary Highlighting
3612 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3613 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3614 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
3615 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
3616 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3618 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
3619 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
3620 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
3621 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3623 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
3624 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
3625 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
3626 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
3628 @item gnus-summary-highlight
3629 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
3630 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
3631 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
3632 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
3633 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
3636 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
3637 ((> score default) . bold))
3639 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
3640 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
3644 @node Summary Maneuvering
3645 @section Summary Maneuvering
3646 @cindex summary movement
3648 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
3649 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
3651 None of these commands select articles.
3656 @kindex M-n (Summary)
3657 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
3658 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
3659 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
3660 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
3664 @kindex M-p (Summary)
3665 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
3666 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
3667 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
3668 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
3673 @kindex G j (Summary)
3674 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
3675 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
3676 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
3679 @kindex G g (Summary)
3680 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
3681 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
3682 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
3685 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
3686 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
3687 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
3688 to the group buffer.
3690 Variables related to summary movement:
3694 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
3695 @item gnus-auto-select-next
3696 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
3697 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
3698 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
3699 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
3700 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
3701 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
3702 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the
3703 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
3704 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
3705 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
3706 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
3707 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
3709 @item gnus-auto-select-same
3710 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
3711 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
3712 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
3713 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
3714 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
3715 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
3717 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
3719 @item gnus-summary-check-current
3720 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
3721 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
3722 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
3723 Instead, they will choose the current article.
3725 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
3726 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
3727 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
3728 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
3729 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
3730 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
3731 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
3732 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
3735 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
3736 the given number of lines from the top.
3741 @node Choosing Articles
3742 @section Choosing Articles
3743 @cindex selecting articles
3746 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
3747 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
3751 @node Choosing Commands
3752 @subsection Choosing Commands
3754 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
3755 and they all select and display an article.
3759 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3760 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3761 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
3762 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3767 @kindex G n (Summary)
3768 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
3769 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
3770 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
3775 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
3776 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
3777 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
3782 @kindex G N (Summary)
3783 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
3784 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
3789 @kindex G P (Summary)
3790 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
3791 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
3794 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
3795 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
3796 Go to the next article with the same subject
3797 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
3800 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
3801 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
3802 Go to the previous article with the same subject
3803 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
3807 @kindex G f (Summary)
3809 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
3810 Go to the first unread article
3811 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
3815 @kindex G b (Summary)
3817 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
3818 Go to the article with the highest score
3819 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
3824 @kindex G l (Summary)
3825 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
3826 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
3829 @kindex G o (Summary)
3830 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
3832 @cindex article history
3833 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
3834 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
3835 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
3836 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
3837 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
3838 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
3842 @node Choosing Variables
3843 @subsection Choosing Variables
3845 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
3848 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3849 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3850 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
3851 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
3852 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
3853 the server and display it in the article buffer.
3855 @item gnus-select-article-hook
3856 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
3857 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
3858 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
3860 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
3861 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
3862 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
3863 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
3864 @findex gnus-unread-mark
3865 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
3866 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
3867 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
3868 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
3869 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
3870 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
3871 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
3872 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
3873 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
3878 @node Paging the Article
3879 @section Scrolling the Article
3880 @cindex article scrolling
3885 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3886 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3887 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
3888 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
3889 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3892 @kindex DEL (Summary)
3893 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
3894 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
3897 @kindex RET (Summary)
3898 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
3899 Scroll the current article one line forward
3900 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
3903 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
3904 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
3905 Scroll the current article one line backward
3906 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
3910 @kindex A g (Summary)
3912 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
3913 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
3914 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
3915 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
3916 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
3917 the way it came from the server.
3919 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
3920 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
3921 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
3924 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
3929 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
3934 @kindex A < (Summary)
3935 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
3936 Scroll to the beginning of the article
3937 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
3942 @kindex A > (Summary)
3943 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
3944 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
3948 @kindex A s (Summary)
3950 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
3951 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
3952 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
3956 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
3957 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
3962 @node Reply Followup and Post
3963 @section Reply, Followup and Post
3966 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
3967 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
3968 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
3969 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
3973 @node Summary Mail Commands
3974 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
3976 @cindex composing mail
3978 Commands for composing a mail message:
3984 @kindex S r (Summary)
3986 @findex gnus-summary-reply
3987 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
3988 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
3989 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
3990 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
3995 @kindex S R (Summary)
3996 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
3997 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
3998 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
3999 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
4000 command uses the process/prefix convention.
4003 @kindex S w (Summary)
4004 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
4005 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
4006 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
4007 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
4008 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
4011 @kindex S W (Summary)
4012 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
4013 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
4014 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
4015 the process/prefix convention.
4018 @kindex S o m (Summary)
4019 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
4020 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
4021 Forward the current article to some other person
4022 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
4023 headers of the forwarded article.
4028 @kindex S m (Summary)
4029 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
4030 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
4031 Send a mail to some other person
4032 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
4035 @kindex S D b (Summary)
4036 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
4037 @cindex bouncing mail
4038 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
4039 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
4040 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
4041 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
4042 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
4043 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
4044 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
4045 very well fail, though.
4048 @kindex S D r (Summary)
4049 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
4050 Not to be confused with the previous command,
4051 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
4052 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
4053 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
4054 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
4055 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
4056 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
4057 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
4059 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
4060 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
4061 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
4062 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
4063 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muß sein!
4065 This command understands the process/prefix convention
4066 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4069 @kindex S O m (Summary)
4070 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
4071 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
4072 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
4073 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4076 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
4077 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
4078 @cindex crossposting
4079 @cindex excessive crossposting
4080 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
4081 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
4083 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
4084 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
4085 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
4086 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
4087 command understands the process/prefix convention
4088 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
4092 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4095 @node Summary Post Commands
4096 @subsection Summary Post Commands
4098 @cindex composing news
4100 Commands for posting a news article:
4106 @kindex S p (Summary)
4107 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
4108 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
4109 Post an article to the current group
4110 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
4115 @kindex S f (Summary)
4116 @findex gnus-summary-followup
4117 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
4118 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
4122 @kindex S F (Summary)
4124 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
4125 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
4126 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
4127 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
4128 process/prefix convention.
4131 @kindex S n (Summary)
4132 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
4133 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4134 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
4137 @kindex S N (Summary)
4138 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
4139 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4140 message through mail and include the original message
4141 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
4142 the process/prefix convention.
4145 @kindex S o p (Summary)
4146 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
4147 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
4148 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
4149 headers of the forwarded article.
4152 @kindex S O p (Summary)
4153 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
4155 @cindex making digests
4156 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
4157 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
4158 process/prefix convention.
4161 @kindex S u (Summary)
4162 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
4163 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
4164 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
4165 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
4168 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4171 @node Summary Message Commands
4172 @subsection Summary Message Commands
4176 @kindex S y (Summary)
4177 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
4178 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
4179 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
4180 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
4181 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4186 @node Canceling and Superseding
4187 @subsection Canceling Articles
4188 @cindex canceling articles
4189 @cindex superseding articles
4191 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
4192 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
4194 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
4196 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
4198 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
4199 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
4200 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
4201 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
4202 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
4203 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4205 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
4206 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
4209 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
4210 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
4211 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
4213 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
4214 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
4215 your original article.
4217 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
4219 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
4220 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
4221 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
4224 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
4225 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
4226 have posted almost the same article twice.
4228 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
4229 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
4230 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
4231 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
4232 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
4233 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
4234 header by substituting one of those words for the word
4235 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
4236 you would do normally. The previous article will be
4237 canceled/superseded.
4239 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
4242 @node Marking Articles
4243 @section Marking Articles
4244 @cindex article marking
4245 @cindex article ticking
4248 There are several marks you can set on an article.
4250 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
4251 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
4252 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
4254 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
4257 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
4258 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
4259 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
4263 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
4267 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
4268 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
4269 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
4273 @node Unread Articles
4274 @subsection Unread Articles
4276 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
4281 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
4282 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
4284 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
4285 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
4286 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
4287 tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an
4288 article forever, you'll have to make it persistent (@pxref{Persistent
4292 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
4293 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
4295 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
4296 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
4297 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
4300 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
4301 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
4303 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
4308 @subsection Read Articles
4309 @cindex expirable mark
4311 All the following marks mark articles as read.
4316 @vindex gnus-del-mark
4317 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
4318 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
4321 @vindex gnus-read-mark
4322 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
4325 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
4326 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
4327 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
4330 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
4331 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
4334 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
4335 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
4338 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
4339 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
4342 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
4343 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
4346 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
4347 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
4350 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
4351 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
4354 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
4355 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
4359 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
4360 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
4361 (@code{gnus-duplicated-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
4365 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
4366 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
4368 One more special mark, though:
4372 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
4373 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
4375 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
4376 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
4377 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
4378 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
4384 @subsection Other Marks
4385 @cindex process mark
4388 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
4394 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
4395 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
4396 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
4397 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
4398 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
4401 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
4402 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
4403 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
4404 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
4407 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
4408 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
4409 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
4412 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
4413 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
4414 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
4415 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
4418 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
4419 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
4420 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
4421 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
4422 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
4425 @vindex gnus-process-mark
4426 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
4427 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
4428 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
4429 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
4430 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
4434 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
4435 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
4436 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
4438 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
4439 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
4440 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
4444 @subsection Setting Marks
4445 @cindex setting marks
4447 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
4452 @kindex M c (Summary)
4453 @kindex M-u (Summary)
4454 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
4455 @cindex mark as unread
4456 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
4457 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
4463 @kindex M t (Summary)
4464 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
4465 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
4466 @xref{Article Caching}.
4471 @kindex M ? (Summary)
4472 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
4473 Mark the current article as dormant
4474 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
4478 @kindex M d (Summary)
4480 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
4481 Mark the current article as read
4482 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
4486 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
4487 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
4488 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
4493 @kindex M k (Summary)
4494 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
4495 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
4496 and then select the next unread article
4497 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
4501 @kindex M K (Summary)
4502 @kindex C-k (Summary)
4503 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
4504 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
4505 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
4508 @kindex M C (Summary)
4509 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
4510 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
4511 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
4514 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
4515 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
4516 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
4517 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
4520 @kindex M H (Summary)
4521 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
4522 Catchup the current group to point
4523 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
4526 @kindex C-w (Summary)
4527 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
4528 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
4529 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
4532 @kindex M V k (Summary)
4533 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
4534 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
4535 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
4539 @kindex M e (Summary)
4541 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
4542 Mark the current article as expirable
4543 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
4546 @kindex M b (Summary)
4547 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
4548 Set a bookmark in the current article
4549 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
4552 @kindex M B (Summary)
4553 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
4554 Remove the bookmark from the current article
4555 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
4558 @kindex M V c (Summary)
4559 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
4560 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
4561 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4564 @kindex M V u (Summary)
4565 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
4566 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
4567 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
4570 @kindex M V m (Summary)
4571 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
4572 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
4573 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
4574 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4577 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
4578 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
4579 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
4580 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
4581 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
4582 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
4583 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
4584 The default is @code{t}.
4587 @node Generic Marking Commands
4588 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
4590 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
4591 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
4592 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
4593 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
4594 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
4597 Multiply these five behaviours with five different marking commands, and
4598 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
4601 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
4602 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
4603 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
4604 to list in this manual.
4606 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
4607 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
4608 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
4609 article, you could say something like:
4612 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
4613 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
4614 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
4620 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
4621 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
4625 @node Setting Process Marks
4626 @subsection Setting Process Marks
4627 @cindex setting process marks
4634 @kindex M P p (Summary)
4635 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
4636 Mark the current article with the process mark
4637 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
4638 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
4642 @kindex M P u (Summary)
4643 @kindex M-# (Summary)
4644 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
4645 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
4648 @kindex M P U (Summary)
4649 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
4650 Remove the process mark from all articles
4651 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
4654 @kindex M P i (Summary)
4655 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
4656 Invert the list of process marked articles
4657 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
4660 @kindex M P R (Summary)
4661 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
4662 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
4663 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
4666 @kindex M P r (Summary)
4667 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
4668 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
4671 @kindex M P t (Summary)
4672 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
4673 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4674 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
4677 @kindex M P T (Summary)
4678 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
4679 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4680 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
4683 @kindex M P v (Summary)
4684 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
4685 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
4686 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
4689 @kindex M P s (Summary)
4690 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
4691 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4694 @kindex M P S (Summary)
4695 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
4696 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
4697 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
4700 @kindex M P a (Summary)
4701 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
4702 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4705 @kindex M P b (Summary)
4706 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
4707 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
4708 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
4711 @kindex M P k (Summary)
4712 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
4713 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
4714 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
4717 @kindex M P y (Summary)
4718 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
4719 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
4720 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
4723 @kindex M P w (Summary)
4724 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
4725 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
4726 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
4735 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
4736 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
4737 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
4740 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
4741 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
4742 additional articles.
4748 @kindex / / (Summary)
4749 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
4750 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
4751 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
4754 @kindex / a (Summary)
4755 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
4756 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
4757 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
4760 @kindex / x (Summary)
4761 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
4762 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
4763 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
4764 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
4768 @kindex / u (Summary)
4770 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
4771 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
4772 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
4773 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
4774 dormant articles will also be excluded.
4777 @kindex / m (Summary)
4778 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
4779 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
4780 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
4783 @kindex / t (Summary)
4784 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
4785 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
4786 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}). If given a prefix, limit to
4787 articles younger than that number of days.
4790 @kindex / n (Summary)
4791 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
4792 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
4793 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
4794 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4797 @kindex / w (Summary)
4798 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
4799 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
4800 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
4804 @kindex / v (Summary)
4805 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
4806 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
4807 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
4811 @kindex M S (Summary)
4812 @kindex / E (Summary)
4813 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
4814 Include all expunged articles in the limit
4815 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
4818 @kindex / D (Summary)
4819 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
4820 Include all dormant articles in the limit
4821 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
4824 @kindex / * (Summary)
4825 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
4826 Include all cached articles in the limit
4827 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
4830 @kindex / d (Summary)
4831 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
4832 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
4833 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
4836 @kindex / M (Summary)
4837 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
4838 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
4841 @kindex / T (Summary)
4842 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
4843 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
4846 @kindex / c (Summary)
4847 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
4848 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
4849 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
4852 @kindex / C (Summary)
4853 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
4854 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
4855 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
4856 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
4864 @cindex article threading
4866 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
4867 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
4868 hierarchical fashion.
4870 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
4871 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
4872 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
4873 or simply missing. Weird news propagation excarcerbates the problem,
4874 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
4875 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
4876 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
4878 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
4882 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
4885 A tree-like article structure.
4888 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
4891 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
4892 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
4893 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
4894 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
4895 called loose threads.
4897 @item thread gathering
4898 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
4900 @item sparse threads
4901 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
4902 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
4908 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
4909 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
4913 @node Customizing Threading
4914 @subsection Customizing Threading
4915 @cindex customizing threading
4918 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
4919 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
4920 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
4921 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
4926 @subsubsection Loose Threads
4929 @cindex loose threads
4932 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
4933 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
4934 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
4935 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
4936 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
4937 read or killed the root in a previous session.
4939 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
4940 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
4941 There are four possible values:
4945 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
4946 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-adopt.ps,width=7.5cm}}
4947 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-empty.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4948 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-none.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4949 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-dummy.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4954 @cindex adopting articles
4959 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
4960 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
4961 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
4962 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
4965 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
4966 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
4967 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
4968 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
4969 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
4970 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
4971 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
4974 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
4975 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
4976 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
4980 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
4981 display them after one another.
4984 Don't gather loose threads.
4987 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4988 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4989 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
4990 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
4991 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
4992 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
4993 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
4994 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
4995 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
4996 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
4997 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
4999 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
5000 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
5001 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
5004 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
5005 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
5006 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
5007 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
5008 simplification is used.
5010 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5011 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5012 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
5013 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
5015 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
5017 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5023 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
5024 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
5025 "answer" "reference" "announce"
5026 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
5031 (mapconcat 'identity
5032 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
5034 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
5037 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
5040 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
5041 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
5042 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
5043 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
5044 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
5045 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
5047 Useful functions to put in this list include:
5050 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
5051 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
5052 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
5054 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
5055 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
5058 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
5059 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
5060 Remove excessive whitespace.
5063 You may also write your own functions, of course.
5066 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
5067 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
5068 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
5069 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
5070 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
5071 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
5072 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
5073 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
5075 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5076 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5077 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
5078 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
5079 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
5080 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
5081 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
5082 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
5083 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
5087 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
5088 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
5089 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
5090 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
5092 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
5093 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
5094 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
5097 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
5101 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5102 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
5108 @node Filling In Threads
5109 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
5112 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
5113 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
5114 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
5115 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
5116 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
5117 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
5118 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
5119 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
5120 fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
5121 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
5122 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
5123 expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that.
5125 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
5126 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
5127 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
5129 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
5130 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
5131 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
5132 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
5133 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
5134 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
5135 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
5136 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
5137 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
5138 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
5139 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
5140 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
5141 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
5142 @code{nil} by default.
5147 @node More Threading
5148 @subsubsection More Threading
5151 @item gnus-show-threads
5152 @vindex gnus-show-threads
5153 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
5154 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
5155 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
5156 slower and more awkward.
5158 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5159 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5160 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
5163 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
5164 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
5165 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
5166 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
5167 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
5168 threads are expunged.
5170 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
5171 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
5172 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
5175 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5176 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5177 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
5178 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
5179 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
5182 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
5183 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
5184 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
5187 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
5188 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
5189 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
5190 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
5191 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
5192 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
5193 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to. Setting
5194 this variable to an alternate value
5195 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
5196 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
5197 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
5202 @node Low-Level Threading
5203 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
5207 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
5208 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
5209 Hook run before parsing any headers.
5211 @item gnus-alter-header-function
5212 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
5213 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
5214 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
5215 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
5216 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
5217 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
5218 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
5219 meaningful. Here's one example:
5222 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
5224 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
5225 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
5227 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
5229 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
5236 @node Thread Commands
5237 @subsection Thread Commands
5238 @cindex thread commands
5244 @kindex T k (Summary)
5245 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
5246 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
5247 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
5248 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
5249 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
5254 @kindex T l (Summary)
5255 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
5256 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
5257 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
5258 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
5261 @kindex T i (Summary)
5262 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
5263 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
5264 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
5267 @kindex T # (Summary)
5268 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5269 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
5270 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5273 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
5274 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5275 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
5276 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5279 @kindex T T (Summary)
5280 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
5281 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
5284 @kindex T s (Summary)
5285 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
5286 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
5287 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
5290 @kindex T h (Summary)
5291 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
5292 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
5295 @kindex T S (Summary)
5296 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
5297 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
5300 @kindex T H (Summary)
5301 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
5302 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
5305 @kindex T t (Summary)
5306 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
5307 Re-thread the current article's thread
5308 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
5309 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
5312 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
5313 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
5314 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
5315 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
5319 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
5320 understand the numeric prefix.
5325 @kindex T n (Summary)
5326 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
5327 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
5330 @kindex T p (Summary)
5331 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
5332 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
5335 @kindex T d (Summary)
5336 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
5337 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
5340 @kindex T u (Summary)
5341 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
5342 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
5345 @kindex T o (Summary)
5346 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
5347 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
5350 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
5351 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
5352 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
5353 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
5354 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
5355 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
5356 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
5357 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
5358 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
5359 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
5360 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
5361 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
5368 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
5369 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
5370 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
5371 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5372 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
5373 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5374 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
5375 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
5376 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
5377 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
5378 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
5380 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
5381 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
5382 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
5383 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
5384 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
5386 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
5387 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
5388 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
5390 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
5391 last function in the list. You should probably always include
5392 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
5393 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
5394 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
5395 ascending article order.
5397 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
5398 by number, you could do something like:
5401 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5402 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5403 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5404 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
5407 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
5408 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
5409 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
5410 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
5411 which the articles arrived.
5413 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
5417 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5419 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
5420 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
5423 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
5424 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
5425 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
5426 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
5429 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
5430 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
5431 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
5432 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
5433 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
5434 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
5435 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
5436 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
5437 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
5438 it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
5439 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
5440 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
5441 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
5443 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
5447 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
5448 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
5449 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
5454 @node Asynchronous Fetching
5455 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
5456 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
5457 @cindex article pre-fetch
5460 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
5461 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
5462 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
5463 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
5464 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
5466 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
5467 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
5469 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
5470 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
5471 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
5472 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
5473 connection is blocked.
5475 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
5476 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
5477 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
5478 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
5480 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
5481 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
5482 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
5483 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
5486 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
5489 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
5490 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
5491 happen automatically.
5493 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
5494 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
5495 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
5496 that when you read an article in the group, the backend will pre-fetch
5497 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the backend will
5498 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
5499 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
5501 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
5502 @findex gnus-async-read-p
5503 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
5504 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
5505 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
5506 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
5507 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
5508 data structure as the only parameter.
5510 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
5513 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
5514 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
5515 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
5516 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
5519 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
5522 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
5523 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
5524 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
5526 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
5527 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
5528 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
5529 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
5533 Remove articles when they are read.
5536 Remove articles when exiting the group.
5539 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
5541 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
5542 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
5543 @c from the next group.
5546 @node Article Caching
5547 @section Article Caching
5548 @cindex article caching
5551 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
5552 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
5553 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
5554 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
5555 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
5557 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
5559 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5560 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
5561 @vindex gnus-use-cache
5562 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
5563 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
5564 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
5565 cache is flat or hierarchal is controlled by the
5566 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
5568 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
5569 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
5570 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
5571 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
5572 as dormant, and don't worry.
5574 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
5576 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
5577 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
5578 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
5579 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
5580 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
5581 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
5582 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
5583 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
5584 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
5585 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
5587 @findex gnus-jog-cache
5588 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
5589 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
5590 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
5591 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
5592 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
5593 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
5594 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
5595 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
5596 not then be downloaded by this command.
5598 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
5599 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
5600 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
5601 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
5602 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
5603 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
5605 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
5606 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
5607 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
5608 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
5609 variables, the group is not cached.
5611 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
5612 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
5613 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
5614 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
5615 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
5616 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
5617 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
5618 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
5619 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
5623 @node Persistent Articles
5624 @section Persistent Articles
5625 @cindex persistent articles
5627 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
5628 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
5629 useful in my opinion.
5631 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
5632 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
5633 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
5634 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
5635 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
5636 the expiry going on at the news server.
5638 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
5639 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
5640 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
5646 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
5647 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
5650 @kindex M-* (Summary)
5651 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
5652 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
5653 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
5657 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
5659 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
5660 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
5661 interested in persistent articles:
5664 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
5668 @node Article Backlog
5669 @section Article Backlog
5671 @cindex article backlog
5673 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
5674 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
5675 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
5676 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
5677 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
5678 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
5679 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
5680 increase memory usage some.
5682 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
5683 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
5684 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
5685 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
5686 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
5687 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
5688 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
5690 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
5693 @node Saving Articles
5694 @section Saving Articles
5695 @cindex saving articles
5697 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
5698 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
5699 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
5700 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
5701 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
5703 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
5704 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
5705 unwanted headers before saving the article.
5707 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
5708 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
5709 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
5710 deleted before saving.
5716 @kindex O o (Summary)
5718 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
5719 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
5720 Save the current article using the default article saver
5721 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
5724 @kindex O m (Summary)
5725 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
5726 Save the current article in mail format
5727 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
5730 @kindex O r (Summary)
5731 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
5732 Save the current article in rmail format
5733 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
5736 @kindex O f (Summary)
5737 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
5738 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
5739 Save the current article in plain file format
5740 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
5743 @kindex O F (Summary)
5744 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
5745 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
5746 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
5749 @kindex O b (Summary)
5750 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
5751 Save the current article body in plain file format
5752 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
5755 @kindex O h (Summary)
5756 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
5757 Save the current article in mh folder format
5758 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
5761 @kindex O v (Summary)
5762 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
5763 Save the current article in a VM folder
5764 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
5767 @kindex O p (Summary)
5768 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
5769 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
5770 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
5773 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
5774 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
5775 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
5776 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
5777 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
5778 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
5779 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
5780 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
5781 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
5782 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
5783 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
5784 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
5788 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
5789 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
5790 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
5791 functions below, or you can create your own.
5795 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5796 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5797 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
5798 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5799 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
5800 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5801 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5803 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5804 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5805 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
5806 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
5807 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5808 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5810 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
5811 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
5812 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
5813 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5814 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
5815 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5816 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5818 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5819 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5820 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
5821 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5822 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5824 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5825 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5826 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
5827 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
5828 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
5831 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
5832 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
5833 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
5834 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
5835 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
5837 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5838 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5839 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
5840 reader to use this setting.
5843 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
5844 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
5845 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
5846 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
5849 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
5850 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
5851 available functions that generate names:
5855 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
5856 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
5857 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5859 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
5860 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5861 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5863 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
5864 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
5865 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5867 @item gnus-plain-save-name
5868 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5869 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5872 @vindex gnus-split-methods
5873 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
5874 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
5875 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
5876 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
5880 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
5881 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
5882 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
5883 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
5886 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
5887 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
5888 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
5889 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
5890 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
5891 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
5892 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
5893 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
5894 called returns a string or a list of strings.
5896 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
5897 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
5898 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
5899 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
5901 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
5902 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
5903 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
5906 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
5907 lots of mail groups called things like
5908 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
5909 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
5910 following will do just that:
5913 (defun my-save-name (group)
5914 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
5915 (substring group (match-end 0))))
5917 (setq gnus-split-methods
5918 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
5923 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5924 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
5925 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
5926 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
5927 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
5928 all the files in the top level directory
5929 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
5930 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
5931 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
5932 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
5934 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
5935 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
5936 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
5937 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
5938 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
5941 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
5945 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
5946 (setq gnus-default-article-saver 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
5949 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
5950 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
5951 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
5952 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
5955 @node Decoding Articles
5956 @section Decoding Articles
5957 @cindex decoding articles
5959 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
5960 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
5963 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
5964 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
5965 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
5966 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
5967 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
5968 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
5972 @cindex article series
5973 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
5974 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
5975 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
5976 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
5977 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
5979 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
5980 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
5981 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
5983 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
5984 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
5985 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
5987 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
5988 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
5989 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
5992 @node Uuencoded Articles
5993 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
5995 @cindex uuencoded articles
6000 @kindex X u (Summary)
6001 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
6002 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
6003 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
6006 @kindex X U (Summary)
6007 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
6008 Uudecodes and saves the current series
6009 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
6012 @kindex X v u (Summary)
6013 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
6014 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
6017 @kindex X v U (Summary)
6018 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
6019 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
6020 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
6024 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
6025 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
6026 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
6027 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
6028 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
6030 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
6031 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
6032 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
6033 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
6036 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
6037 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
6038 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
6039 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
6040 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
6041 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
6045 @node Shell Archives
6046 @subsection Shell Archives
6048 @cindex shell archives
6049 @cindex shared articles
6051 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
6052 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
6053 some commands to deal with these:
6058 @kindex X s (Summary)
6059 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
6060 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
6063 @kindex X S (Summary)
6064 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
6065 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
6068 @kindex X v s (Summary)
6069 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
6070 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
6073 @kindex X v S (Summary)
6074 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
6075 Unshars, views and saves the current series
6076 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
6080 @node PostScript Files
6081 @subsection PostScript Files
6087 @kindex X p (Summary)
6088 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
6089 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
6092 @kindex X P (Summary)
6093 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
6094 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
6095 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
6098 @kindex X v p (Summary)
6099 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
6100 View the current PostScript series
6101 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
6104 @kindex X v P (Summary)
6105 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
6106 View and save the current PostScript series
6107 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
6112 @subsection Other Files
6116 @kindex X o (Summary)
6117 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
6118 Save the current series
6119 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
6122 @kindex X b (Summary)
6123 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
6124 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
6125 doesn't really work yet.
6129 @node Decoding Variables
6130 @subsection Decoding Variables
6132 Adjective, not verb.
6135 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
6136 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
6137 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
6141 @node Rule Variables
6142 @subsubsection Rule Variables
6143 @cindex rule variables
6145 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
6146 variables are of the form
6149 (list '(regexp1 command2)
6156 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6157 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6159 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
6160 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
6163 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6164 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
6167 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6168 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6169 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
6170 user and default view rules.
6172 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6173 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6174 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
6179 @node Other Decode Variables
6180 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
6183 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6185 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6186 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
6187 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
6188 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
6189 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
6193 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
6194 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
6197 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
6198 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
6199 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
6202 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6203 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6204 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
6205 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
6206 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
6209 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6210 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6211 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
6213 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6214 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6215 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
6216 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
6217 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
6220 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6221 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6222 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
6224 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6225 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6226 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
6227 looking for files to display.
6229 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
6230 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
6231 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
6234 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6235 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6236 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
6239 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6240 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6241 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
6244 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6245 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6246 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
6249 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6250 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6251 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
6252 decoded articles as unread.
6254 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6255 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6256 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
6257 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
6259 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6260 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6261 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
6263 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6264 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6266 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
6267 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
6268 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
6269 @code{metamail} for viewing.
6271 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6272 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6273 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
6274 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
6275 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
6276 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC1153---no easy way
6277 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
6278 simply dropped them.
6283 @node Uuencoding and Posting
6284 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
6288 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6289 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6290 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
6291 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
6292 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
6293 for you when you post the article.
6295 @item gnus-uu-post-length
6296 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
6297 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
6298 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
6300 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
6301 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
6302 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
6303 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
6304 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
6305 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
6306 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
6308 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6309 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6310 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
6311 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
6312 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
6313 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
6314 Default is @code{t}.
6320 @subsection Viewing Files
6321 @cindex viewing files
6322 @cindex pseudo-articles
6324 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
6325 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
6326 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
6327 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
6328 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
6329 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
6330 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
6332 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
6333 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
6334 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
6335 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
6337 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
6338 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
6339 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
6341 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
6342 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
6343 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
6344 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
6345 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
6347 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
6348 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
6349 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
6350 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
6351 a list of parameters to that command.
6353 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
6354 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
6355 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
6357 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
6358 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
6359 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
6362 @node Article Treatment
6363 @section Article Treatment
6365 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
6366 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
6367 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
6368 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
6369 these articles easier.
6372 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
6373 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
6374 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
6375 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
6376 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
6377 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
6378 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
6379 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
6383 @node Article Highlighting
6384 @subsection Article Highlighting
6385 @cindex highlighting
6387 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
6388 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
6393 @kindex W H a (Summary)
6394 @findex gnus-article-highlight
6395 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
6396 Do much highlighting of the current article
6397 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
6398 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
6401 @kindex W H h (Summary)
6402 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
6403 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
6404 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
6405 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
6406 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
6407 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
6408 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
6409 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
6410 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
6411 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
6412 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
6415 @kindex W H c (Summary)
6416 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
6417 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
6419 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
6422 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6424 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6425 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
6426 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
6428 @item gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6429 @vindex gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6430 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
6432 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
6433 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
6434 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
6436 @item gnus-cite-face-list
6437 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
6438 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
6439 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
6440 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
6441 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
6443 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
6444 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
6445 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
6447 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6448 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6449 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
6451 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6452 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6453 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
6454 that it's a citation.
6456 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6457 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6458 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
6460 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6461 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6462 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
6464 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
6465 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
6466 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
6467 cited text belonging to the attribution.
6473 @kindex W H s (Summary)
6474 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6475 @vindex gnus-signature-face
6476 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
6477 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
6478 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
6479 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
6480 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
6485 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
6488 @node Article Fontisizing
6489 @subsection Article Fontisizing
6491 @cindex article emphasis
6493 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
6494 @kindex W e (Summary)
6495 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
6496 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
6497 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
6498 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
6500 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
6501 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
6502 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
6503 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
6504 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
6505 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
6506 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
6507 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
6511 (setq gnus-article-emphasis
6512 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
6513 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
6522 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
6523 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
6524 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
6525 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
6526 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
6527 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
6528 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
6529 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
6530 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
6531 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
6532 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
6533 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
6534 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
6536 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
6537 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
6538 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
6542 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
6545 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
6547 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
6548 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
6549 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
6550 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
6552 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
6555 @node Article Hiding
6556 @subsection Article Hiding
6557 @cindex article hiding
6559 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
6560 too much cruft in most articles.
6565 @kindex W W a (Summary)
6566 @findex gnus-article-hide
6567 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
6568 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
6569 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
6572 @kindex W W h (Summary)
6573 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
6574 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
6578 @kindex W W b (Summary)
6579 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
6580 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
6581 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
6584 @kindex W W s (Summary)
6585 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
6586 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
6590 @kindex W W l (Summary)
6591 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
6592 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
6593 Hide list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. Theese
6594 are strings some list servers add to the beginning of all @code{Subject}
6595 headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}.
6599 @item gnus-list-identifiers
6600 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
6601 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
6602 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
6607 @kindex W W p (Summary)
6608 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
6609 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
6610 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
6611 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
6612 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
6613 articles that have signatures in them do:
6615 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
6617 (setq gnus-treat-strip-pgp t)
6619 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
6620 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
6622 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
6625 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
6630 @kindex W W P (Summary)
6631 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
6632 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
6633 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
6636 @kindex W W B (Summary)
6637 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
6640 @cindex stripping advertisments
6641 @cindex advertisments
6642 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
6643 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
6644 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
6645 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
6646 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
6647 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
6648 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
6649 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
6650 signature should be removed.
6653 @kindex W W c (Summary)
6654 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
6655 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
6656 customizing the hiding:
6660 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
6661 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
6662 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
6663 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
6664 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
6665 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
6666 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
6671 Starting point of the hidden text.
6673 Ending point of the hidden text.
6675 Number of characters in the hidden region.
6677 Number of lines of hidden text.
6680 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
6681 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
6682 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave shown.
6687 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
6688 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
6690 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
6691 following two variables:
6694 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6695 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6696 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
6697 50), hide the cited text.
6699 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6700 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6701 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
6706 @kindex W W C (Summary)
6707 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
6708 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
6709 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
6710 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
6711 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
6715 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
6716 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
6717 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
6719 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
6720 citation customization.
6722 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
6726 @node Article Washing
6727 @subsection Article Washing
6729 @cindex article washing
6731 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
6732 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
6734 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
6735 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
6741 @kindex W l (Summary)
6742 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
6743 Remove page breaks from the current article
6744 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
6748 @kindex W r (Summary)
6749 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
6750 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
6751 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
6752 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
6753 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
6754 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
6756 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
6757 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
6758 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
6759 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
6762 @kindex W t (Summary)
6763 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
6764 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
6765 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
6768 @kindex W v (Summary)
6769 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
6770 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
6771 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
6774 @kindex W o (Summary)
6775 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
6776 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
6779 @kindex W d (Summary)
6780 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
6781 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
6783 @cindex M******** sm*rtq**t*s
6785 Treat M******** sm*rtq**t*s according to
6786 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
6787 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
6788 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
6792 @kindex W w (Summary)
6793 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
6794 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
6796 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
6800 @kindex W Q (Summary)
6801 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
6802 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
6805 @kindex W C (Summary)
6806 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
6807 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
6808 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
6811 @kindex W c (Summary)
6812 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
6813 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
6814 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
6815 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
6816 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
6819 @kindex W q (Summary)
6820 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
6821 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
6822 Quoted-Printable is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending
6823 non-ASCII (i. e., 8-bit) articles. It typically makes strings like
6824 @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which doesn't look very
6825 readable to me. Note that the this is usually done automatically by
6826 Gnus if the message in question has a @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding}
6827 header that says that this encoding has been done.
6830 @kindex W f (Summary)
6832 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
6833 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
6834 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
6835 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
6841 Look for and display any X-Face headers
6842 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
6843 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
6844 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
6845 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
6846 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
6847 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
6848 The default action under Emacs is to fork off an @code{xv} to view the
6849 face; under XEmacs the default action is to display the face before the
6850 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
6851 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
6852 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
6853 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends.) If you
6854 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
6858 @kindex W b (Summary)
6859 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
6860 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
6861 @xref{Article Buttons}.
6864 @kindex W B (Summary)
6865 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
6866 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
6867 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
6870 @kindex W W H (Summary)
6871 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body
6872 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
6873 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body}).
6876 @kindex W E l (Summary)
6877 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
6878 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
6879 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
6882 @kindex W E m (Summary)
6883 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
6884 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
6885 lines with a single empty line.
6886 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
6889 @kindex W E t (Summary)
6890 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
6891 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
6892 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
6895 @kindex W E a (Summary)
6896 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
6897 Do all the three commands above
6898 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
6901 @kindex W E A (Summary)
6902 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
6903 Remove all blank lines
6904 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
6907 @kindex W E s (Summary)
6908 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
6909 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
6910 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
6913 @kindex W E e (Summary)
6914 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
6915 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
6916 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
6920 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
6923 @node Article Buttons
6924 @subsection Article Buttons
6927 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
6928 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
6929 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
6930 button on these references.
6932 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
6933 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
6934 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
6939 @item gnus-button-alist
6940 @vindex gnus-button-alist
6941 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
6944 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6950 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
6951 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
6952 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
6955 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
6956 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
6957 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
6960 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
6961 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
6962 avoid false matches.
6965 This function will be called when you click on this button.
6968 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
6969 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
6973 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
6976 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
6979 @item gnus-header-button-alist
6980 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
6981 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
6982 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
6983 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
6986 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6989 @var{header} is a regular expression.
6991 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
6992 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
6993 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
6994 default values of the variables above.
6996 @item gnus-article-button-face
6997 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
6998 Face used on buttons.
7000 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
7001 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
7002 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
7006 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
7010 @subsection Article Date
7012 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
7013 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
7014 when the article was sent.
7019 @kindex W T u (Summary)
7020 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
7021 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
7022 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
7025 @kindex W T i (Summary)
7026 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
7028 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
7029 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
7032 @kindex W T l (Summary)
7033 @findex gnus-article-date-local
7034 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
7037 @kindex W T s (Summary)
7038 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
7039 @findex gnus-article-date-user
7040 @findex format-time-string
7041 Display the date using a user-defined format
7042 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
7043 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
7044 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
7045 for a list of possible format specs.
7048 @kindex W T e (Summary)
7049 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
7050 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
7051 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
7052 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
7053 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
7056 X-Sent: 9 years, 6 weeks, 4 days, 9 hours, 3 minutes, 28 seconds ago
7059 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
7060 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
7063 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
7064 into wonderful absurdities.
7066 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
7069 (gnus-start-date-timer)
7072 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
7073 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
7077 @kindex W T o (Summary)
7078 @findex gnus-article-date-original
7079 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
7080 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
7081 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
7082 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
7083 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
7087 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
7088 preferred format automatically.
7091 @node Article Signature
7092 @subsection Article Signature
7094 @cindex article signature
7096 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7097 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
7098 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
7099 that says what is to be considered a signature is
7100 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
7101 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
7102 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
7103 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
7104 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
7107 (setq gnus-signature-separator
7108 '("^-- $" ; The standard
7109 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
7110 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
7111 ; line of dashes. Shame!
7112 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
7113 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
7114 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
7117 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
7120 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
7121 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
7122 signature when displaying articles.
7126 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
7129 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
7132 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
7133 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
7135 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
7136 in question is not a signature.
7139 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
7140 listed above. Here's an example:
7143 (setq gnus-signature-limit
7144 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
7147 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
7148 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
7149 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
7150 signature after all.
7153 @node Article Miscellania
7154 @subsection Article Miscellania
7158 @kindex A t (Summary)
7159 @findex gnus-article-babel
7160 Translate the article from one language to another
7161 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
7167 @section @sc{mime} Commands
7168 @cindex MIME decoding
7170 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
7171 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @sc{mime} part''.
7177 @kindex K v (Summary)
7178 View the @sc{mime} part.
7181 @kindex K o (Summary)
7182 Save the @sc{mime} part.
7185 @kindex K c (Summary)
7186 Copy the @sc{mime} part.
7189 @kindex K e (Summary)
7190 View the @sc{mime} part externally.
7193 @kindex K i (Summary)
7194 View the @sc{mime} part internally.
7197 @kindex K | (Summary)
7198 Pipe the @sc{mime} part to an external command.
7201 The rest of these @sc{mime} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
7206 @kindex K b (Summary)
7207 Make all the @sc{mime} parts have buttons in from of them.
7210 @kindex K m (Summary)
7211 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
7212 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
7213 be viewed in a more pleasant manner.
7216 @kindex X m (Summary)
7217 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
7218 Save all parts matching a @sc{mime} type to a directory
7219 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
7220 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7223 @kindex M-t (Summary)
7224 @findex gnus-summary-display-buttonized
7225 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
7226 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
7229 @kindex W M w (Summary)
7230 Decode RFC2047-encoded words in the article headers
7231 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
7234 @kindex W M c (Summary)
7235 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
7236 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
7238 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
7239 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
7240 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
7241 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not include
7242 MIME headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic parameter to
7243 the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
7246 @kindex W M v (Summary)
7247 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
7248 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
7255 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
7256 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
7257 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
7258 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
7261 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
7264 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
7268 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
7269 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
7270 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
7271 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
7272 displayed. The default value is @code{(".*/.*")}.
7274 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
7275 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
7276 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
7277 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
7278 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
7279 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
7280 save all jpegs into some directory).
7282 Here's an example function the does the latter:
7285 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
7286 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
7288 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
7289 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
7290 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
7291 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
7292 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
7295 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
7296 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
7297 Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
7306 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
7307 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
7308 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
7309 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
7310 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
7311 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
7312 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
7314 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
7315 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
7316 variable, which is an alist of regexps (to match group names) and
7317 default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
7319 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
7320 aren't. These blitely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1} even
7321 if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
7322 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
7323 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be set
7324 on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
7325 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit)}, which is
7326 something some agents insist on having in there.
7332 @cindex coding system aliases
7333 @cindex preferred charset
7335 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
7337 If there are several @sc{mime} charsets that encode the same Emacs
7338 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
7341 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
7342 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
7345 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
7346 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @sc{mime} charset.
7348 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
7351 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
7354 This will almost do the right thing.
7356 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
7360 (codepage-setup 1251)
7361 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
7365 @node Article Commands
7366 @section Article Commands
7373 @kindex A P (Summary)
7374 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
7375 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
7376 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
7377 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will be
7378 run just before printing the buffer.
7383 @node Summary Sorting
7384 @section Summary Sorting
7385 @cindex summary sorting
7387 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
7388 can't really see why you'd want that.
7393 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
7394 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
7395 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
7398 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
7399 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
7400 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
7403 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
7404 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
7405 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
7408 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
7409 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
7410 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
7413 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
7414 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
7415 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
7418 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
7419 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
7420 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
7423 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
7424 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
7425 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
7428 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
7429 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
7430 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
7431 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
7432 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
7436 @node Finding the Parent
7437 @section Finding the Parent
7438 @cindex parent articles
7439 @cindex referring articles
7444 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
7445 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
7446 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
7447 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
7448 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
7449 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
7450 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
7451 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
7452 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
7454 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
7455 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
7456 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
7457 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
7458 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
7462 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
7463 @kindex A R (Summary)
7464 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
7465 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
7468 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
7469 @kindex A T (Summary)
7470 Display the full thread where the current article appears
7471 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
7472 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
7473 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
7474 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
7475 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
7476 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
7478 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
7479 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
7480 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
7481 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
7482 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
7483 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
7486 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
7487 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
7489 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
7490 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
7491 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
7492 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
7493 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
7494 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
7495 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
7498 The current select method will be used when fetching by
7499 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
7500 by giving this command a prefix.
7502 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
7503 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
7504 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
7505 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
7506 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
7507 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
7510 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
7511 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
7512 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
7515 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
7516 then ask Deja if that fails:
7519 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
7521 (nnweb "refer" (nnweb-type dejanews))))
7524 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
7525 not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
7526 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
7527 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
7528 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
7529 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
7532 @node Alternative Approaches
7533 @section Alternative Approaches
7535 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
7536 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
7539 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
7540 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
7545 @subsection Pick and Read
7546 @cindex pick and read
7548 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
7549 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
7550 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
7551 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
7553 @findex gnus-pick-mode
7554 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
7555 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
7556 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
7557 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
7558 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
7560 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
7565 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
7566 Pick the article or thread on the current line
7567 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
7568 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
7569 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
7570 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
7571 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
7572 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
7575 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
7576 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
7577 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
7578 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
7582 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
7583 Unpick the thread or article
7584 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
7585 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
7586 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
7587 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
7588 the thread or article at that line.
7592 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
7593 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
7594 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
7595 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
7596 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
7597 will still be visible when you are reading.
7601 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
7602 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
7603 which is mapped to the same function
7604 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
7606 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
7609 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
7612 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
7613 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
7615 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
7616 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
7617 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
7619 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
7620 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
7621 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
7622 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
7623 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
7624 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
7625 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
7629 @subsection Binary Groups
7630 @cindex binary groups
7632 @findex gnus-binary-mode
7633 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
7634 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
7635 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
7636 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
7637 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
7638 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
7641 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
7642 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
7643 command, when you have turned on this mode
7644 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
7646 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
7647 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
7651 @section Tree Display
7654 @vindex gnus-use-trees
7655 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
7656 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
7657 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
7660 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
7663 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
7664 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
7665 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
7667 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
7668 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
7669 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
7670 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
7671 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
7673 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
7674 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
7675 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
7676 default is @code{modeline}.
7678 @item gnus-tree-line-format
7679 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
7680 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
7681 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
7682 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
7683 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
7684 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
7690 The name of the poster.
7692 The @code{From} header.
7694 The number of the article.
7696 The opening bracket.
7698 The closing bracket.
7703 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
7705 Variables related to the display are:
7708 @item gnus-tree-brackets
7709 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
7710 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
7711 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @code{((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
7712 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close}) (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))}, and the
7713 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
7715 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
7716 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
7717 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
7718 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
7722 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
7723 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
7724 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
7725 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
7726 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
7727 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
7728 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
7729 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
7730 other windows displayed next to it.
7732 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
7733 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
7734 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
7735 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
7736 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
7737 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
7738 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
7742 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
7745 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
7755 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
7759 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
7760 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
7762 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
7764 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
7769 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
7770 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
7771 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
7774 (setq gnus-use-trees t
7775 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
7776 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
7777 (gnus-add-configuration
7781 (summary 0.75 point)
7786 @xref{Windows Configuration}.
7789 @node Mail Group Commands
7790 @section Mail Group Commands
7791 @cindex mail group commands
7793 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
7794 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
7796 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
7797 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7802 @kindex B e (Summary)
7803 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
7804 Expire all expirable articles in the group
7805 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
7808 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
7809 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
7810 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
7811 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
7812 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
7813 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
7816 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
7817 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
7818 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
7819 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
7820 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
7821 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
7824 @kindex B m (Summary)
7826 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
7827 Move the article from one mail group to another
7828 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
7831 @kindex B c (Summary)
7833 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
7834 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
7835 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
7836 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}).
7839 @kindex B B (Summary)
7840 @cindex crosspost mail
7841 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
7842 Crosspost the current article to some other group
7843 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
7844 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
7845 be properly updated.
7848 @kindex B i (Summary)
7849 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
7850 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
7851 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
7852 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
7855 @kindex B r (Summary)
7856 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
7857 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
7858 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
7859 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
7860 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
7864 @kindex B w (Summary)
7866 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
7867 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
7868 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
7869 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
7870 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
7871 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
7874 @kindex B q (Summary)
7875 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
7876 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
7877 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
7878 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
7881 @kindex B t (Summary)
7882 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
7883 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
7884 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
7887 @kindex B p (Summary)
7888 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
7889 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
7890 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
7891 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
7892 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
7893 article from your news server (or rather, from
7894 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
7895 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
7896 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
7897 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
7898 just not have arrived yet.
7902 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
7903 @cindex moving articles
7904 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
7905 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
7906 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
7907 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
7908 suggestions you find reasonable.
7911 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
7912 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
7913 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
7914 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
7918 @node Various Summary Stuff
7919 @section Various Summary Stuff
7922 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
7923 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
7924 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
7925 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
7929 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
7930 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
7931 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
7933 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
7934 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
7935 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
7936 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
7937 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
7938 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
7941 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7942 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7943 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
7944 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
7945 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
7947 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
7948 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
7949 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
7952 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7953 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7954 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
7955 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
7956 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
7957 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
7958 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
7959 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
7960 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
7961 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
7966 @node Summary Group Information
7967 @subsection Summary Group Information
7972 @kindex H f (Summary)
7973 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
7974 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
7975 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
7976 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
7977 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
7978 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
7979 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
7980 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
7981 be used for fetching the file.
7984 @kindex H d (Summary)
7985 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
7986 Give a brief description of the current group
7987 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
7988 rereading the description from the server.
7991 @kindex H h (Summary)
7992 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
7993 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
7994 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
7997 @kindex H i (Summary)
7998 @findex gnus-info-find-node
7999 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
8003 @node Searching for Articles
8004 @subsection Searching for Articles
8009 @kindex M-s (Summary)
8010 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
8011 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
8012 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
8015 @kindex M-r (Summary)
8016 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
8017 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
8018 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
8022 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
8023 This command will prompt you for a header field, a regular expression to
8024 match on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
8025 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If given a prefix, search
8029 @kindex M-& (Summary)
8030 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
8031 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
8032 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
8035 @node Summary Generation Commands
8036 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
8041 @kindex Y g (Summary)
8042 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
8043 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
8046 @kindex Y c (Summary)
8047 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
8048 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
8049 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
8054 @node Really Various Summary Commands
8055 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
8061 @kindex C-d (Summary)
8062 @kindex A D (Summary)
8063 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
8064 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
8065 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
8066 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
8067 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
8068 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
8069 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
8070 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
8074 @kindex M-C-d (Summary)
8075 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
8076 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
8077 several documents into one biiig group
8078 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
8079 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
8080 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
8081 command understands the process/prefix convention
8082 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8085 @kindex C-t (Summary)
8086 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
8087 Toggle truncation of summary lines
8088 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
8089 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
8090 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
8094 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
8095 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
8096 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
8099 @kindex M-C-e (Summary)
8100 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
8101 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
8102 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
8105 @kindex M-C-g (Summary)
8106 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
8107 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
8108 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
8113 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
8114 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
8115 @cindex summary exit
8116 @cindex exiting groups
8118 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
8119 group and return you to the group buffer.
8125 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
8127 @findex gnus-summary-exit
8128 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
8129 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
8130 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
8131 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
8132 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
8133 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
8134 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
8135 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
8136 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
8137 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
8141 @kindex Z E (Summary)
8143 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
8144 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
8145 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
8149 @kindex Z c (Summary)
8151 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
8152 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
8153 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
8154 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
8157 @kindex Z C (Summary)
8158 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
8159 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
8160 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
8163 @kindex Z n (Summary)
8164 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
8165 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
8166 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
8169 @kindex Z R (Summary)
8170 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
8171 Exit this group, and then enter it again
8172 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
8173 all articles, both read and unread.
8177 @kindex Z G (Summary)
8178 @kindex M-g (Summary)
8179 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
8180 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
8181 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
8182 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
8183 articles, both read and unread.
8186 @kindex Z N (Summary)
8187 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
8188 Exit the group and go to the next group
8189 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
8192 @kindex Z P (Summary)
8193 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
8194 Exit the group and go to the previous group
8195 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
8198 @kindex Z s (Summary)
8199 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
8200 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
8201 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
8202 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
8203 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
8206 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
8207 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current
8210 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
8211 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
8212 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
8213 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
8214 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
8215 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
8216 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
8217 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
8218 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
8219 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
8220 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
8221 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
8223 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
8225 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
8226 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
8227 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
8228 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
8229 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
8230 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
8231 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
8232 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
8233 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
8236 @node Crosspost Handling
8237 @section Crosspost Handling
8241 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
8242 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
8243 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
8244 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
8245 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
8246 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
8249 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
8250 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
8251 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
8252 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
8253 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
8255 @cindex cross-posting
8258 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
8259 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
8260 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
8261 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
8262 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
8263 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
8264 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
8265 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
8266 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
8267 the cross reference mechanism.
8269 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
8270 @cindex overview.fmt
8271 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
8272 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
8273 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
8274 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
8275 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
8276 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
8279 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
8280 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
8281 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
8286 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
8289 @node Duplicate Suppression
8290 @section Duplicate Suppression
8292 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
8293 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
8294 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
8295 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
8300 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
8301 is evil and not very common.
8304 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
8305 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
8308 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
8309 different @sc{nntp} servers.
8312 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
8315 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
8316 well, but these four are the most common situations.
8318 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
8319 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
8320 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
8321 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
8322 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
8323 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
8324 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
8327 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
8328 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
8329 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
8330 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
8331 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
8335 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
8336 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
8337 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
8339 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
8340 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
8341 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
8342 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
8343 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
8344 session are suppressed.
8346 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
8347 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
8348 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
8349 suppression list. The default is 10000.
8351 @item gnus-duplicate-file
8352 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
8353 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
8354 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
8357 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
8358 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
8359 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
8360 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
8361 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
8362 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
8363 to you to figure out, I think.
8366 @node The Article Buffer
8367 @chapter The Article Buffer
8368 @cindex article buffer
8370 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
8371 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
8372 tell Gnus otherwise.
8375 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
8376 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
8377 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
8378 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
8379 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
8383 @node Hiding Headers
8384 @section Hiding Headers
8385 @cindex hiding headers
8386 @cindex deleting headers
8388 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
8389 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
8391 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
8392 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
8393 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
8394 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
8395 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
8396 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
8397 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
8398 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
8399 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
8401 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
8405 @item gnus-visible-headers
8406 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
8407 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
8408 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
8409 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
8411 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
8412 the article and the subject, you'd say:
8415 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
8418 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
8421 @item gnus-ignored-headers
8422 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
8423 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
8424 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
8425 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
8426 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
8428 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
8429 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
8432 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
8435 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
8438 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
8439 variable will have no effect.
8443 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
8444 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
8445 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
8446 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
8447 the headers are to be displayed.
8449 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
8450 and then the subject, you might say something like:
8453 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
8456 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
8457 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
8459 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8460 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
8461 You can hide further boring headers by setting
8462 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-header} to @code{head}. What this function
8463 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
8464 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
8465 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
8468 These conditions are:
8471 Remove all empty headers.
8473 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
8474 @code{Newsgroups} header.
8476 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
8479 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
8482 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
8485 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
8487 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
8490 To include the four three elements, you could say something like;
8493 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
8494 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
8497 This is also the default value for this variable.
8501 @section Using @sc{mime}
8504 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
8505 while people stand around yawning.
8507 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
8508 while all newsreaders die of fear.
8510 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
8511 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
8512 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
8514 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
8515 @findex gnus-display-mime
8516 Gnus pushes @sc{mime} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
8517 to display the @sc{mime} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
8518 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
8519 display, save and manipulate the @sc{mime} objects.
8521 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
8525 @findex gnus-article-press-button
8527 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
8528 Toggle displaying of the @sc{mime} object
8529 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}).
8531 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
8532 @item M-RET (Article)
8534 Prompt for a method, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
8535 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
8537 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
8539 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @sc{mime} object
8540 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
8542 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
8544 Copy the @sc{mime} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
8545 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}).
8547 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
8549 View the @sc{mime} object as if it were a different @sc{mime} media type
8550 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}.
8552 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
8554 Output the @sc{mime} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
8557 Gnus will display some @sc{mime} objects automatically. The way Gnus
8558 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs MIME
8561 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
8562 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
8563 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
8564 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
8565 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
8566 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
8567 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
8568 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
8569 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
8571 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
8573 Also see @pxref{MIME Commands}.
8576 @node Customizing Articles
8577 @section Customizing Articles
8578 @cindex article customization
8580 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
8581 exist. You can call these functions interactively, or you can have them
8582 called automatically when you select the articles.
8584 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
8585 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
8586 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
8587 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
8589 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
8590 for sensible values.
8594 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
8597 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
8600 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
8603 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
8606 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
8610 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
8611 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
8612 regexps in the list.
8615 A list where the first element is not a string:
8617 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
8618 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
8619 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
8623 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
8628 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
8629 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
8630 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
8631 considered to contain just a single part.
8633 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
8634 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
8635 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
8636 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
8637 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
8638 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
8639 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
8641 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
8642 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
8643 group. Values in brackets are suggested sensible values. Others are possible
8644 but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
8647 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last)
8648 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
8649 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
8650 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
8651 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
8652 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
8653 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
8654 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
8655 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
8656 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
8657 @item gnus-treat-strip-pgp (t, last, integer)
8658 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
8659 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
8660 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
8661 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
8662 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
8663 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
8664 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
8665 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
8666 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
8667 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
8668 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
8669 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
8670 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
8671 @item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
8672 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
8673 @item gnus-treat-display-picons (head)
8674 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
8675 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
8676 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
8677 @item gnus-treat-translate
8680 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
8681 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
8682 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
8683 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
8684 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
8688 @node Article Keymap
8689 @section Article Keymap
8691 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
8692 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
8693 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
8694 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
8697 A few additional keystrokes are available:
8702 @kindex SPACE (Article)
8703 @findex gnus-article-next-page
8704 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
8707 @kindex DEL (Article)
8708 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
8709 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
8712 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
8713 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
8714 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
8715 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
8716 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
8719 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
8720 @findex gnus-article-mail
8721 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
8722 given a prefix, include the mail.
8726 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
8727 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
8728 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
8732 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
8733 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
8734 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
8737 @kindex TAB (Article)
8738 @findex gnus-article-next-button
8739 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
8740 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
8743 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
8744 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
8745 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
8751 @section Misc Article
8755 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
8756 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
8757 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
8758 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
8761 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
8762 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
8764 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
8765 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
8767 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
8768 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
8769 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
8770 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
8771 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
8772 the contents of the article buffer.
8774 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
8775 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
8776 Hook called in article mode buffers.
8778 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
8779 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
8780 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
8781 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
8783 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
8784 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
8785 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
8786 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
8787 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with one
8792 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
8793 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
8796 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
8799 @vindex gnus-break-pages
8801 @item gnus-break-pages
8802 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
8803 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
8804 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
8805 paging will not be done.
8807 @item gnus-page-delimiter
8808 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
8809 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
8814 @node Composing Messages
8815 @chapter Composing Messages
8816 @cindex composing messages
8819 @cindex sending mail
8824 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
8825 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
8826 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the article
8827 by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The Message
8828 Manual}. If you are in a foreign news group, and you wish to post the
8829 article using the foreign server, you can give a prefix to @kbd{C-c C-c}
8830 to make Gnus try to post using the foreign server.
8833 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
8834 * Post:: Posting and following up.
8835 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
8836 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
8837 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
8838 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
8839 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
8840 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
8843 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
8844 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
8850 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
8853 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
8854 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
8855 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
8856 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
8858 @item gnus-add-to-list
8859 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
8860 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
8861 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
8869 Variables for composing news articles:
8872 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-file
8873 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-file
8874 Gnus will keep a @code{Message-ID} history file of all the mails it has
8875 sent. If it discovers that it has already sent a mail, it will ask the
8876 user whether to re-send the mail. (This is primarily useful when
8877 dealing with @sc{soup} packets and the like where one is apt to send the
8878 same packet multiple times.) This variable says what the name of this
8879 history file is. It is @file{~/News/Sent-Message-IDs} by default. Set
8880 this variable to @code{nil} if you don't want Gnus to keep a history
8883 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-length
8884 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-length
8885 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the history
8886 file. It is 1000 by default.
8891 @node Posting Server
8892 @section Posting Server
8894 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
8895 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
8897 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
8899 @vindex gnus-post-method
8901 It can be quite complicated. Normally, Gnus will use the same native
8902 server. However. If your native server doesn't allow posting, just
8903 reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
8904 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
8905 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
8908 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
8911 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
8912 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
8913 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
8914 the ``current'' server for posting.
8916 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
8917 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
8919 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
8920 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
8923 Finally, if you want to always post using the same select method as
8924 you're reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
8925 groups from different private servers), you can set this variable to
8930 @section Mail and Post
8932 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
8936 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
8937 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
8938 @cindex mailing lists
8940 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
8941 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
8942 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
8943 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
8944 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
8945 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
8946 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
8947 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
8948 still a pain, though.
8952 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
8953 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
8954 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
8957 @findex ispell-message
8959 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
8963 @node Archived Messages
8964 @section Archived Messages
8965 @cindex archived messages
8966 @cindex sent messages
8968 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
8969 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
8970 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
8971 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
8974 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
8975 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
8976 use to store sent messages. The default is:
8980 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
8981 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
8982 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
8983 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
8986 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
8987 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likeable select method
8988 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
8989 directory chosen, you could say something like:
8992 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
8993 '(nnfolder "archive"
8994 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
8995 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
8996 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
8999 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
9001 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
9002 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
9003 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
9005 This variable can be used to do the following:
9009 Messages will be saved in that group.
9010 @item a list of strings
9011 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
9012 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
9013 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
9015 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
9020 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
9022 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
9025 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
9027 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
9030 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
9032 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
9033 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
9034 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
9035 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
9040 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
9041 '((if (message-news-p)
9046 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
9047 messages in one file per month:
9050 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
9051 '((if (message-news-p)
9053 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
9056 (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
9057 use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
9059 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
9060 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
9061 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
9062 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
9063 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
9064 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
9065 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
9066 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
9067 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
9068 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
9070 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
9071 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
9072 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
9073 this will disable archiving.
9076 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
9077 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
9078 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
9079 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
9080 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
9083 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
9084 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
9085 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
9088 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
9089 but the latter is the preferred method.
9093 @node Posting Styles
9094 @section Posting Styles
9095 @cindex posting styles
9098 All them variables, they make my head swim.
9100 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
9101 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
9102 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
9105 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
9106 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
9107 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
9108 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
9109 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
9114 (signature "Peace and happiness")
9115 (organization "What me?"))
9117 (signature "Death to everybody"))
9118 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
9119 (organization "Emacs is it")))
9122 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
9123 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
9124 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
9125 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
9126 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
9127 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
9128 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
9129 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
9131 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
9132 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
9133 If it is the symbol @code{header}, then Gnus will look for header that
9134 match the next element in the match, and compare that to the last header
9135 in the match. If it's a function symbol, that function will be called
9136 with no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
9137 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
9138 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
9141 Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
9142 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} . @var{value})} pair. The
9143 attribute name can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
9144 @code{organization}, @code{address}, @code{name} or @code{body}. The
9145 attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
9146 a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
9147 article. If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated,
9148 and the result is thrown away.
9150 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
9151 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
9152 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
9153 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
9154 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
9155 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable.
9157 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
9158 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
9159 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
9161 @findex message-mail-p
9162 @findex message-news-p
9164 So here's a new example:
9167 (setq gnus-posting-styles
9169 (signature-file "~/.signature")
9171 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
9172 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
9174 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
9175 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
9176 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
9178 (signature my-news-signature))
9179 ((header "From.*To" "larsi.*org")
9180 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
9181 ((posting-from-work-p)
9182 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
9183 (address "user@@bar.foo")
9184 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
9185 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
9187 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
9195 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
9196 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
9197 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
9198 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
9199 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
9201 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
9202 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
9203 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
9204 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
9205 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
9209 @vindex nndraft-directory
9210 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
9211 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
9212 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
9213 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
9214 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
9215 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
9217 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
9218 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
9221 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
9222 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
9223 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
9224 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
9225 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
9226 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
9227 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
9228 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
9229 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
9230 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
9231 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
9232 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
9233 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
9234 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
9236 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
9237 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
9238 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
9240 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
9242 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
9243 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
9244 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
9246 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
9249 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
9250 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
9251 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
9252 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
9253 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
9254 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
9255 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
9258 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
9259 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
9260 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
9263 @node Rejected Articles
9264 @section Rejected Articles
9265 @cindex rejected articles
9267 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
9268 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
9269 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
9270 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
9272 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
9273 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
9274 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
9275 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
9276 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
9278 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
9279 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
9280 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
9283 @node Select Methods
9284 @chapter Select Methods
9285 @cindex foreign groups
9286 @cindex select methods
9288 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
9289 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
9290 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
9291 personal mail group.
9293 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
9294 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
9295 list where the first element says what backend to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
9296 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
9297 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
9298 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
9300 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
9301 we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
9303 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
9306 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
9307 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
9308 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
9309 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
9310 backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
9312 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
9315 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
9316 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
9317 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
9318 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
9319 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
9320 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
9321 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
9325 @node The Server Buffer
9326 @section The Server Buffer
9328 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
9329 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
9330 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
9331 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
9332 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
9333 backend represents a virtual server.
9335 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
9336 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
9337 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
9338 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
9340 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
9341 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
9342 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
9343 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
9344 Anyways, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
9345 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
9346 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
9348 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
9349 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
9352 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
9353 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
9354 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
9355 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
9356 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
9357 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
9358 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
9361 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
9362 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
9365 @node Server Buffer Format
9366 @subsection Server Buffer Format
9367 @cindex server buffer format
9369 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
9370 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
9371 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
9372 variable, with some simple extensions:
9377 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
9380 The name of this server.
9383 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
9386 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
9389 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
9390 The mode line can also be customized by using the
9391 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
9392 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
9402 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
9405 @node Server Commands
9406 @subsection Server Commands
9407 @cindex server commands
9413 @findex gnus-server-add-server
9414 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
9418 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
9419 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
9422 @kindex SPACE (Server)
9423 @findex gnus-server-read-server
9424 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
9428 @findex gnus-server-exit
9429 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
9433 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
9434 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
9438 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
9439 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
9443 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
9444 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
9448 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
9449 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
9453 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
9454 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
9455 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
9460 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
9461 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
9462 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
9463 a mail backend that has gotten out of synch.
9468 @node Example Methods
9469 @subsection Example Methods
9471 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
9474 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
9477 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
9483 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
9484 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
9487 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
9488 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
9490 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
9491 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
9495 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
9498 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
9499 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
9501 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
9502 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
9503 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
9507 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
9510 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
9513 Here's the method for a public spool:
9517 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
9518 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
9521 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
9522 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
9523 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
9524 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
9525 should probably look something like this:
9529 (nntp-address "the.firewall.machine")
9530 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
9531 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
9532 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
9533 ("telnet" "the.real.nntp.host" "nntp")))
9536 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
9537 compressed connection over the modem line, you could create a virtual
9538 server that would look something like this:
9542 (nntp-address "copper.uio.no")
9543 (nntp-rlogin-program "ssh")
9544 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
9545 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
9546 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
9547 ("telnet" "news.uio.no" "nntp")))
9550 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
9551 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
9552 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
9553 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
9556 @node Creating a Virtual Server
9557 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
9559 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
9560 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
9562 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
9563 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
9564 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
9566 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
9568 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
9569 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
9570 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
9571 will contain the following:
9581 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
9582 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
9583 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
9586 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
9587 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
9588 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
9591 @node Server Variables
9592 @subsection Server Variables
9594 One sticky point when defining variables (both on backends and in Emacs
9595 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
9596 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
9597 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
9598 won't change the "derived" variables.
9600 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
9601 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
9602 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
9603 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
9604 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
9605 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
9606 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
9607 variables for each backend, see each backend's section later in this
9608 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
9612 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
9613 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
9614 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
9618 @node Servers and Methods
9619 @subsection Servers and Methods
9621 Wherever you would normally use a select method
9622 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
9623 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
9624 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
9628 @node Unavailable Servers
9629 @subsection Unavailable Servers
9631 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
9632 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
9633 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
9634 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
9635 actually the case or not.
9637 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
9638 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
9639 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
9640 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
9641 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
9642 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
9643 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
9644 it will regard that server as ``down''.
9646 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
9647 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
9649 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke it
9650 with the following commands:
9656 @findex gnus-server-open-server
9657 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
9658 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
9662 @findex gnus-server-close-server
9663 Close the connection (if any) to the server
9664 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
9668 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
9669 Mark the current server as unreachable
9670 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
9673 @kindex M-o (Server)
9674 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
9675 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
9676 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
9679 @kindex M-c (Server)
9680 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
9681 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
9682 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
9686 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
9687 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
9688 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
9694 @section Getting News
9695 @cindex reading news
9696 @cindex news backends
9698 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
9699 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
9700 or it can read from a local spool.
9703 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
9704 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
9709 @subsection @sc{nntp}
9712 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
9713 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
9714 server as the, uhm, address.
9716 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
9717 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
9718 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
9719 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
9721 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
9722 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
9723 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
9725 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
9730 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
9731 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
9732 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
9734 @cindex authentification
9735 @cindex nntp authentification
9736 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
9737 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
9738 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
9739 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
9740 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
9741 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
9742 present in this hook.
9744 @item nntp-authinfo-function
9745 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
9746 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
9747 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
9748 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
9749 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
9750 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
9751 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
9752 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
9753 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
9754 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
9755 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
9759 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
9762 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs. The
9763 valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
9764 @samp{default} and @samp{force}. (The latter is not a valid
9765 @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} token, which is the only way the
9766 @file{.authinfo} file format deviates from the @file{.netrc} file
9771 Here's an example file:
9774 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
9775 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
9778 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
9779 have to be first, for instance.
9781 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
9782 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
9783 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
9784 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
9785 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
9786 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
9787 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
9789 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
9790 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
9796 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
9797 previously mentioned.
9799 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
9801 @item nntp-server-action-alist
9802 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
9803 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
9804 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
9805 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
9808 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
9812 You probably don't want to do that, though.
9814 The default value is
9817 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
9818 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
9821 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
9822 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
9824 @item nntp-maximum-request
9825 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
9826 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
9827 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
9828 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
9829 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
9830 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
9831 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
9833 @item nntp-connection-timeout
9834 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
9835 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
9836 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
9837 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
9838 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
9839 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
9840 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
9841 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
9842 no timeouts are done.
9844 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
9845 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
9846 @c @cindex PPP connections
9847 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
9848 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
9849 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
9850 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
9851 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
9852 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
9853 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
9854 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
9855 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
9856 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
9858 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
9859 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
9860 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
9861 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
9864 @item nntp-server-hook
9865 @vindex nntp-server-hook
9866 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
9869 @findex nntp-open-rlogin
9870 @findex nntp-open-telnet
9871 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
9872 @item nntp-open-connection-function
9873 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
9874 This function is used to connect to the remote system. Four pre-made
9875 functions are supplied:
9878 @item nntp-open-network-stream
9879 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
9882 @item nntp-open-rlogin
9883 Does an @samp{rlogin} on the
9884 remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet} to the @sc{nntp} server
9887 @code{nntp-open-rlogin}-related variables:
9891 @item nntp-rlogin-program
9892 @vindex nntp-rlogin-program
9893 Program used to log in on remote machines. The default is @samp{rsh},
9894 but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
9896 @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
9897 @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
9898 This list will be used as the parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
9900 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
9901 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
9902 User name on the remote system.
9906 @item nntp-open-telnet
9907 Does a @samp{telnet} to the remote system and then another @samp{telnet}
9908 to get to the @sc{nntp} server.
9910 @code{nntp-open-telnet}-related variables:
9913 @item nntp-telnet-command
9914 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
9915 Command used to start @code{telnet}.
9917 @item nntp-telnet-switches
9918 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
9919 List of strings to be used as the switches to the @code{telnet} command.
9921 @item nntp-telnet-user-name
9922 @vindex nntp-telnet-user-name
9923 User name for log in on the remote system.
9925 @item nntp-telnet-passwd
9926 @vindex nntp-telnet-passwd
9927 Password to use when logging in.
9929 @item nntp-telnet-parameters
9930 @vindex nntp-telnet-parameters
9931 A list of strings executed as a command after logging in
9934 @item nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
9935 @vindex nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
9936 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the remote machine. The default is
9937 @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
9939 @item nntp-open-telnet-envuser
9940 @vindex nntp-open-telnet-envuser
9941 If non-@code{nil}, the @code{telnet} session (client and server both)
9942 will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for login name.
9943 This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
9947 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
9948 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
9949 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use this
9950 you must have SSLay installed
9951 (@file{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also need
9952 @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distributeion, for instance). You then
9953 define a server as follows:
9956 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
9958 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
9960 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
9961 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
9962 (nntp-port-number "snews")
9963 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
9968 @item nntp-end-of-line
9969 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
9970 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
9971 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
9972 using @code{rlogin} to talk to the server.
9974 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
9975 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
9976 User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
9980 @vindex nntp-address
9981 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
9983 @item nntp-port-number
9984 @vindex nntp-port-number
9985 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
9988 @item nntp-buggy-select
9989 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
9990 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
9992 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
9993 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
9994 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
9995 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
9998 @item nntp-xover-commands
9999 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
10002 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
10003 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
10007 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
10008 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
10009 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
10010 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
10011 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
10012 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
10013 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
10014 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
10015 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
10016 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
10017 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
10019 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
10020 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
10021 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
10023 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
10024 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
10025 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
10026 server closes connection.
10028 @item nntp-record-commands
10029 @vindex nntp-record-commands
10030 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
10031 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestep) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
10032 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
10033 that doesn't seem to work.
10039 @subsection News Spool
10043 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
10044 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
10045 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
10048 Anyways, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
10049 anything else) as the address.
10051 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
10052 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
10053 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
10054 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
10058 @item nnspool-inews-program
10059 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
10060 Program used to post an article.
10062 @item nnspool-inews-switches
10063 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
10064 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
10066 @item nnspool-spool-directory
10067 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
10068 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
10069 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
10071 @item nnspool-nov-directory
10072 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
10073 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
10074 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
10076 @item nnspool-lib-dir
10077 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
10078 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
10080 @item nnspool-active-file
10081 @vindex nnspool-active-file
10082 The path to the active file.
10084 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
10085 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
10086 The path to the group descriptions file.
10088 @item nnspool-history-file
10089 @vindex nnspool-history-file
10090 The path to the news history file.
10092 @item nnspool-active-times-file
10093 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
10094 The path to the active date file.
10096 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
10097 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
10098 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
10101 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
10102 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
10104 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
10105 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
10106 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
10112 @section Getting Mail
10113 @cindex reading mail
10116 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
10120 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
10121 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
10122 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
10123 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
10124 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
10125 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
10126 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
10127 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
10128 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
10129 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
10130 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
10131 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
10132 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
10136 @node Mail in a Newsreader
10137 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
10139 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
10140 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
10141 of a culture shock.
10143 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
10144 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
10146 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
10147 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
10148 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
10149 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
10151 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
10153 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
10154 deleted? How awful!
10156 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
10157 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
10158 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
10159 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
10162 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
10163 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
10164 they want to treat a message.
10166 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
10167 via SMTP, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
10168 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
10169 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
10170 archived somewhere else.
10172 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
10173 These are transported via @sc{nntp}, and are therefore news. But we may need
10174 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
10175 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
10176 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
10178 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
10179 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
10180 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
10182 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
10183 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
10186 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
10187 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
10188 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
10189 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
10190 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
10192 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
10193 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
10194 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
10195 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
10196 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
10197 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
10201 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
10202 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
10204 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
10205 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
10206 and things will happen automatically.
10208 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
10209 mail" backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
10212 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
10213 '((nnml "private")))
10216 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
10217 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
10218 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
10219 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
10220 like any other group.
10222 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
10225 (setq nnmail-split-methods
10226 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
10227 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
10231 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
10232 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
10233 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
10236 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
10237 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
10238 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
10241 @node Splitting Mail
10242 @subsection Splitting Mail
10243 @cindex splitting mail
10244 @cindex mail splitting
10246 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
10247 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
10248 to be split into groups.
10251 (setq nnmail-split-methods
10252 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
10253 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
10254 ("mail.other" "")))
10257 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
10258 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
10259 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
10260 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
10261 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
10262 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
10263 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
10266 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
10269 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
10270 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
10271 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
10272 mail belongs in that group.
10274 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
10275 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
10276 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
10277 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
10278 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
10279 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
10281 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
10282 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
10283 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
10284 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
10285 thinks should carry this mail message.
10287 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
10288 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
10289 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
10290 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
10292 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
10293 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
10294 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
10295 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
10296 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
10298 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
10301 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
10302 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
10303 links. If that's the case for you, set
10304 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
10305 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
10307 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
10308 @kindex nnmail-split-history
10309 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
10310 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command.
10312 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
10313 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
10314 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
10315 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
10316 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
10317 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
10318 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
10319 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
10320 month's rent money.
10324 @subsection Mail Sources
10326 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
10327 POP mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a maildir, for
10331 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
10332 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
10333 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
10337 @node Mail Source Specifiers
10338 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
10340 @cindex mail server
10343 @cindex mail source
10345 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
10346 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
10351 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
10354 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
10355 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
10356 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
10359 The following mail source types are available:
10363 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
10369 The path of the file. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
10370 environment variable or @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}.
10373 An example file mail source:
10376 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
10379 Or using the default path:
10385 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best to
10386 use POP or @sc{imap} or the like to fetch the mail. You can not you ange-ftp
10387 file names here---it has no way to lock the mail spool while moving the
10390 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
10394 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
10397 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
10401 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
10404 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
10406 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
10409 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
10413 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used when
10414 you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
10420 The path of the directory where the files are. There is no default
10424 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
10428 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
10429 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
10430 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
10431 predicate are considered.
10435 Script run before/after fetching mail.
10439 An example directory mail source:
10442 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
10447 Get mail from a POP server.
10453 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
10454 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
10457 The port number of the POP server. The default is @samp{pop3}.
10460 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
10464 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
10468 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This is should be
10469 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
10472 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
10475 The valid format specifier characters are:
10479 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
10480 included in this string.
10483 The name of the server.
10486 The port number of the server.
10489 The user name to use.
10492 The password to use.
10495 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
10496 corresponding keywords.
10499 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
10500 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
10503 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
10504 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
10507 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
10508 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
10511 @item :authentication
10512 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
10513 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
10518 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
10519 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
10521 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
10522 default user name, and default fetcher:
10528 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
10531 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
10532 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
10535 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
10538 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
10542 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
10543 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
10544 contains exactly one mail.
10550 The path of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
10551 @samp{~/Maildir/new}.
10553 If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
10554 them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
10555 @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
10558 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
10559 from locking problems).
10563 Two example maildir mail sources:
10566 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/cur")
10570 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/new")
10574 Get mail from a @sc{imap} server. If you don't want to use @sc{imap} as intended,
10575 as a network mail reading protocol (ie with nnimap), for some reason or
10576 other, Gnus let you treat it similar to a POP server and fetches
10577 articles from a given @sc{imap} mailbox.
10583 The name of the @sc{imap} server. The default is taken from the
10584 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
10587 The port number of the @sc{imap} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
10588 @samp{993} for SSL connections.
10591 The user name to give to the @sc{imap} server. The default is the login
10595 The password to give to the @sc{imap} server. If not specified, the user is
10599 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
10600 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
10601 @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{ssl} or the default @samp{network}.
10603 @item :authenticator
10604 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is one
10605 of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now, this means
10606 @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default
10610 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
10611 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
10614 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default,
10615 @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people,
10616 but if you sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @sc{imap} client and mark
10617 some articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to
10618 @samp{nil}. Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter
10619 what. For a complete list of predicates, see RFC2060 §6.4.4.
10622 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
10623 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
10624 would simply mark them as read. Theese are the two most likely choices,
10625 but more flags are defined in RFC2060 §2.3.2.
10628 If non-nil, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the mailbox
10629 after finishing the fetch.
10633 An example @sc{imap} mail source:
10636 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com" :stream kerberos4)
10640 Get mail from a webmail server, such as www.hotmail.com,
10641 mail.yahoo.com, and www.netaddress.com.
10643 NOTE: Webmail largely depends on w3 (url) package, whose version of "WWW
10644 4.0pre.46 1999/10/01" or previous ones may not work.
10646 WARNING: Mails may lost. NO WARRANTY.
10652 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
10653 alternatives are @code{yahoo}, @code{netaddress}.
10656 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
10660 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
10665 An example webmail source:
10668 (webmail :subtype 'yahoo :user "user-name" :password "secret")
10673 @node Mail Source Customization
10674 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
10676 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
10677 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
10681 @item mail-source-crash-box
10682 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
10683 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
10684 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
10686 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
10687 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
10688 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them.
10690 @item mail-source-directory
10691 @vindex mail-source-directory
10692 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
10693 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
10694 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
10697 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
10698 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
10699 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
10704 @node Fetching Mail
10705 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
10707 @vindex mail-sources
10708 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
10709 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
10710 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
10711 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
10713 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
10714 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
10717 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
10718 mail server, you'd say something like:
10723 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
10724 :password "secret")))
10727 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
10731 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
10732 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
10735 :password "secret")))
10739 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
10740 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
10741 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
10742 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
10743 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
10744 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
10748 @node Mail Backend Variables
10749 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
10751 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
10755 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
10756 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
10757 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
10758 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
10760 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
10761 @item nnmail-split-hook
10762 @findex article-decode-encoded-words
10763 @findex RFC1522 decoding
10764 @findex RFC2047 decoding
10765 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
10766 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
10767 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
10768 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
10769 in the buffer will show up in any files.
10770 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
10773 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
10774 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
10775 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
10776 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
10777 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
10778 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
10779 starting to handle the new mail) and
10780 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
10781 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
10782 default file modes the new mail files get:
10785 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
10786 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
10788 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
10789 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
10792 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
10793 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
10794 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
10795 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
10796 (assuming use of @code{nnml} backend) or files (assuming use of
10797 @code{nnfolder} backend) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
10798 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
10800 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
10801 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
10802 @findex delete-file
10803 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
10805 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
10806 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
10807 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
10808 the backend (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
10809 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
10814 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
10815 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
10816 @cindex mail splitting
10817 @cindex fancy mail splitting
10819 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
10820 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
10821 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
10822 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
10823 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
10824 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
10826 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
10829 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
10830 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
10831 ;; from real errors.
10832 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
10834 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
10835 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
10836 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
10837 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
10838 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
10839 ;; Other mailing lists...
10840 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
10841 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
10842 ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
10843 ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
10844 ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
10845 ;; message was really cross-posted.
10846 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
10847 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
10849 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
10850 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
10854 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
10855 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
10856 the five possible split syntaxes:
10861 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
10862 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
10866 @code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict} @code{[-} @var{restrict} @code{[@dots{}]}@code{]]}
10867 @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the first element of which is a
10868 string, then store the message as specified by @var{split}, if header
10869 @var{field} (a regexp) contains @var{value} (also a regexp). If
10870 @var{restrict} (yet another regexp) matches some string after
10871 @var{field} and before the end of the matched @var{value}, the
10872 @var{split} is ignored. If none of the @var{restrict} clauses match,
10873 @var{split} is processed.
10876 @code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
10877 element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
10878 one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
10879 the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
10882 @code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
10883 element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
10886 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
10887 this message. Use with extreme caution.
10890 @code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
10891 a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
10892 be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
10893 function should return a @var{split}.
10896 @code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the first
10897 element is @code{!}, then SPLIT will be processed, and FUNC will be
10898 called as a function with the result of SPLIT as argument. FUNC should
10902 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
10906 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
10907 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
10908 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
10909 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
10910 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
10912 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
10913 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
10914 are expanded as specified by the variable
10915 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
10916 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
10919 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
10920 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
10921 when all this splitting is performed.
10923 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
10924 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
10925 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
10928 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
10931 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
10932 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
10934 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
10935 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
10936 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
10937 groupings 1 through 9.
10940 @node Group Mail Splitting
10941 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
10942 @cindex mail splitting
10943 @cindex group mail splitting
10945 @findex gnus-group-split
10946 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
10947 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
10948 You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
10949 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
10950 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
10951 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
10952 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
10953 @var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
10955 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
10956 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
10957 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
10958 rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
10960 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
10961 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
10962 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
10963 @var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
10964 matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
10965 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
10966 @var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
10968 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
10969 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
10970 parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
10971 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
10972 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
10973 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
10974 @code{gnus-group-split}.
10976 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
10977 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
10978 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
10979 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
10980 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
10981 some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
10982 that group is used as the catch-all group. Note that, in this case,
10983 there's no cross-posting, as a @code{|} fancy split encloses the
10984 @code{&} split and the catch-all group.
10986 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
10991 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
10992 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
10994 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
10995 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
10996 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
10997 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
10999 ((split-spec . catch-all))
11002 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
11003 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
11004 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
11007 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
11008 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
11009 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
11013 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
11014 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
11015 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
11019 (: gnus-mlsplt-fancy GROUPS NO-CROSSPOST CATCH-ALL)
11022 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
11023 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
11024 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
11025 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} may be the name
11026 of a group to be used as the default catch-all group. If
11027 @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @var{split-regexp} matches the
11028 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
11029 Otherwise, if some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
11030 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
11032 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
11033 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
11034 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
11035 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
11036 used to select @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
11037 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
11038 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
11039 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
11040 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
11042 @findex gnus-group-split-update
11043 However, if you change group parameters, you have to update
11044 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
11045 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
11046 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
11047 you. For example, add to your @file{.gnus}:
11050 (gnus-group-split-setup AUTO-UPDATE CATCH-ALL)
11053 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
11054 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
11055 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
11056 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional),
11057 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
11060 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
11061 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
11062 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
11063 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
11065 @node Incorporating Old Mail
11066 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
11068 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
11069 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
11070 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
11073 Doing so can be quite easy.
11075 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
11076 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
11077 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
11078 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
11079 your @code{nnml} groups.
11085 Go to the group buffer.
11088 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
11089 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
11092 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
11095 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
11096 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
11099 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
11100 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
11103 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
11104 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
11105 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
11106 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
11107 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
11109 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
11110 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
11111 using the new mail backend.
11114 @node Expiring Mail
11115 @subsection Expiring Mail
11116 @cindex article expiry
11118 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
11119 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
11120 different approach to mail reading.
11122 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
11123 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
11124 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
11125 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
11126 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
11127 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
11130 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
11131 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
11132 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
11133 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
11134 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
11135 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
11136 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
11137 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
11139 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
11140 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
11141 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
11142 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
11143 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
11144 column in the summary buffer.
11146 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
11147 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
11148 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
11149 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
11152 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
11154 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
11155 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
11156 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
11159 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
11160 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
11161 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
11162 groups expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
11163 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
11165 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
11166 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
11169 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
11170 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
11173 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
11174 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
11176 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
11177 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
11178 don't really mix very well.
11180 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
11181 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
11182 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
11183 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
11186 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
11187 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
11188 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
11189 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
11192 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
11194 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
11196 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
11198 ((string= group "mail.junk")
11200 ((string= group "important")
11206 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
11207 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
11209 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
11210 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
11211 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
11214 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
11215 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
11217 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
11218 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
11219 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
11220 easier for procmail users.
11222 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
11223 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
11224 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
11225 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
11226 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
11227 caution. Even more dangerous is the
11228 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
11229 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
11230 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
11231 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
11232 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
11233 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
11234 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
11237 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
11239 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
11240 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
11241 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
11242 auto-expire turned on.
11246 @subsection Washing Mail
11247 @cindex mail washing
11248 @cindex list server brain damage
11249 @cindex incoming mail treatment
11251 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
11252 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC822 doesn't explicitly
11253 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
11254 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
11255 Yes, but RFC822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
11256 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
11258 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
11259 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
11260 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
11263 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
11264 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
11265 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
11266 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
11269 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
11270 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
11271 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
11272 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
11273 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
11276 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
11277 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
11278 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
11279 Emacs running on MS machines.
11283 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
11284 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
11285 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
11286 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
11289 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
11290 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
11291 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
11292 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
11294 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
11295 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
11296 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
11297 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
11298 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
11299 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
11300 also be a list of regexp.
11302 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
11303 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
11306 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
11307 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
11310 This can also be done non-destructively with
11311 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
11313 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
11314 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
11315 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
11317 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
11318 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
11320 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
11321 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
11322 @code{References} headers.
11326 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
11327 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
11328 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
11332 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
11333 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
11334 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
11341 @subsection Duplicates
11343 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
11344 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
11345 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
11346 @cindex duplicate mails
11347 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
11348 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
11349 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
11350 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
11351 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
11352 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
11353 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
11354 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
11355 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
11356 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
11357 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
11358 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
11359 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
11361 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
11362 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
11363 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
11364 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
11366 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
11369 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
11370 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
11374 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
11375 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
11376 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
11377 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
11378 (any mail "mail.misc")
11385 (setq nnmail-split-methods
11386 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
11391 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
11392 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
11393 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
11394 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
11395 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
11398 @node Not Reading Mail
11399 @subsection Not Reading Mail
11401 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
11402 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
11403 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
11405 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
11406 @code{nil}, none of the backends will ever attempt to read incoming
11407 mail, which should help.
11409 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
11410 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
11411 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
11412 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
11413 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
11414 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
11415 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
11416 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
11417 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
11418 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
11419 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
11421 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
11422 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
11426 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
11427 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
11429 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
11430 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
11431 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
11433 There are five different mail backends in the standard Gnus, and more
11434 backends are available separately. The mail backend most people use
11435 (because it is the fastest and most flexible) is @code{nnml}
11436 (@pxref{Mail Spool}).
11439 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
11440 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
11441 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
11442 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
11443 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
11444 * Comparing Mail Backends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
11448 @node Unix Mail Box
11449 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
11451 @cindex unix mail box
11453 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
11454 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
11455 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
11456 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
11457 which group it belongs in.
11459 Virtual server settings:
11462 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
11463 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
11464 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory.
11466 @item nnmbox-active-file
11467 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
11468 The name of the active file for the mail box.
11470 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
11471 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
11472 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
11478 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
11482 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
11483 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
11484 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
11485 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each mail
11486 article to say which group it belongs in.
11488 Virtual server settings:
11491 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
11492 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
11493 The name of the rmail mbox file.
11495 @item nnbabyl-active-file
11496 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
11497 The name of the active file for the rmail box.
11499 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
11500 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
11501 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail.
11506 @subsubsection Mail Spool
11508 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
11510 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
11511 format. It should be used with some caution.
11513 @vindex nnml-directory
11514 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
11515 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
11516 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
11517 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
11519 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
11522 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
11523 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
11524 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
11525 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
11526 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
11527 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
11528 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
11529 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
11531 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
11532 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
11533 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it the fastest
11534 backend when it comes to reading mail.
11536 Virtual server settings:
11539 @item nnml-directory
11540 @vindex nnml-directory
11541 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
11543 @item nnml-active-file
11544 @vindex nnml-active-file
11545 The active file for the @code{nnml} server.
11547 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
11548 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
11549 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
11552 @item nnml-get-new-mail
11553 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
11554 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail.
11556 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
11557 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
11558 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
11560 @item nnml-nov-file-name
11561 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
11562 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
11564 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
11565 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
11566 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
11570 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
11571 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
11572 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
11573 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
11574 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
11575 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
11576 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
11581 @subsubsection MH Spool
11583 @cindex mh-e mail spool
11585 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
11586 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
11587 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
11588 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
11590 Virtual server settings:
11593 @item nnmh-directory
11594 @vindex nnmh-directory
11595 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory.
11597 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
11598 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
11599 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail.
11602 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
11603 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
11604 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
11605 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
11606 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
11607 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
11608 to set this variable to @code{t}.
11613 @subsubsection Mail Folders
11615 @cindex mbox folders
11616 @cindex mail folders
11618 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
11619 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
11620 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
11623 Virtual server settings:
11626 @item nnfolder-directory
11627 @vindex nnfolder-directory
11628 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
11630 @item nnfolder-active-file
11631 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
11632 The name of the active file.
11634 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
11635 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
11636 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File Format}.
11638 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
11639 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
11640 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail.
11642 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
11643 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
11644 @cindex backup files
11645 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
11646 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
11647 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
11648 your @file{.emacs} file:
11651 (defun turn-off-backup ()
11652 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
11654 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
11657 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
11658 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
11659 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
11660 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
11661 extract some information from it before removing it.
11666 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
11667 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
11668 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
11669 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
11670 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
11671 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
11674 @node Comparing Mail Backends
11675 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Backends
11677 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{backend} is the common word for a
11678 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
11679 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
11680 and so selection of a suitable backend is required in order to get that
11681 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
11683 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
11684 typically done by @sc{nntp} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
11685 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
11686 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @sc{nntp} server), and
11687 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
11688 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
11689 @code{nnspool} backends, to select between these methods, if one happens
11690 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
11693 The goal in selecting a mail backend is to pick one which
11694 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
11695 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
11696 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
11701 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
11702 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
11703 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
11704 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
11705 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
11706 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
11707 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
11708 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
11709 this backend, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
11710 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
11711 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
11712 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
11713 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
11718 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
11719 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
11720 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
11721 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
11722 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
11723 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
11724 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
11725 RMAIL was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
11726 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote RMAIL
11727 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
11728 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
11729 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
11730 headers/status bits stuff. RMAIL itself still exists as well, of
11731 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
11733 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
11734 filesystem, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
11739 @code{nnml} is the backend which smells the most as though you were
11740 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
11741 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
11742 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
11743 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
11744 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
11745 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
11746 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
11747 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
11748 @sc{nntp} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
11749 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
11750 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
11751 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
11752 provided by the active file and overviews.
11754 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
11755 resource which defines available places in the filesystem to put new
11756 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
11757 tight, shared filesystems. But if you live on a personal machine where
11758 the filesystem is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
11761 It is also problematic using this backend if you are living in a
11762 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
11767 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
11768 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
11769 individual files, but with little or no indexing support -- @code{nnmh}
11770 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
11771 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
11772 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
11773 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
11777 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
11778 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
11779 itself puts *all* one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
11780 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
11781 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
11782 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
11783 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
11784 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
11785 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
11787 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
11788 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
11789 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
11790 friendly mail backend all over.
11795 @node Browsing the Web
11796 @section Browsing the Web
11798 @cindex browsing the web
11802 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
11803 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
11804 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
11805 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
11806 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
11807 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
11808 even know what a news group is.
11810 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
11811 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
11812 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
11813 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
11814 you mad in the end.
11816 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
11819 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of backends for providing
11820 interfaces to these sources.
11823 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
11824 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
11825 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
11826 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
11829 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
11830 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @sc{html} data
11831 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus backend
11832 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these backends,
11833 though, you should be ok.
11835 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
11836 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
11837 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
11838 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
11839 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
11843 @subsection Web Searches
11847 @cindex InReference
11848 @cindex Usenet searches
11849 @cindex searching the Usenet
11851 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
11852 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
11853 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
11854 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
11855 searches without having to use a browser.
11857 The @code{nnweb} backend allows an easy interface to the mighty search
11858 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
11859 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
11860 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
11861 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
11863 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
11864 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
11865 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
11866 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
11867 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
11868 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
11869 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
11870 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
11871 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
11872 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
11875 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
11876 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
11877 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
11878 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
11879 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
11880 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
11882 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
11883 to use @code{nnweb}.
11885 Virtual server variables:
11890 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
11891 are @code{dejanews}, @code{dejanewsold}, @code{altavista} and
11895 @vindex nnweb-search
11896 The search string to feed to the search engine.
11898 @item nnweb-max-hits
11899 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
11900 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
11903 @item nnweb-type-definition
11904 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
11905 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
11906 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
11911 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
11915 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
11918 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
11921 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
11925 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
11932 @subsection Slashdot
11936 Slashdot (@file{http://slashdot.org/}) is a popular news site, with
11937 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
11938 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
11940 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
11941 following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
11944 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
11945 '((nnslashdot "")))
11948 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} backend for new comments
11949 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
11950 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
11951 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
11952 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
11955 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
11956 comments), some light @sc{html}izations will be performed. In
11957 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
11958 @code{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @code{br} added to
11959 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @sc{html}
11960 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
11963 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
11966 @item nnslashdot-threaded
11967 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
11968 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
11969 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
11970 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
11971 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
11972 but much, much slower than untreaded.
11974 @item nnslashdot-login-name
11975 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
11976 The login name to use when posting.
11978 @item nnslashdot-password
11979 @vindex nnslashdot-password
11980 The password to use when posting.
11982 @item nnslashdot-directory
11983 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
11984 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default value is
11985 @samp{~/News/slashdot/}.
11987 @item nnslashdot-active-url
11988 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
11989 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the information on
11990 news articles and comments. The default is
11991 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
11993 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
11994 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
11995 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch comments. The
11997 @samp{http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=%s&threshold=%d&commentsort=%d&mode=flat&startat=%d}.
11999 @item nnslashdot-article-url
12000 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
12001 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the news article. The
12003 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
12005 @item nnslashdot-threshold
12006 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
12007 The score threshold. The default is -1.
12009 @item nnslashdot-group-number
12010 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
12011 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
12012 updated. The default is 0.
12019 @subsection Ultimate
12021 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
12023 The Ultimate Bulletin Board (@file{http://www.ultimatebb.com/}) is
12024 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
12025 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
12026 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
12028 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
12029 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
12030 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @sc{url}
12031 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
12032 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
12033 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
12034 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
12036 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
12039 @item nnultimate-directory
12040 @vindex nnultimate-directory
12041 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is
12042 @samp{~/News/ultimate/}.
12046 @subsection Web Archive
12048 @cindex Web Archive
12050 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
12051 (@file{http://www.egroups.com/}). It has a quite regular and nice
12052 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
12055 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
12056 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
12057 gnus-group-make-nnwarchive-group RET an_egroup RET egroups RET
12058 www.egroups.com RET your@@email.address RET}. (Substitute the
12059 @sc{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
12060 @sc{your@@email.address} with your email address.)
12062 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
12065 @item nnwarchive-directory
12066 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
12067 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is
12068 @samp{~/News/warchive/}.
12070 @item nnwarchive-login
12071 @vindex nnwarchive-login
12072 The account name on the web server.
12074 @item nnwarchive-passwd
12075 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
12076 The password for your account on the web server.
12079 @node Other Sources
12080 @section Other Sources
12082 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
12083 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
12087 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
12088 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
12089 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
12090 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
12091 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
12092 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
12096 @node Directory Groups
12097 @subsection Directory Groups
12099 @cindex directory groups
12101 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
12102 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
12105 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
12106 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
12107 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
12108 backend to read directories. Big deal.
12110 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
12111 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
12112 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
12113 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
12114 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
12116 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
12118 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
12119 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
12120 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
12121 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
12124 @node Anything Groups
12125 @subsection Anything Groups
12128 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
12129 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
12130 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
12133 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
12134 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
12135 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
12136 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're
12137 forgetting. @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it
12138 snoops each file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e.,
12139 the first few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head.
12140 If this is just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source
12141 file), @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It
12142 will use file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
12145 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
12146 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
12147 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
12148 in the article buffer, just as usual.
12150 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
12151 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
12152 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
12153 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
12155 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
12156 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
12157 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
12158 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
12159 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
12160 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
12161 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
12162 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
12167 @item nneething-map-file-directory
12168 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
12169 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
12170 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
12172 @item nneething-exclude-files
12173 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
12174 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
12175 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
12177 @item nneething-include-files
12178 @vindex nneething-include-files
12179 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
12180 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
12182 @item nneething-map-file
12183 @vindex nneething-map-file
12184 Name of the map files.
12188 @node Document Groups
12189 @subsection Document Groups
12191 @cindex documentation group
12194 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
12195 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
12202 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
12207 The standard Unix mbox file.
12209 @cindex MMDF mail box
12211 The MMDF mail box format.
12214 Several news articles appended into a file.
12217 @cindex rnews batch files
12218 The rnews batch transport format.
12219 @cindex forwarded messages
12222 Forwarded articles.
12225 Netscape mail boxes.
12228 MIME multipart messages.
12230 @item standard-digest
12231 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
12234 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
12237 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
12238 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
12239 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
12242 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
12243 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
12244 group. And that's it.
12246 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
12247 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
12248 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
12249 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
12250 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
12251 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
12252 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
12253 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
12254 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
12255 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
12257 Virtual server variables:
12260 @item nndoc-article-type
12261 @vindex nndoc-article-type
12262 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
12263 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
12264 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
12265 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail} or @code{guess}.
12267 @item nndoc-post-type
12268 @vindex nndoc-post-type
12269 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
12270 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
12275 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
12279 @node Document Server Internals
12280 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
12282 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
12283 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
12284 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
12285 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
12287 First, here's an example document type definition:
12291 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
12292 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
12295 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
12296 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
12297 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
12298 types can be defined with very few settings:
12301 @item first-article
12302 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
12303 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
12306 @item article-begin
12307 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
12308 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
12310 @item head-begin-function
12311 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
12314 @item nndoc-head-begin
12315 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
12318 @item nndoc-head-end
12319 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
12320 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
12322 @item body-begin-function
12323 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
12327 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
12330 @item body-end-function
12331 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
12335 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
12338 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
12339 regexp will be totally ignored.
12343 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
12344 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
12345 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
12346 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
12347 something that's palatable for Gnus:
12350 @item prepare-body-function
12351 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
12352 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
12353 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
12355 @item article-transform-function
12356 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
12357 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
12358 body of the article.
12360 @item generate-head-function
12361 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
12362 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
12363 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
12364 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
12368 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
12373 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
12374 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
12375 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
12376 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
12377 (head-end . "^ ?$")
12378 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
12379 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
12380 (subtype digest guess))
12383 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
12384 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
12385 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
12386 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
12387 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
12389 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
12390 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
12391 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
12392 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
12393 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
12394 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
12395 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
12396 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
12397 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
12398 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
12406 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
12407 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
12408 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
12410 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
12411 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
12412 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
12415 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
12416 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
12417 that interested in doing things properly.
12419 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
12420 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
12423 First some terminology:
12428 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
12429 get news and/or mail from.
12432 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
12433 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
12436 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
12440 @item message packets
12441 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
12442 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
12443 default, where @var{x} is a number.
12445 @item response packets
12446 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
12447 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
12448 default, where @var{x} is a number.
12458 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
12459 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
12460 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
12461 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
12464 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
12467 You put the packet in your home directory.
12470 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} backend as
12471 the native or secondary server.
12474 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
12475 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
12478 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
12482 You transfer this packet to the server.
12485 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
12488 You then repeat until you die.
12492 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
12493 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
12496 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
12497 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
12498 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
12502 @node SOUP Commands
12503 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
12505 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
12509 @kindex G s b (Group)
12510 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
12511 Pack all unread articles in the current group
12512 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
12513 process/prefix convention.
12516 @kindex G s w (Group)
12517 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
12518 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
12521 @kindex G s s (Group)
12522 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
12523 Send all replies from the replies packet
12524 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
12527 @kindex G s p (Group)
12528 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
12529 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
12532 @kindex G s r (Group)
12533 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
12534 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
12537 @kindex O s (Summary)
12538 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
12539 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
12540 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
12541 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
12546 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
12551 @item gnus-soup-directory
12552 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
12553 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
12554 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
12556 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
12557 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
12558 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
12559 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
12561 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
12562 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
12563 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
12564 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
12566 @item gnus-soup-packer
12567 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
12568 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
12569 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
12571 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
12572 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
12573 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
12574 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
12576 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
12577 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
12578 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
12580 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
12581 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
12582 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
12583 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
12589 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
12592 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
12593 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
12594 you can read them at leisure.
12596 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
12600 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
12601 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
12602 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
12603 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
12605 @item nnsoup-directory
12606 @vindex nnsoup-directory
12607 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
12608 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
12610 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
12611 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
12612 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
12613 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
12615 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
12616 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
12617 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
12618 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
12619 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
12621 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
12622 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
12623 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
12624 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
12626 @item nnsoup-active-file
12627 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
12628 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
12629 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
12630 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
12631 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
12633 @item nnsoup-packer
12634 @vindex nnsoup-packer
12635 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
12636 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
12638 @item nnsoup-unpacker
12639 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
12640 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
12641 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
12643 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
12644 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
12645 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
12648 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
12649 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
12650 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
12653 @item nnsoup-always-save
12654 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
12655 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
12661 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
12663 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
12664 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
12665 more for that to happen.
12667 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
12668 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
12669 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
12672 In specific, this is what it does:
12675 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
12676 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
12679 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
12680 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
12681 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
12684 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
12685 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
12686 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
12689 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
12690 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
12691 The @code{nngateway} backend provides the interface.
12693 Note that you can't read anything from this backend---it can only be
12699 @item nngateway-address
12700 @vindex nngateway-address
12701 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
12703 @item nngateway-header-transformation
12704 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
12705 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
12706 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
12707 transformation should be called, and defaults to
12708 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
12709 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
12712 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
12713 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
12714 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
12717 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
12720 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
12723 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
12726 The following pre-defined functions exist:
12728 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
12731 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
12732 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
12733 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
12735 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
12737 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
12738 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
12739 @code{nngateway-address}.
12744 (setq gnus-post-method
12745 '(nngateway "mail2news@@replay.com"
12746 (nngateway-header-transformation
12747 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
12755 So, to use this, simply say something like:
12758 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
12764 @subsection @sc{imap}
12768 @sc{imap} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or ...), think of
12769 it as a modernized @sc{nntp}. Connecting to a @sc{imap} server is much similar to
12770 connecting to a news server, you just specify the network address of the
12773 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
12778 @item nnimap-address
12779 @vindex nnimap-address
12781 The address of the remote @sc{imap} server. Defaults to the virtual server
12782 name if not specified.
12784 @item nnimap-server-port
12785 @vindex nnimap-server-port
12786 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for SSL.
12788 @item nnimap-list-pattern
12789 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
12790 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups
12791 to. This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
12792 interested in a few -- some servers export your home directory via @sc{imap},
12793 you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in @file{~/Mail/*}
12796 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
12797 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
12798 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
12804 ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*" ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))
12807 @item nnimap-stream
12808 @vindex nnimap-stream
12809 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
12810 will use the most secure stream your server is capable of.
12814 @dfn{kerberos4:} Uses the `imtest' program.
12816 @dfn{ssl:} Uses OpenSSL or SSLeay.
12818 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
12821 @item nnimap-authenticator
12822 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
12824 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap will
12825 use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
12829 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos authentication.
12831 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
12833 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
12835 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as `anonymous', supplying your emailadress as password.
12838 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
12840 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
12841 Unlike Parmenides the @sc{imap} designers has decided that things that
12842 doesn't exist actually does exist. More specifically, @sc{imap} has this
12843 concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually delete
12844 them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what nnimap
12845 does when you delete a article in Gnus (with @kbd{G DEL} or similair).
12847 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
12848 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
12849 running in circles yet?
12851 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
12852 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
12855 The possible options are:
12860 The default behaviour, delete all articles marked as "Deleted" when
12863 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing the
12864 articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @sc{imap} clients may allow
12865 you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command manually,
12866 @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
12868 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
12875 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
12876 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
12877 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
12882 @node Splitting in IMAP
12883 @subsubsection Splitting in @sc{imap}
12884 @cindex splitting imap mail
12886 Splitting is something Gnus users has loved and used for years, and now
12887 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many @sc{imap}
12888 server has server side splitting and those that have splitting seem to
12889 use some non-standard protocol. This means that @sc{imap} support for Gnus
12890 has to do it's own splitting.
12894 There are three variables of interest:
12898 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
12899 @cindex splitting, crosspost
12901 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
12903 If non-nil, do crossposting if several split methods match the mail. If
12904 nil, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule} found will be used.
12906 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
12908 @item nnimap-split-inbox
12909 @cindex splitting, inbox
12911 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
12913 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @sc{imap} mailboxes
12914 to split from. Defaults to nil, which means that splitting is disabled!
12917 (setq nnimap-split-inbox '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
12920 No nnmail equivalent.
12922 @item nnimap-split-rule
12923 @cindex Splitting, rules
12924 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
12926 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
12929 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
12930 sublist gives the name of the @sc{imap} mailbox to move articles matching the
12931 regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that? Neither did I, we
12935 (setq nnimap-split-rule
12936 '(("INBOX.nnimap" "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
12937 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
12938 ("INBOX.private" "")))
12941 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
12942 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
12943 into INBOX.spam and everything else in INBOX.private.
12945 The first string may contain `\\1' forms, like the ones used by
12946 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
12950 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
12953 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
12954 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
12955 containing the headers of the article. It should return a non-nil value
12956 if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
12958 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
12959 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
12960 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
12961 of your inbox. (This might might affect performance if you keep lots of
12962 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
12963 them every time you fetch new mail.)
12965 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
12966 end. The first rule to make a match will "win", unless you have
12967 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will "win".
12969 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it need too.
12971 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
12975 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
12976 @subsubsection Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
12977 @cindex editing imap acls
12978 @cindex Access Control Lists
12979 @cindex Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
12981 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
12983 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @sc{imap} for limiting
12984 (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all @sc{imap}
12985 servers support this, this function will give an error if it doesn't.
12987 To edit a ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
12988 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with a ACL
12989 editing window with detailed instructions.
12991 Some possible uses:
12995 Giving "anyone" the "lrs" rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
12996 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
12997 follow the list without subscribing to it.
12999 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
13000 "anyone" posting ("p") capabilities to have "plussing" work (that is,
13001 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @sc{imap} mailbox
13005 @node Expunging mailboxes
13006 @subsubsection Expunging mailboxes
13010 @cindex Manual expunging
13012 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
13014 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-close},
13015 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
13016 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
13018 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
13023 @node Combined Groups
13024 @section Combined Groups
13026 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
13030 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
13031 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
13035 @node Virtual Groups
13036 @subsection Virtual Groups
13038 @cindex virtual groups
13039 @cindex merging groups
13041 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
13044 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
13045 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
13046 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
13048 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
13049 regexp to match component groups.
13051 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
13052 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
13053 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
13054 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
13055 the virtual group.)
13057 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
13058 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
13061 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
13064 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
13065 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
13067 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
13068 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
13069 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
13070 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
13073 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
13076 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
13077 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
13078 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
13080 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
13081 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
13082 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
13083 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
13084 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
13086 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
13087 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
13088 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
13090 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
13091 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
13092 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
13093 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
13094 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
13095 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
13096 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
13097 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
13098 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
13099 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
13100 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
13102 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
13103 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
13104 has to ask the backend of the component group the article comes from
13105 whether it is a news or mail backend. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
13106 there is typically no sure way for the component backend to know this,
13107 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
13108 not-news backend. (Just to be on the safe side.)
13110 @kbd{C-c C-t} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
13111 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
13115 @node Kibozed Groups
13116 @subsection Kibozed Groups
13120 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
13121 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
13122 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
13123 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
13125 @kindex G k (Group)
13126 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
13129 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
13130 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
13131 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
13132 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
13134 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
13135 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
13136 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
13138 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
13139 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
13140 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
13141 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
13142 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
13143 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
13144 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
13145 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
13147 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
13148 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
13149 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
13150 Stranger things have happened.
13152 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
13153 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
13155 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
13156 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
13157 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
13158 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
13159 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
13160 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
13162 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
13163 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
13166 @node Gnus Unplugged
13167 @section Gnus Unplugged
13172 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
13174 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
13175 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
13176 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
13177 read news. Believe it or not.
13179 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
13180 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
13181 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
13182 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
13183 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
13185 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
13186 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
13187 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
13188 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
13189 reading news on a machine.
13191 Using Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple.
13195 First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a machine
13196 that has full connection to the net. Go ahead. I'll still be waiting
13200 Then, put the following magical incantation at the end of your
13201 @file{.gnus.el} file:
13208 That's it. Gnus is now an ``offline'' newsreader.
13210 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
13213 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
13214 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
13215 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
13216 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
13217 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
13218 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
13219 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
13220 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
13221 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
13226 @subsection Agent Basics
13228 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
13230 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
13231 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
13232 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
13233 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
13235 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
13236 connected to the net continuously.
13238 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
13239 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
13241 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
13246 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
13247 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
13248 already fetched while in this mode.
13251 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
13252 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
13253 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged}.
13256 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
13257 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{J
13258 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
13259 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
13262 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
13263 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
13264 then you read the news offline.
13267 And then you go to step 2.
13270 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
13276 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
13277 backend, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
13278 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
13279 @kbd{J a} the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
13280 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}). This will typically be only the
13281 primary select method, which is listed on the bottom in the buffer.
13284 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
13291 @node Agent Categories
13292 @subsection Agent Categories
13294 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
13295 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
13296 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
13297 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
13298 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
13299 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
13300 you're interested in the articles anyway.
13302 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
13303 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
13304 Groups that do not belong in any other category belong to the
13305 @code{default} category. Gnus has its own buffer for creating and
13306 managing categories.
13309 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
13310 * The Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
13311 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
13315 @node Category Syntax
13316 @subsubsection Category Syntax
13318 A category consists of two things.
13322 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
13323 are eligible for downloading; and
13326 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
13327 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
13328 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
13331 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
13332 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
13333 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
13334 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
13336 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
13337 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
13338 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as descibed below.
13340 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
13341 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
13342 operators sprinkled in between.
13344 Perhaps some examples are in order.
13346 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
13347 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
13353 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
13354 short (for some value of ``short'').
13356 Here's a more complex predicate:
13365 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
13366 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
13369 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
13370 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
13371 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
13373 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
13374 you want to do, you can write your own.
13378 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
13379 lines; default 100.
13382 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
13383 lines; default 200.
13386 True iff the article has a download score less than
13387 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
13390 True iff the article has a download score greater than
13391 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
13394 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
13395 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
13396 checksum and sees whether articles match.
13405 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
13406 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
13407 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
13410 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
13411 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
13412 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
13413 something along the lines of the following:
13416 (defun my-article-old-p ()
13417 "Say whether an article is old."
13418 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
13419 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
13422 with the predicate then defined as:
13425 (not my-article-old-p)
13428 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
13429 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
13430 wherever. (Note: this would have to be at a point *after*
13431 @code{gnus-agent} has been loaded via @code{(gnus-agentize)})
13434 (defvar gnus-category-predicate-alist
13435 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
13436 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
13439 and simply specify your predicate as:
13445 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
13446 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
13447 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
13448 just don't give a damm.
13451 The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
13452 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
13453 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
13454 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
13455 parameters like so:
13458 (agent-predicate . short)
13461 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category
13462 default. Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this,
13463 the @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair
13466 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
13469 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
13472 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
13473 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
13474 predicate is assumed to be a list.
13477 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
13478 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
13479 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
13480 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
13481 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
13482 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
13484 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
13485 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
13486 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
13487 if it's to be specific to that group.
13489 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
13496 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
13497 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
13503 Category specification
13507 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
13513 Group Parameter specification
13516 (agent-score ("from"
13517 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
13522 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
13528 These score files must *only* contain the permitted scoring keywords
13535 Category specification
13538 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
13544 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
13548 Group Parameter specification
13551 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
13554 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
13559 Use @code{normal} score files
13561 If you dont want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
13562 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
13563 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
13564 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
13566 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
13567 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
13568 files for a group, *filtering out* those those sections that do not
13569 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
13573 Category Specification
13580 Group Parameter specification
13583 (agent-score . file)
13588 @node The Category Buffer
13589 @subsubsection The Category Buffer
13591 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
13592 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
13593 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
13595 The following commands are available in this buffer:
13599 @kindex q (Category)
13600 @findex gnus-category-exit
13601 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
13604 @kindex k (Category)
13605 @findex gnus-category-kill
13606 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
13609 @kindex c (Category)
13610 @findex gnus-category-copy
13611 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
13614 @kindex a (Category)
13615 @findex gnus-category-add
13616 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
13619 @kindex p (Category)
13620 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
13621 Edit the predicate of the current category
13622 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
13625 @kindex g (Category)
13626 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
13627 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
13628 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
13631 @kindex s (Category)
13632 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
13633 Edit the download score rule of the current category
13634 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
13637 @kindex l (Category)
13638 @findex gnus-category-list
13639 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
13643 @node Category Variables
13644 @subsubsection Category Variables
13647 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
13648 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
13649 Hook run in category buffers.
13651 @item gnus-category-line-format
13652 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
13653 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
13654 Variables}). Valid elements are:
13658 The name of the category.
13661 The number of groups in the category.
13664 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
13665 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
13666 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
13668 @item gnus-agent-short-article
13669 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
13670 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
13672 @item gnus-agent-long-article
13673 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
13674 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
13676 @item gnus-agent-low-score
13677 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
13678 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
13681 @item gnus-agent-high-score
13682 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
13683 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
13689 @node Agent Commands
13690 @subsection Agent Commands
13692 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
13693 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged} command works in all modes, and
13694 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
13698 * Group Agent Commands::
13699 * Summary Agent Commands::
13700 * Server Agent Commands::
13703 You can run a complete batch fetch from the command line with the
13704 following incantation:
13706 @cindex gnus-agent-batch-fetch
13708 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch-fetch
13713 @node Group Agent Commands
13714 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
13718 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
13719 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
13720 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
13721 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
13724 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
13725 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
13726 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
13729 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
13730 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
13731 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
13732 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
13735 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
13736 @findex gnus-group-send-drafts
13737 Send all sendable messages in the draft group
13738 (@code{gnus-group-send-drafts}). @xref{Drafts}.
13741 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
13742 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
13743 Add the current group to an Agent category
13744 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
13745 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
13748 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
13749 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
13750 Remove the current group from its category, if any
13751 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
13752 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
13757 @node Summary Agent Commands
13758 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
13762 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
13763 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
13764 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
13767 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
13768 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
13769 Remove the downloading mark from the article
13770 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
13773 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
13774 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
13775 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
13778 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
13779 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
13780 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
13785 @node Server Agent Commands
13786 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
13790 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
13791 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
13792 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
13793 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
13796 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
13797 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
13798 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
13799 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
13805 @subsection Agent Expiry
13807 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
13808 @findex gnus-agent-expire
13809 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
13810 @cindex Agent expiry
13811 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
13814 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
13815 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
13816 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
13817 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
13818 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
13819 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
13821 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
13822 if @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
13823 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
13824 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
13825 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
13828 @node Outgoing Messages
13829 @subsection Outgoing Messages
13831 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
13832 stored in the draft groups (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view them there
13833 after posting, and edit them at will.
13835 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
13836 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
13837 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
13838 messages in the draft group.
13842 @node Agent Variables
13843 @subsection Agent Variables
13846 @item gnus-agent-directory
13847 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
13848 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
13849 @file{~/News/agent/}.
13851 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
13852 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
13853 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
13854 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
13855 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
13858 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
13859 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
13860 Hook run when connecting to the network.
13862 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
13863 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
13864 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
13869 @node Example Setup
13870 @subsection Example Setup
13872 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
13873 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
13874 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
13877 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @sc{nntp}
13878 ;;; from your ISP's server.
13879 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
13881 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
13882 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
13883 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
13885 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
13886 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
13888 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
13892 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
13893 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
13896 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
13897 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
13898 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
13899 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
13900 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
13903 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
13904 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
13905 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
13906 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
13907 back all the killed groups.)
13909 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
13910 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
13911 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
13914 @node Batching Agents
13915 @subsection Batching Agents
13917 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
13918 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
13919 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
13923 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
13927 @node Agent Caveats
13928 @subsection Agent Caveats
13930 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
13931 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
13935 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the
13940 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists
13941 in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
13947 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
13948 articles; when it's plugged, it only talks to your ISP.
13955 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
13956 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
13957 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
13960 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
13961 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
13962 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
13963 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
13964 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
13966 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
13967 before generating the summary buffer.
13969 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
13970 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
13971 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
13973 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
13974 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
13975 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
13976 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
13979 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
13980 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
13981 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
13982 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
13983 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
13984 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
13985 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
13986 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
13987 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
13988 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
13989 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
13990 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
13991 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
13992 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
13993 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
13994 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
13998 @node Summary Score Commands
13999 @section Summary Score Commands
14000 @cindex score commands
14002 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
14003 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
14004 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
14005 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
14006 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
14008 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
14009 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
14010 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
14011 score file the current one.
14013 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
14018 @kindex V s (Summary)
14019 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
14020 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
14023 @kindex V S (Summary)
14024 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
14025 Display the score of the current article
14026 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
14029 @kindex V t (Summary)
14030 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
14031 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
14032 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
14035 @kindex V R (Summary)
14036 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
14037 Run the current summary through the scoring process
14038 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
14039 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
14040 effect you're having.
14043 @kindex V c (Summary)
14044 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
14045 Make a different score file the current
14046 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
14049 @kindex V e (Summary)
14050 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
14051 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
14052 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
14056 @kindex V f (Summary)
14057 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
14058 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
14059 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
14062 @kindex V F (Summary)
14063 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
14064 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
14065 after editing score files.
14068 @kindex V C (Summary)
14069 @findex gnus-score-customize
14070 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
14071 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
14075 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
14080 @kindex V m (Summary)
14081 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
14082 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
14083 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
14086 @kindex V x (Summary)
14087 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
14088 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
14089 expunge all articles below this score
14090 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
14093 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
14094 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
14097 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
14098 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
14102 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
14103 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
14105 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
14106 keys are available:
14110 Score on the author name.
14113 Score on the subject line.
14116 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
14119 Score on the @code{References} line.
14125 Score on the number of lines.
14128 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
14131 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
14132 the followups to this author.
14146 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
14147 what headers you are scoring on.
14159 Substring matching.
14162 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
14191 Greater than number.
14196 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
14197 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
14198 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
14202 Temporary score entry.
14205 Permanent score entry.
14208 Immediately scoring.
14213 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
14214 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
14215 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
14216 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
14218 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
14219 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
14220 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
14221 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
14222 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
14224 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
14225 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
14226 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
14227 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
14228 current score file.
14230 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
14231 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
14232 pretend they are keymaps or not.
14235 @node Group Score Commands
14236 @section Group Score Commands
14237 @cindex group score commands
14239 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
14244 @kindex W f (Group)
14245 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
14246 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
14247 all the time. This command will flush the cache
14248 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
14252 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
14254 @findex gnus-batch-score
14255 @cindex batch scoring
14257 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
14261 @node Score Variables
14262 @section Score Variables
14263 @cindex score variables
14267 @item gnus-use-scoring
14268 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
14269 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
14270 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
14272 @item gnus-kill-killed
14273 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
14274 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
14275 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
14276 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
14277 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
14278 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
14279 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
14281 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
14282 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
14283 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
14284 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
14285 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
14287 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
14288 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
14289 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
14290 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
14292 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
14293 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
14294 @cindex score cache
14295 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
14296 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
14297 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
14298 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
14299 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
14300 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
14303 @item gnus-save-score
14304 @vindex gnus-save-score
14305 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
14306 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
14307 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
14309 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
14310 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
14311 across group visits.
14313 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
14314 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
14315 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
14316 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
14317 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
14318 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
14319 manually entered data.
14321 @item gnus-summary-default-score
14322 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
14323 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
14325 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
14326 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
14327 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
14328 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
14329 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
14330 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
14332 @item gnus-score-over-mark
14333 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
14334 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
14335 default. Default is @samp{+}.
14337 @item gnus-score-below-mark
14338 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
14339 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
14340 default. Default is @samp{-}.
14342 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
14343 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
14344 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
14345 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
14347 Predefined functions available are:
14350 @item gnus-score-find-single
14351 @findex gnus-score-find-single
14352 Only apply the group's own score file.
14354 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
14355 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
14356 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
14357 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
14358 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
14359 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
14360 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
14361 then a regexp match is done.
14363 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
14364 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
14366 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
14367 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
14368 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
14369 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
14371 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
14372 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
14373 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
14374 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
14375 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE}.
14378 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
14379 functions will be called, and all the returned lists of score files will
14380 be applied. These functions can also return lists of score alists
14381 directly. In that case, the functions that return these non-file score
14382 alists should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file
14383 functions, to ensure that the last score file returned is the local
14386 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
14387 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
14388 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
14389 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
14390 are expired. It's 7 by default.
14392 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
14393 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
14394 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
14395 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
14396 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
14397 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
14398 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
14401 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
14402 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
14403 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
14405 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
14406 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
14407 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
14408 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
14409 threading---according to the current value of
14410 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
14411 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
14412 simplified in this manner.
14417 @node Score File Format
14418 @section Score File Format
14419 @cindex score file format
14421 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
14422 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
14423 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
14425 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
14429 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
14431 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
14433 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
14435 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
14440 (mark-and-expunge -10)
14444 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
14445 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
14446 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
14447 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
14451 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
14452 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
14454 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
14455 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
14456 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
14458 Six keys are supported by this alist:
14463 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
14464 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
14465 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
14466 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
14467 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
14468 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
14469 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
14470 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
14471 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
14472 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
14473 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
14474 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
14475 to articles that matches these score entries.
14477 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
14478 score entry has one to four elements.
14482 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
14483 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
14487 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
14488 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
14489 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
14490 is successful. If this element is not present, the
14491 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
14492 instead. This is 1000 by default.
14495 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
14496 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
14497 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
14498 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
14499 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
14502 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
14503 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
14504 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
14505 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
14508 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
14509 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
14510 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
14511 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
14512 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
14513 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
14514 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
14515 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
14516 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
14517 instead, if you feel like.
14520 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
14521 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
14523 These predicates are true if
14526 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
14529 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
14530 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
14537 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
14538 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
14539 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
14540 it's not. I think.)
14542 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some backends (like
14543 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
14544 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
14545 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
14548 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
14549 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
14550 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
14551 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
14552 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
14553 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
14554 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
14558 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
14559 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
14560 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
14561 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
14562 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
14563 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
14564 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
14565 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
14568 @item Head, Body, All
14569 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
14573 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
14574 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
14575 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
14576 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
14577 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
14578 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
14579 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
14583 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
14584 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
14585 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
14586 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
14587 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
14588 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
14589 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
14590 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
14591 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
14592 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
14593 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
14597 @cindex Score File Atoms
14599 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
14600 lower than this number will be marked as read.
14603 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
14604 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
14606 @item mark-and-expunge
14607 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
14608 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
14611 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
14612 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
14613 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
14614 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
14615 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
14618 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
14619 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
14622 @item exclude-files
14623 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
14624 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
14628 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
14629 ignored when handling global score files.
14632 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
14633 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
14634 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
14635 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
14638 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
14639 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
14640 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
14641 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
14643 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
14647 (mark-and-expunge -100)
14650 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
14651 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
14652 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
14653 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
14654 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
14656 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where there
14657 exist a few interesting threads which can't be found automatically by
14658 ordinary scoring rules.
14661 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
14662 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
14663 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
14664 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
14665 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
14666 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
14667 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
14668 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
14669 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
14670 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
14671 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
14675 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
14676 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
14677 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
14678 file for a number of groups.
14681 @cindex local variables
14682 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
14683 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
14684 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
14685 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
14686 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
14690 @node Score File Editing
14691 @section Score File Editing
14693 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
14694 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
14695 with a mode for that.
14697 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
14698 additional commands:
14703 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
14704 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
14705 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
14706 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
14709 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
14710 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
14711 Insert the current date in numerical format
14712 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
14713 you were wondering.
14716 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
14717 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
14718 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
14719 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
14720 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
14725 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
14727 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
14728 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
14730 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
14731 e} to begin editing score files.
14734 @node Adaptive Scoring
14735 @section Adaptive Scoring
14736 @cindex adaptive scoring
14738 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
14739 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
14740 stupidity, to be precise.
14742 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
14743 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
14744 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
14745 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
14746 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
14747 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
14748 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
14749 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
14750 variable to @code{(word line)}.
14752 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
14753 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
14754 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
14755 might look something like this:
14758 (defvar gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
14759 '((gnus-unread-mark)
14760 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
14761 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
14762 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
14763 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
14764 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
14765 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
14766 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
14767 (gnus-ancient-mark)
14768 (gnus-low-score-mark)
14769 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
14772 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
14773 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
14774 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
14775 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
14776 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
14777 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
14780 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
14781 will be applied to each article.
14783 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
14784 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
14785 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
14786 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
14788 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
14789 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
14790 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
14791 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
14793 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
14794 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
14795 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
14796 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
14798 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
14799 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
14800 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
14801 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
14802 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
14803 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
14805 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
14806 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
14807 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
14808 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
14809 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
14810 aspirins afterwards.)
14812 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
14813 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
14814 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
14816 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
14817 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
14818 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
14820 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
14821 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
14822 let you use different rules in different groups.
14824 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
14825 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
14826 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
14829 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
14830 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
14831 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
14832 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
14833 the length of the match is less than
14834 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
14835 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
14838 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
14839 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
14840 headers. If you adapt on words, the
14841 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
14842 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
14845 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
14846 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
14847 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
14848 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
14849 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
14852 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
14853 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
14854 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
14855 score with 30 points.
14857 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
14858 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
14859 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
14860 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
14861 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
14863 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
14864 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
14865 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
14866 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
14868 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
14869 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
14870 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
14871 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
14873 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
14874 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
14875 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
14876 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
14877 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
14879 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
14880 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
14881 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
14883 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
14884 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
14885 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
14886 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
14889 @node Home Score File
14890 @section Home Score File
14892 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
14893 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
14894 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
14895 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
14897 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
14898 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
14899 could perhaps use the same home score file.
14901 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
14902 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
14907 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
14911 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
14912 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
14916 A list. The elements in this list can be:
14920 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
14921 group name, the @var{file-name} will will be used as the home score file.
14924 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
14925 the home score file.
14928 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
14931 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
14936 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
14939 (setq gnus-home-score-file
14940 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
14943 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
14944 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
14946 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
14948 (setq gnus-home-score-file
14949 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
14952 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
14953 Other functions include
14956 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
14957 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
14958 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
14959 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
14963 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
14964 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
14965 their own home score files:
14968 (setq gnus-home-score-file
14969 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
14970 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
14971 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
14972 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
14975 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
14976 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
14977 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
14978 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
14979 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
14981 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
14982 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
14983 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
14984 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
14985 precedence over this variable.
14988 @node Followups To Yourself
14989 @section Followups To Yourself
14991 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
14992 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
14993 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
14994 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
14995 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
14996 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
15000 @item gnus-score-followup-article
15001 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
15002 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
15005 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
15006 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
15007 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
15011 @vindex message-sent-hook
15012 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
15013 @code{message-sent-hook}.
15015 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
15016 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
15020 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
15021 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
15024 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
15025 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
15030 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore.no>"
15034 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
15035 is system-dependent.
15039 @section Scoring Tips
15040 @cindex scoring tips
15046 @cindex scoring crossposts
15047 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
15048 the @code{Xref} header.
15050 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
15053 @item Multiple crossposts
15054 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
15055 more than, say, 3 groups:
15057 ("xref" ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
15060 @item Matching on the body
15061 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
15062 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
15063 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
15064 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
15065 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
15066 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
15067 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
15070 @item Marking as read
15071 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
15072 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
15073 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
15077 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
15079 @item Negated character classes
15080 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
15081 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
15082 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
15086 @node Reverse Scoring
15087 @section Reverse Scoring
15088 @cindex reverse scoring
15090 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
15091 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
15092 like this in your score file:
15096 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
15101 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
15102 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
15105 @node Global Score Files
15106 @section Global Score Files
15107 @cindex global score files
15109 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
15110 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
15111 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
15113 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
15114 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
15115 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
15117 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
15118 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
15119 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
15120 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
15121 files are applicable to which group.
15123 Say you want to use the score file
15124 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
15125 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory:
15128 (setq gnus-global-score-files
15129 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
15130 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
15133 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
15134 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
15135 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
15136 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
15137 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
15139 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
15140 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
15142 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
15143 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
15144 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
15145 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
15146 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
15147 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
15149 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
15155 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
15157 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
15159 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
15161 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
15162 lowered out of existence.
15164 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
15165 articles completely.
15168 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
15169 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
15170 old articles for a long time.
15173 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
15174 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
15175 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
15176 holding our breath yet?
15180 @section Kill Files
15183 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
15184 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
15185 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
15187 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
15188 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
15189 files into score files.
15191 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
15192 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
15193 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
15194 that isn't a very good idea.
15196 Normal kill files look like this:
15199 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
15200 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
15204 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
15205 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
15207 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
15208 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
15211 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
15216 @kindex M-k (Summary)
15217 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
15218 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
15221 @kindex M-K (Summary)
15222 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
15223 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
15226 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
15231 @kindex M-k (Group)
15232 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
15233 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
15236 @kindex M-K (Group)
15237 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
15238 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
15241 Kill file variables:
15244 @item gnus-kill-file-name
15245 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
15246 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
15247 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
15248 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
15249 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
15250 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
15252 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
15253 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
15254 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
15255 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
15258 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
15259 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
15260 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
15261 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
15262 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
15263 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
15264 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
15265 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
15266 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
15268 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
15269 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
15270 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
15275 @node Converting Kill Files
15276 @section Converting Kill Files
15278 @cindex converting kill files
15280 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
15281 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
15282 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
15285 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
15286 You can fetch it from
15287 @file{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-other/gnus-kill-to-score}.
15289 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
15290 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
15291 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
15299 GroupLens is a collaborative filtering system that helps you work
15300 together with other people to find the quality news articles out of the
15301 huge volume of news articles generated every day.
15303 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
15304 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
15305 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
15306 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
15307 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
15308 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
15309 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
15310 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
15314 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
15315 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
15316 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
15317 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
15321 @node Using GroupLens
15322 @subsection Using GroupLens
15324 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
15326 @samp{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
15327 better bit in town at the moment.
15329 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
15333 @item gnus-use-grouplens
15334 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
15335 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
15336 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
15338 @item grouplens-pseudonym
15339 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
15340 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
15341 with the Better Bit Bureau.
15343 @item grouplens-newsgroups
15344 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
15345 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
15349 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
15350 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
15351 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
15352 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
15353 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
15354 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
15357 @node Rating Articles
15358 @subsection Rating Articles
15360 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
15361 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
15362 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
15363 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
15366 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
15371 @kindex r (GroupLens)
15372 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
15373 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
15376 @kindex k (GroupLens)
15377 @findex grouplens-score-thread
15378 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
15379 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
15380 threads in rec.humor.
15384 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
15385 the score of the article you're reading.
15390 @kindex n (GroupLens)
15391 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
15392 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
15395 @kindex , (GroupLens)
15396 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
15397 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
15401 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
15402 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
15405 @node Displaying Predictions
15406 @subsection Displaying Predictions
15408 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
15409 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
15410 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
15411 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
15412 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
15414 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
15415 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
15416 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
15417 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
15418 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
15419 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
15420 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
15421 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
15422 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
15423 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
15424 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
15425 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
15426 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
15428 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
15429 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
15430 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
15431 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
15433 The following are valid values for that variable.
15436 @item prediction-spot
15437 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
15440 @item confidence-interval
15441 A numeric confidence interval.
15443 @item prediction-bar
15444 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
15446 @item confidence-bar
15447 Numerical confidence.
15449 @item confidence-spot
15450 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
15452 @item prediction-num
15453 Plain-old numeric value.
15455 @item confidence-plus-minus
15456 Prediction +/- confidence.
15461 @node GroupLens Variables
15462 @subsection GroupLens Variables
15466 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
15467 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
15468 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
15469 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%)
15472 @item grouplens-bbb-host
15473 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
15476 @item grouplens-bbb-port
15477 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
15479 @item grouplens-score-offset
15480 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
15481 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
15484 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
15485 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
15486 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
15491 @node Advanced Scoring
15492 @section Advanced Scoring
15494 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
15495 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
15496 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
15497 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
15498 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
15500 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
15504 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
15505 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
15506 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
15510 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
15511 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
15513 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
15514 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
15515 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
15516 non-@code{nil} value.
15518 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
15519 operator, and various match operators.
15526 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
15527 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
15528 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
15533 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
15534 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
15535 then this operator will return @code{false}.
15540 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
15541 logical negation of the value of its argument.
15545 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
15546 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
15547 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
15548 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
15549 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
15550 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
15551 the ancestry you want to go.
15553 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
15554 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
15555 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
15556 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
15557 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
15560 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
15561 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
15563 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
15564 when he's talking about Gnus:
15568 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
15569 ("subject" "Gnus"))
15575 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
15579 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
15586 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
15587 really don't want to read what he's written:
15591 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
15592 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
15596 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
15597 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
15598 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
15605 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
15606 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
15607 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
15608 ("body" "white.*socks"))
15612 The possibilities are endless.
15615 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
15616 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
15618 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
15619 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
15620 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
15621 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
15622 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
15623 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
15624 @samp{subject}) first.
15626 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
15627 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
15638 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
15639 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
15645 ("subject" "Gnus")))
15652 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
15653 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
15658 @section Score Decays
15659 @cindex score decays
15662 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
15663 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
15664 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
15665 use them in any sensible way.
15667 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
15668 @findex gnus-decay-score
15669 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
15670 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
15671 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
15672 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
15673 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
15674 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
15675 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
15676 definition of that function:
15679 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
15681 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
15682 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
15685 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
15687 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
15689 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
15692 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
15693 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
15694 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
15695 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
15699 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
15702 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
15705 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
15709 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
15710 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
15711 the new score, which should be an integer.
15713 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
15714 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
15721 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
15722 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
15723 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
15724 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
15725 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
15726 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
15727 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
15728 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
15729 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
15730 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
15731 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
15732 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
15733 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
15734 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
15735 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
15736 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
15737 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
15738 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
15742 @node Process/Prefix
15743 @section Process/Prefix
15744 @cindex process/prefix convention
15746 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
15747 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
15749 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
15750 command to be performed on.
15754 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
15755 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
15756 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
15757 with the current one.
15759 @vindex transient-mark-mode
15760 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
15761 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
15763 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
15764 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
15767 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
15768 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
15770 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
15773 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
15774 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
15775 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
15776 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
15778 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
15779 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
15780 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
15781 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
15782 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
15783 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
15784 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
15785 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
15789 @section Interactive
15790 @cindex interaction
15794 @item gnus-novice-user
15795 @vindex gnus-novice-user
15796 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
15797 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
15798 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
15799 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
15802 @item gnus-expert-user
15803 @vindex gnus-expert-user
15804 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
15805 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
15806 matter how strange.
15808 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
15809 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
15810 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
15811 is @code{t} by default.
15813 @item gnus-interactive-exit
15814 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
15815 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
15820 @node Symbolic Prefixes
15821 @section Symbolic Prefixes
15822 @cindex symbolic prefixes
15824 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
15825 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
15826 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
15827 rule of 900 to the current article.
15829 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
15830 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
15831 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
15832 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
15833 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
15834 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
15835 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
15837 @kindex M-i (Summary)
15838 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
15839 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
15840 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
15841 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
15842 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a M-C-u} means ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u}
15843 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b M-C-u} means
15844 ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
15845 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
15847 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
15848 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
15849 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
15851 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
15855 @node Formatting Variables
15856 @section Formatting Variables
15857 @cindex formatting variables
15859 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
15860 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
15861 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
15862 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
15863 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
15866 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
15867 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
15868 lots of percentages everywhere.
15871 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
15872 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
15873 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
15874 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
15875 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
15878 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
15879 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
15880 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
15881 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
15882 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
15883 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
15884 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
15885 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
15887 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
15888 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
15890 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
15891 @findex gnus-update-format
15892 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
15893 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
15894 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
15895 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
15899 @node Formatting Basics
15900 @subsection Formatting Basics
15902 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
15903 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
15904 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
15906 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
15907 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
15908 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
15909 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
15910 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
15913 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
15914 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
15915 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
15916 less than 4 characters wide.
15919 @node Mode Line Formatting
15920 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
15922 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
15923 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
15924 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
15925 with the following two differences:
15930 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
15933 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
15934 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
15935 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
15936 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
15937 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
15938 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
15939 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
15944 @node Advanced Formatting
15945 @subsection Advanced Formatting
15947 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
15948 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
15949 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
15950 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
15952 These are the valid modifiers:
15957 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
15961 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
15966 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
15969 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
15974 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
15977 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
15980 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
15983 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
15987 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
15988 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
15989 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
15990 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
15991 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
15992 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
15993 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
15995 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
15996 last operation, padding.
15998 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
15999 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
16000 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
16001 @xref{Compilation}.
16004 @node User-Defined Specs
16005 @subsection User-Defined Specs
16007 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
16008 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
16009 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
16010 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
16011 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
16012 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
16013 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
16014 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
16015 should protect against that.
16017 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
16018 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
16019 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
16020 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
16024 @node Formatting Fonts
16025 @subsection Formatting Fonts
16027 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
16028 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
16029 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
16030 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
16033 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
16034 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
16035 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
16036 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
16037 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
16038 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
16040 Text inside the @samp{%<} and @samp{%>} specifiers will get the special
16041 @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you say
16042 @samp{%1<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The
16043 @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or
16044 symbols naming functions that return a string. Under @code{balloon-help-mode},
16045 when the mouse passes over text with this property set, a balloon window
16046 will appear and display the string. Please refer to the doc string of
16047 @code{balloon-help-mode} for more information on this.
16049 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
16052 ;; Create three face types.
16053 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
16054 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
16056 ;; We want the article count to be in
16057 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
16058 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
16059 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
16061 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
16062 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
16064 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
16065 (setq gnus-group-line-format
16066 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
16069 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
16070 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
16072 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
16073 mode-line variables.
16076 @node Windows Configuration
16077 @section Windows Configuration
16078 @cindex windows configuration
16080 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
16082 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
16083 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
16084 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
16085 @code{t} by default.
16087 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
16088 glitches. Use at your own peril.
16090 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
16091 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
16092 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
16095 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
16096 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
16097 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
16101 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
16102 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
16103 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
16104 possible names is listed below.
16106 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
16107 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
16110 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
16114 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
16115 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
16116 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
16117 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
16118 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
16119 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
16120 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
16121 size spec per split.
16123 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
16124 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
16125 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
16126 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
16127 present) gets focus.
16129 Here's a more complicated example:
16132 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
16133 (summary 0.25 point)
16134 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
16138 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
16139 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
16140 occupy, not a percentage.
16142 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
16143 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
16144 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
16145 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
16146 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
16149 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
16152 (article (horizontal 1.0
16157 (summary 0.25 point)
16162 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
16163 @code{horizontal} thingie?
16165 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
16166 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
16167 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
16168 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
16169 the screen is to be given to this strip.
16171 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
16172 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
16173 lines from the splits.
16175 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
16179 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
16180 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
16181 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
16182 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
16183 buffer = "(" buffer-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
16184 size = number | frame-params
16185 buffer-name = group | article | summary ...
16188 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
16189 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
16190 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
16191 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
16193 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
16194 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
16195 @cindex window height
16196 @cindex window width
16197 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
16198 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
16199 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
16200 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
16201 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
16202 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
16204 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
16205 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
16206 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
16207 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
16209 @findex gnus-configure-frame
16210 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
16211 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
16212 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
16213 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
16214 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
16215 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
16216 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
16217 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
16218 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
16219 configuration list.
16222 (gnus-configure-frame
16226 (article 0.3 point))
16234 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
16235 @code{frame} split:
16238 (gnus-configure-frame
16241 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
16243 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
16244 (user-position . t)
16245 (left . -1) (top . 1))
16250 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
16251 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
16252 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
16253 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
16254 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
16255 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
16256 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
16257 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
16259 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
16260 be found in its default value.
16262 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
16263 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
16264 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
16268 (message (horizontal 1.0
16269 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
16271 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
16276 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
16277 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
16278 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
16281 (message (frame 1.0
16282 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
16283 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
16284 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
16285 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
16286 (name . "Message"))
16287 (message 1.0 point))))
16290 @findex gnus-add-configuration
16291 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
16292 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
16293 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
16294 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
16297 (gnus-add-configuration
16298 '(article (vertical 1.0
16300 (summary .25 point)
16304 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
16305 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
16306 Gnus has been loaded.
16308 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
16309 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
16310 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
16311 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
16312 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
16314 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
16315 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
16316 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
16320 @node Faces and Fonts
16321 @section Faces and Fonts
16326 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
16327 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
16328 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
16333 @section Compilation
16334 @cindex compilation
16335 @cindex byte-compilation
16337 @findex gnus-compile
16339 Remember all those line format specification variables?
16340 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
16341 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
16342 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
16343 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
16344 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
16347 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
16348 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
16349 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
16350 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
16351 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
16352 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
16353 them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
16357 @section Mode Lines
16360 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
16361 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
16362 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
16363 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
16364 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
16365 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
16366 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
16369 @cindex display-time
16371 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
16372 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
16373 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
16374 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
16375 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
16376 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
16377 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
16378 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
16381 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
16383 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
16384 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
16386 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
16387 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
16388 (length display-time-string)))))
16391 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
16392 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
16393 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
16394 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
16395 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
16398 @node Highlighting and Menus
16399 @section Highlighting and Menus
16401 @cindex highlighting
16404 @vindex gnus-visual
16405 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
16406 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
16407 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
16410 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
16411 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
16414 @item group-highlight
16415 Do highlights in the group buffer.
16416 @item summary-highlight
16417 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
16418 @item article-highlight
16419 Do highlights in the article buffer.
16421 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
16423 Create menus in the group buffer.
16425 Create menus in the summary buffers.
16427 Create menus in the article buffer.
16429 Create menus in the browse buffer.
16431 Create menus in the server buffer.
16433 Create menus in the score buffers.
16435 Create menus in all buffers.
16438 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
16439 buffers, you could say something like:
16442 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
16445 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
16448 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
16451 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
16452 in all Gnus buffers.
16454 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
16457 @item gnus-mouse-face
16458 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
16459 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
16460 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
16464 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
16468 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
16469 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
16470 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
16472 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
16473 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
16474 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
16476 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
16477 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
16478 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
16480 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
16481 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
16482 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
16484 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
16485 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
16486 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
16488 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
16489 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
16490 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
16501 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
16502 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
16503 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
16504 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
16505 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
16509 @vindex gnus-carpal
16510 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
16511 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
16512 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
16517 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
16518 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
16519 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
16521 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
16522 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
16523 Face used on buttons.
16525 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
16526 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
16527 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
16529 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
16530 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
16531 Buttons in the group buffer.
16533 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
16534 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
16535 Buttons in the summary buffer.
16537 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
16538 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
16539 Buttons in the server buffer.
16541 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
16542 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
16543 Buttons in the browse buffer.
16546 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
16547 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
16548 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
16556 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
16557 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
16558 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
16559 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
16560 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
16562 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
16563 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
16564 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
16566 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
16567 been idle for thirty minutes:
16570 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
16573 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
16577 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
16580 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
16581 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
16582 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
16584 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
16585 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
16586 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
16587 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
16589 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
16590 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
16591 @var{idle} minutes.
16593 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
16594 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
16597 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
16598 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
16599 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
16601 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
16602 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
16603 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
16604 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
16606 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
16607 your @file{.gnus} file:
16609 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
16611 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
16614 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
16615 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
16616 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
16617 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
16618 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
16619 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
16620 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
16621 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
16622 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
16623 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
16624 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
16626 @findex gnus-demon-init
16627 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
16628 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
16629 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
16630 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
16631 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
16633 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
16634 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
16635 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
16644 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
16645 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
16647 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
16648 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
16649 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
16650 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
16653 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
16654 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
16655 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
16656 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
16658 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
16659 this will make spam disappear.
16661 There are some variables to customize, of course:
16664 @item gnus-use-nocem
16665 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
16666 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
16669 @item gnus-nocem-groups
16670 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
16671 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
16672 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
16673 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
16675 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
16676 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
16677 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
16678 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
16679 "rbraver@@ohww.norman.ok.us" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
16680 "jem@@xpat.com" "snowhare@@xmission.com" "red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us
16681 (Richard E. Depew)")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
16683 Known despammers that you can put in this list include:
16686 @item clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;
16687 @cindex Chris Lewis
16688 Chris Lewis---Major Canadian despammer who has probably canceled more
16689 usenet abuse than anybody else.
16692 @cindex CancelMoose[tm]
16693 The CancelMoose[tm] on autopilot. The CancelMoose[tm] is reputed to be
16694 Norwegian, and was the person(s) who invented NoCeM.
16696 @item jem@@xpat.com;
16698 John Milburn---despammer located in Korea who is getting very busy these
16701 @item red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us (Richard E. Depew)
16702 Richard E. Depew---lone American despammer. He mostly cancels binary
16703 postings to non-binary groups and removes spews (regurgitated articles).
16706 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
16707 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
16708 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
16709 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
16710 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
16711 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
16712 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
16713 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
16714 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
16715 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
16717 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
16718 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
16721 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
16724 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
16725 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
16728 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
16731 The specs are applied left-to-right.
16734 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
16735 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
16737 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
16738 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
16739 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
16740 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
16742 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
16743 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
16746 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
16748 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
16756 This might be dangerous, though.
16758 @item gnus-nocem-directory
16759 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
16760 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
16761 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
16763 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
16764 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
16765 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
16766 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
16767 might then see old spam.
16771 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
16772 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
16773 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
16774 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
16781 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
16782 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
16783 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
16785 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
16786 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
16787 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
16788 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
16789 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
16790 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
16791 @code{undo} function.
16793 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
16794 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
16795 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
16796 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
16797 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
16798 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
16799 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
16800 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
16801 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
16802 never be totally undoable.
16804 @findex gnus-undo-mode
16805 @vindex gnus-use-undo
16807 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
16808 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
16809 default. The @kbd{M-C-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo} command
16810 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
16815 @section Moderation
16818 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
16819 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
16820 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
16823 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
16827 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
16830 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
16832 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
16837 You split your incoming mail by matching on
16838 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
16839 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
16842 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
16843 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
16846 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
16847 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
16851 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
16854 (setq gnus-moderated-list
16855 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
16859 @node XEmacs Enhancements
16860 @section XEmacs Enhancements
16863 XEmacs is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has taken
16867 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
16868 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
16869 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
16870 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
16883 So... You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
16884 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
16885 over your shoulder as you read news.
16888 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
16889 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
16890 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
16891 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
16892 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
16897 @subsubsection Picon Basics
16899 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
16908 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
16909 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
16910 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
16911 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
16912 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
16913 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
16914 @code{GIF} formats.
16917 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
16918 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
16919 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
16920 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
16921 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
16923 @vindex gnus-picons-database
16924 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
16925 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
16926 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
16927 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
16928 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
16931 @node Picon Requirements
16932 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
16934 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must be running XEmacs
16935 19.13 or greater since all other versions of Emacs aren't yet able to
16938 Additionally, you must have @code{x} support compiled into XEmacs. To
16939 display color picons which are much nicer than the black & white one,
16940 you also need one of @code{xpm} or @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
16942 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
16943 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
16944 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
16945 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
16946 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
16950 @subsubsection Easy Picons
16952 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
16953 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
16956 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
16957 (setq gnus-treat-display-picons t)
16960 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
16961 containing the Picons databases.
16963 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
16966 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
16967 "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
16972 @subsubsection Hard Picons
16980 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
16981 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
16982 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
16983 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
16984 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
16989 @item gnus-picons-database
16990 @vindex gnus-picons-database
16991 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
16992 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
16993 subdirectories. This is only useful if
16994 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
16995 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
16997 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
16998 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
16999 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
17000 engine is @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
17001 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
17002 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
17003 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
17005 @item gnus-picons-display-where
17006 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
17007 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
17008 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
17009 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
17010 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
17011 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
17012 routines---@pxref{Windows Configuration}.
17014 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
17015 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
17016 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
17021 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
17022 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
17024 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
17025 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
17028 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
17030 @item gnus-article-display-picons
17031 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
17032 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
17033 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer.
17035 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
17036 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
17037 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present.
17043 @node Picon Useless Configuration
17044 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
17052 The following variables offer further control over how things are
17053 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
17054 don't need to worry about.
17058 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
17059 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
17060 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
17061 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
17063 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
17064 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
17065 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
17066 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
17068 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
17069 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
17070 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
17071 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
17072 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
17074 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
17075 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
17076 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
17077 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
17078 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
17079 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
17080 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
17082 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
17083 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
17084 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
17085 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
17087 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
17088 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
17089 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
17090 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
17091 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
17092 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
17093 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
17095 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
17096 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
17097 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
17098 Defaults to @code{nil}.
17100 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
17101 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
17102 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
17103 Defaults to @code{t}.
17105 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
17106 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
17107 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
17108 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
17110 @item gnus-picons-setup-hook
17111 @vindex gnus-picons-setup-hook
17112 Hook run in the picon buffer, if that is displayed.
17114 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
17115 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
17116 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
17117 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
17119 If @code{nil}, display the picons in the @code{From} and
17120 @code{Newsgroups} lines. This is the defailt.
17122 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
17123 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
17124 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
17125 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
17126 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
17127 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
17128 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
17129 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
17140 @subsection Smileys
17145 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/BigFace.ps,height=20cm}}
17150 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
17151 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
17153 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
17154 @file{.gnus.el} file:
17157 (setq gnus-treat-display-smiley t)
17160 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
17161 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
17162 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
17163 text and maps that to file names.
17165 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
17166 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
17167 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
17168 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
17169 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
17170 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
17172 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
17173 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
17175 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
17176 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
17177 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
17179 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
17180 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
17184 @item smiley-data-directory
17185 @vindex smiley-data-directory
17186 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
17188 @item smiley-flesh-color
17189 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
17190 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
17192 @item smiley-features-color
17193 @vindex smiley-features-color
17194 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
17196 @item smiley-tongue-color
17197 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
17198 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
17200 @item smiley-circle-color
17201 @vindex smiley-circle-color
17202 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
17204 @item smiley-mouse-face
17205 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
17206 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
17212 @subsection Toolbar
17222 @item gnus-use-toolbar
17223 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
17224 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
17225 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
17226 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
17228 @item gnus-group-toolbar
17229 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
17230 The toolbar in the group buffer.
17232 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
17233 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
17234 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
17236 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
17237 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
17238 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
17244 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
17247 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
17248 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
17249 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
17250 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
17251 unusual directory structure.
17253 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
17254 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
17255 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
17256 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
17258 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
17259 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
17260 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
17261 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
17262 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
17263 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
17265 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
17266 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
17267 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
17281 @node Fuzzy Matching
17282 @section Fuzzy Matching
17283 @cindex fuzzy matching
17285 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
17286 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
17288 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
17289 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
17290 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
17292 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
17293 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
17294 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
17295 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
17296 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
17299 @node Thwarting Email Spam
17300 @section Thwarting Email Spam
17304 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
17306 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
17307 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
17308 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
17309 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
17310 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
17311 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
17312 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
17313 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
17316 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
17317 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
17318 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
17319 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
17320 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
17321 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
17325 The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
17326 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
17328 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
17329 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
17330 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
17331 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
17332 sysadm whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
17333 part of the mail address.)
17336 (setq message-default-news-headers
17337 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
17340 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
17341 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
17346 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
17347 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
17348 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
17354 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
17355 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
17356 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
17357 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
17359 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @code{smtp} server
17360 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
17361 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
17362 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
17363 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
17364 your fancy split rule in this way:
17369 (to "larsi" "misc")
17373 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
17374 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
17375 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
17376 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
17377 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
17379 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
17380 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
17381 at @* @file{<URL:http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html>}.
17382 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
17383 cosmic balance somewhat.
17385 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
17386 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
17387 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
17388 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
17391 @node Various Various
17392 @section Various Various
17398 @item gnus-home-directory
17399 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
17400 defaults to @file{~/}.
17402 @item gnus-directory
17403 @vindex gnus-directory
17404 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
17405 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
17406 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
17408 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
17409 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
17410 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
17411 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
17413 @item gnus-default-directory
17414 @vindex gnus-default-directory
17415 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
17416 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
17417 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
17418 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
17419 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
17420 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
17423 @vindex gnus-verbose
17424 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
17425 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
17426 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
17427 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
17428 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
17430 @item gnus-verbose-backends
17431 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
17432 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
17433 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
17435 @item nnheader-max-head-length
17436 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
17437 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
17438 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
17439 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
17440 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
17441 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
17442 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
17443 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
17444 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
17446 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
17447 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
17448 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
17449 read when doing the operation described above.
17451 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
17452 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
17454 @cindex invalid characters in file names
17455 @cindex characters in file names
17456 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
17457 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
17458 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
17461 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
17465 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
17466 Windows (phooey) systems.
17468 @item gnus-hidden-properties
17469 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
17470 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
17471 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
17472 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
17474 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
17475 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
17476 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
17477 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
17478 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
17480 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
17481 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
17482 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
17491 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
17492 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
17494 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
17496 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
17502 Not because of victories @*
17505 but for the common sunshine,@*
17507 the largess of the spring.
17511 but for the day's work done@*
17512 as well as I was able;@*
17513 not for a seat upon the dais@*
17514 but at the common table.@*
17519 @chapter Appendices
17522 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
17523 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
17524 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
17525 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
17526 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
17527 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
17528 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
17529 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
17537 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
17538 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
17540 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage, you
17541 can point your (feh!) web browser to
17542 @file{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/}. This is also the primary
17543 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is known
17544 as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
17546 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
17547 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
17548 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
17549 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
17550 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
17551 appropriate name, don't you think?)
17553 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
17554 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
17555 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
17556 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
17558 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
17559 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
17560 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
17562 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
17563 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
17565 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
17566 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
17568 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37
17569 releases. If was released as ``Gnus 5.6 on March 8th 1998.
17571 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
17572 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'' --
17573 don't panic. Don't let it know that you're frightened. Back away.
17574 Slowly. Whatever you do, don't run. Walk away, calmly, until you're
17575 out of its reach. Find a proper released version of Gnus and snuggle up
17579 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
17580 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
17581 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
17582 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
17583 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
17584 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
17585 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
17586 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
17593 What's the point of Gnus?
17595 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
17596 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
17597 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
17598 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
17599 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
17600 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
17601 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
17602 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
17603 keep track of millions of people who post?
17605 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
17606 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
17607 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
17608 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
17609 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
17610 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
17611 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
17612 every one of you to explore and invent.
17614 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
17615 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
17618 @node Compatibility
17619 @subsection Compatibility
17621 @cindex compatibility
17622 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
17623 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
17624 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
17629 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
17633 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
17636 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
17639 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
17640 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
17641 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
17642 important variables have their values copied into their global
17643 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
17644 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
17646 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
17647 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
17648 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
17649 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
17650 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
17654 @cindex highlighting
17655 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
17656 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
17657 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
17658 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
17659 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
17660 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
17663 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
17664 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
17665 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
17666 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
17668 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
17669 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
17670 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
17671 to stop doing it the old way.
17673 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
17675 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
17677 @cindex reporting bugs
17679 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
17680 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
17681 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
17683 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
17684 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
17685 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
17686 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
17691 @subsection Conformity
17693 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
17694 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
17701 There are no known breaches of this standard.
17705 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
17707 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
17708 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
17709 We do have some breaches to this one.
17715 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
17716 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
17717 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
17718 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
17719 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
17724 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
17725 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
17726 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
17727 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
17731 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
17732 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
17737 @subsection Emacsen
17743 Gnus should work on :
17751 XEmacs 20.4 and up.
17755 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
17756 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
17759 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
17760 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
17761 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
17765 @node Gnus Development
17766 @subsection Gnus Development
17768 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
17769 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
17770 propose changes and new features, post patches and new backends. This
17771 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
17772 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
17773 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
17774 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
17775 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
17777 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
17778 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
17779 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
17780 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
17781 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
17784 @vindex nnmail-delete-incoming
17785 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
17786 In particular, @code{nnmail-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
17787 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
17788 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
17790 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
17791 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
17792 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
17793 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
17794 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
17795 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
17796 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
17797 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
17798 usually keep up with these rapid changes, whille people on the newsgroup
17799 can't be assumed to do so.
17804 @subsection Contributors
17805 @cindex contributors
17807 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
17808 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
17809 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
17810 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
17811 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
17812 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
17813 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
17814 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
17815 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
17816 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
17818 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
17824 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
17827 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
17828 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @sc{mime} and
17829 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
17830 functionality and stuff.
17833 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
17834 well as numerous other things).
17837 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
17840 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
17843 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
17844 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
17847 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
17850 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
17851 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
17854 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
17857 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
17860 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
17863 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
17866 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
17867 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
17870 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
17873 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
17876 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
17879 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
17883 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
17886 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
17889 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
17892 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
17893 well as autoconf support.
17897 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
17898 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
17900 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
17909 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
17913 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
17923 Alexei V. Barantsev,
17938 Massimo Campostrini,
17943 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
17944 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
17948 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
17951 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
17957 Michael Welsh Duggan,
17962 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
17966 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
17974 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
17976 Michelangelo Grigni,
17980 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
17982 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
17984 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
17991 François Felix Ingrand,
17992 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c ?
17993 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
17995 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
18006 Peter Skov Knudsen,
18007 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
18009 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
18010 Thor Kristoffersen,
18013 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
18031 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
18032 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
18039 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
18044 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
18048 John McClary Prevost,
18054 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
18059 Christian von Roques,
18062 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
18069 Philippe Schnoebelen,
18071 Randal L. Schwartz,
18086 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
18091 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
18107 Katsumi Yamaoka @c Yamaoka
18112 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
18113 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
18114 (550kB and counting).
18116 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
18119 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
18120 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
18124 @subsection New Features
18125 @cindex new features
18128 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
18129 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.3/5.3.
18130 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
18131 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
18134 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
18135 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
18136 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
18140 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
18142 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
18147 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
18148 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
18151 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
18152 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
18155 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
18158 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
18159 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
18160 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
18163 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
18164 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
18165 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
18166 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
18169 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
18170 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
18173 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
18174 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
18175 (@pxref{The Active File}).
18178 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
18179 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
18182 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
18183 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
18184 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
18187 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
18188 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
18189 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
18192 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
18193 the @file{.emacs} file.
18196 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
18197 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
18200 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
18201 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
18204 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
18205 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
18208 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
18209 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
18212 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
18213 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
18216 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
18219 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
18220 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
18223 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
18224 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
18227 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
18228 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
18231 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
18234 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
18235 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
18238 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
18242 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
18246 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
18247 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
18250 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
18256 @node September Gnus
18257 @subsubsection September Gnus
18261 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/september.ps,height=20cm}}
18265 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
18270 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
18271 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
18275 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
18276 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
18280 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
18284 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
18285 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
18288 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
18292 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
18295 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
18298 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
18301 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
18305 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
18306 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
18309 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
18313 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
18317 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
18321 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
18325 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
18328 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
18329 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
18332 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
18336 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
18337 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
18340 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
18343 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
18344 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
18345 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
18348 Gnus has a new backend (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
18352 The Gnus cache is much faster.
18355 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
18359 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
18360 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
18363 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
18364 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
18367 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
18368 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
18371 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
18372 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
18373 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
18376 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
18377 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
18380 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
18383 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
18386 All mail backends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
18389 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
18392 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
18393 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
18396 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Windows
18400 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
18403 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}}
18408 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
18411 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
18415 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
18418 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
18422 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
18425 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
18428 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
18429 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
18432 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
18433 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
18437 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
18438 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
18441 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
18445 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
18446 buffer to allow easier treatment.
18449 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
18452 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
18456 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
18460 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
18461 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
18464 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
18468 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
18469 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
18472 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
18473 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
18476 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
18480 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
18483 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
18486 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
18492 @subsubsection Red Gnus
18494 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
18498 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/red.ps,height=20cm}}
18505 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
18508 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
18509 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
18512 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
18513 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
18517 Article washing status can be displayed in the
18518 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
18521 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
18524 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
18525 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
18528 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
18532 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
18533 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
18537 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
18538 Server Internals}).
18541 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
18545 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
18548 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
18549 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
18552 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
18553 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
18554 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
18557 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
18558 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
18561 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
18562 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
18565 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{M-C-_}
18569 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
18570 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
18573 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
18574 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
18577 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
18581 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
18584 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
18588 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
18589 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
18592 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
18593 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
18596 A new command for reading collections of documents
18597 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{M-C-d}
18598 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
18601 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
18605 A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post even when the @sc{nntp}
18606 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
18609 A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
18610 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
18611 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
18614 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
18615 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
18619 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
18623 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
18627 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}}
18632 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
18636 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
18640 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
18641 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
18644 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
18650 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
18652 New features in Gnus 5.6:
18657 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
18658 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
18659 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
18662 The @code{nndraft} backend has returned, but works differently than
18663 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
18664 group, which is created automatically.
18667 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
18671 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
18674 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
18675 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
18678 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
18682 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
18685 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
18686 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
18689 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
18692 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
18693 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
18696 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
18697 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
18700 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
18701 control over simplification.
18704 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
18707 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
18711 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
18714 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
18717 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
18718 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
18719 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
18722 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
18723 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
18726 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
18730 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
18731 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
18734 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
18735 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
18738 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
18742 A history of where mails have been split is available.
18745 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
18748 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
18749 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
18752 A new function for citing in Message has been
18753 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
18756 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
18759 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
18763 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
18764 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
18767 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
18768 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
18771 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} backend.
18774 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
18779 @node Newest Features
18780 @subsection Newest Features
18783 Also known as the @dfn{todo list}. Sure to be implemented before the
18786 Be afraid. Be very afraid.
18788 (That a feature appears in this list doesn't necessarily mean that I've
18789 decided to actually implement it. It just means that I think it sounds
18792 (Yes, this is the actual, up-to-the-second todo list.)
18797 I would like the zombie-page to contain an URL to the source of the
18798 latest version of gnus or some explanation on where to find it.
18801 A way to continue editing the latest Message composition.
18804 http://www.sonicnet.com/feature/ari3/
18807 facep is not declared.
18810 Include a section in the manual on why the number of articles
18811 isn't the same in the group buffer and on the SPC prompt.
18814 Interacting with rmail fcc isn't easy.
18819 <URL:http://www.falch.no/people/pepper/DSSSL-Lite/archives/>
18820 <URL:http://www.eit.com/software/hypermail/hypermail.html>
18821 <URL:http://homer.ncm.com/>
18822 <URL:http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Internet/World_Wide_Web/HTML_Converters/>
18823 http://www.uwsg.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9610/index.html
18824 <URL:http://union.ncsa.uiuc.edu/HyperNews/get/www/html/converters.html>
18825 http://www.miranova.com/gnus-list/
18830 @samp{^-- } is made into - in LaTeX.
18833 gnus-kill is much slower than it was in GNUS 4.1.3.
18836 when expunging articles on low score, the sparse nodes keep hanging on?
18838 starting the first time seems to hang Gnus on some systems. Does
18839 NEWGROUPS answer too fast?
18841 nndir doesn't read gzipped files.
18843 FAQ doesn't have an up node?
18845 when moving mail from a procmail spool to the crash-box,
18846 the crash-box is only appropriate to one specific group.
18848 `t' `t' makes X-Faces disappear.
18850 nnmh-be-safe means that crossposted articles will
18851 be marked as unread.
18853 Orphan score entries don't show on "V t" score trace
18855 when clearing out data, the cache data should also be reset.
18857 rewrite gnus-summary-limit-children to be non-recursive
18858 to avoid exceeding lisp nesting on huge groups.
18860 expunged articles are counted when computing scores.
18862 implement gnus-batch-brew-soup
18864 ticked articles aren't easy to read in pick mode -- `n' and
18865 stuff just skips past them. Read articles are the same.
18867 topics that contain just groups with ticked
18868 articles aren't displayed.
18870 nndoc should always allocate unique Message-IDs.
18872 If there are mail groups the first time you use Gnus, Gnus'll
18873 make the mail groups killed.
18875 no "no news is good news" when using topics.
18877 when doing crosspost marking, the cache has to be consulted
18878 and articles have to be removed.
18880 nnweb should fetch complete articles when they are split into several
18883 scoring on head immediate doesn't work.
18885 finding short score file names takes forever.
18887 canceling articles in foreign groups.
18889 nntp-open-rlogin no longer works.
18891 C-u C-x C-s (Summary) switches to the group buffer.
18893 move nnmail-split-history out to the backends.
18895 nnweb doesn't work properly.
18897 using a virtual server name as `gnus-select-method' doesn't work?
18899 when killing/yanking a group from one topic to another in a slave, the
18900 master will yank it first to one topic and then add it to another.
18904 warn user about `=' redirection of a group in the active file?
18906 take over the XEmacs menubar and offer a toggle between the XEmacs
18907 bar and the Gnus bar.
18910 push active file and NOV file parsing down into C code.
18911 `(canonize-message-id id)'
18912 `(mail-parent-message-id references n)'
18913 `(parse-news-nov-line &optional dependency-hashtb)'
18914 `(parse-news-nov-region beg end &optional dependency-hashtb fullp)'
18915 `(parse-news-active-region beg end hashtb)'
18920 nnml .overview directory with splits.
18924 postponed commands.
18926 the selected article show have its Subject displayed in its summary line.
18928 when entering groups, get the real number of unread articles from
18931 sort after gathering threads -- make false roots have the
18932 headers of the oldest orphan with a 0 article number?
18934 nndoc groups should inherit the score files of their parents? Also
18935 inherit copy prompts and save files.
18937 command to start up Gnus (if not running) and enter a mail mode buffer.
18939 allow editing the group description from the group buffer
18940 for backends that support that.
18942 gnus-hide,show-all-topics
18944 groups and sub-topics should be allowed to mingle inside each topic,
18945 and not just list all subtopics at the end.
18947 a command to remove all read articles that are not needed to connect
18948 threads -- `gnus-summary-limit-to-sparse-unread'?
18950 a variable to turn off limiting/cutting of threads in the tree buffer.
18952 a variable to limit how many files are uudecoded.
18954 add zombie groups to a special "New Groups" topic.
18956 server mode command: close/open all connections
18958 put a file date in gnus-score-alist and check whether the file
18959 has been changed before using it.
18961 on exit from a digest group, go to the next article in the parent group.
18963 hide (sub)threads with low score.
18965 when expiring, remove all marks from expired articles.
18967 gnus-summary-limit-to-body
18969 a regexp alist that says what level groups are to be subscribed
18970 on. Eg. -- `(("nnml:" . 1))'.
18972 easier interface to nnkiboze to create ephemeral groups that
18973 contain groups that match a regexp.
18975 allow newlines in <URL:> urls, but remove them before using
18978 If there is no From line, the mail backends should fudge one from the
18981 fuzzy simplifying should strip all non-alpha-numerical info
18982 from subject lines.
18984 gnus-soup-brew-soup-with-high-scores.
18986 nntp-ping-before-connect
18988 command to check whether NOV is evil. "list overview.fmt".
18990 when entering a group, Gnus should look through the score
18991 files very early for `local' atoms and set those local variables.
18993 message annotations.
18995 topics are always yanked before groups, and that's not good.
18997 (set-extent-property extent 'help-echo "String to display in minibuf")
18998 to display help in the minibuffer on buttons under XEmacs.
19000 allow group line format spec to say how many articles there
19005 `run-with-idle-timer' in gnus-demon.
19007 stop using invisible text properties and start using overlays instead
19009 C-c C-f C-e to add an Expires header.
19011 go from one group to the next; everything is expunged; go to the
19012 next group instead of going to the group buffer.
19014 gnus-renumber-cache -- to renumber the cache using "low" numbers.
19016 record topic changes in the dribble buffer.
19018 `nnfolder-generate-active-file' should look at the folders it
19019 finds and generate proper active ranges.
19021 nneething-look-in-files-for-article-heads variable to control
19022 whether nneething should sniff all files in the directories.
19024 gnus-fetch-article -- start Gnus, enter group, display article
19026 gnus-dont-move-articles-to-same-group variable when respooling.
19028 when messages are crossposted between several auto-expirable groups,
19029 articles aren't properly marked as expirable.
19031 nneething should allow deletion/moving.
19033 TAB on the last button should go to the first button.
19035 if the car of an element in `mail-split-methods' is a function,
19036 and the function returns non-nil, use that as the name of the group(s) to
19039 command for listing all score files that have been applied.
19041 a command in the article buffer to return to `summary' config.
19043 `gnus-always-post-using-current-server' -- variable to override
19044 `C-c C-c' when posting.
19046 nnmail-group-spool-alist -- says where each group should use
19049 when an article is crossposted to an auto-expirable group, the article
19050 should be marker as expirable.
19052 article mode command/menu for "send region as URL to browser".
19054 on errors, jump to info nodes that explain the error. For instance,
19055 on invalid From headers, or on error messages from the nntp server.
19057 when gathering threads, make the article that has no "Re: " the parent.
19058 Also consult Date headers.
19060 a token in splits to call shrink-window-if-larger-than-buffer
19062 `1 0 A M' to do matches on the active hashtb.
19064 duplicates -- command to remove Gnus-Warning header, use the read
19065 Message-ID, delete the "original".
19067 when replying to several messages at once, put the "other" message-ids
19068 into a See-Also header.
19070 support setext: URL:http://www.bsdi.com/setext/
19072 support ProleText: <URL:http://proletext.clari.net/prole/proletext.html>
19074 when browsing a foreign server, the groups that are already subscribed
19075 should be listed as such and not as "K".
19077 generate font names dynamically.
19079 score file mode auto-alist.
19081 allow nndoc to change/add/delete things from documents. Implement
19082 methods for each format for adding an article to the document.
19084 `gnus-fetch-old-headers' `all' value to incorporate
19085 absolutely all headers there is.
19087 function like `|', but concatenate all marked articles
19088 and pipe them to the process.
19090 cache the list of killed (or active) groups in a separate file. Update
19091 the file whenever we read the active file or the list
19092 of killed groups in the .eld file reaches a certain length.
19094 function for starting to edit a file to put into
19095 the current mail group.
19097 score-find-trace should display the total score of the article.
19099 "ghettozie" -- score on Xref header and nix it out after using it
19100 to avoid marking as read in other groups it has been crossposted to.
19102 look at procmail splitting. The backends should create
19103 the groups automatically if a spool file exists for that group.
19105 function for backends to register themselves with Gnus.
19107 when replying to several process-marked articles,
19108 have all the From end up in Cc headers? Variable to toggle.
19110 command to delete a crossposted mail article from all
19111 groups it has been mailed to.
19113 `B c' and `B m' should be crosspost aware.
19115 hide-pgp should also hide PGP public key blocks.
19117 Command in the group buffer to respool process-marked groups.
19119 `gnus-summary-find-matching' should accept
19120 pseudo-"headers" like "body", "head" and "all"
19122 When buttifying <URL: > things, all white space (including
19123 newlines) should be ignored.
19125 Process-marking all groups in a topic should process-mark
19126 groups in subtopics as well.
19128 Add non-native groups to the list of killed groups when killing them.
19130 nntp-suggest-kewl-config to probe the nntp server and suggest
19133 add edit and forward secondary marks.
19135 nnml shouldn't visit its .overview files.
19137 allow customizing sorting within gathered threads.
19139 `B q' shouldn't select the current article.
19141 nnmbox should support a newsgroups file for descriptions.
19143 allow fetching mail from several pop servers.
19145 Be able to specify whether the saving commands save the original
19146 or the formatted article.
19148 a command to reparent with the child process-marked (cf. `T ^'.).
19150 I think the possibility to send a password with nntp-open-rlogin
19151 should be a feature in Red Gnus.
19153 The `Z n' command should be possible to execute from a mouse click.
19155 more limiting functions -- date, etc.
19157 be able to limit on a random header; on body; using reverse matches.
19159 a group parameter (`absofucking-total-expiry') that will make Gnus expire
19160 even unread articles.
19162 a command to print the article buffer as postscript.
19164 variable to disable password fetching when opening by nntp-open-telnet.
19166 manual: more example servers -- nntp with rlogin, telnet
19168 checking for bogus groups should clean topic alists as well.
19170 canceling articles in foreign groups.
19172 article number in folded topics isn't properly updated by
19175 Movement in the group buffer to the next unread group should go to the
19176 next closed topic with unread messages if no group can be found.
19178 Extensive info pages generated on the fly with help everywhere --
19179 in the "*Gnus edit*" buffers, for instance.
19181 Topic movement commands -- like thread movement. Up, down, forward, next.
19183 a way to tick/mark as read Gcc'd articles.
19185 a way to say that all groups within a specific topic comes
19186 from a particular server? Hm.
19188 `gnus-article-fill-if-long-lines' -- a function to fill
19189 the article buffer if there are any looong lines there.
19191 `T h' should jump to the parent topic and fold it.
19193 a command to create an ephemeral nndoc group out of a file,
19194 and then splitting it/moving it to some other group/backend.
19196 a group parameter for nnkiboze groups that says that
19197 all kibozed articles should be entered into the cache.
19199 It should also probably be possible to delimit what
19200 `gnus-jog-cache' does -- for instance, work on just some groups, or on
19201 some levels, and entering just articles that have a score higher than
19204 nnfolder should append to the folder instead of re-writing
19205 the entire folder to disk when accepting new messages.
19207 allow all backends to do the proper thing with .gz files.
19209 a backend for reading collections of babyl files nnbabylfolder?
19211 a command for making the native groups into foreign groups.
19213 server mode command for clearing read marks from all groups
19216 when following up multiple articles, include all To, Cc, etc headers
19219 a command for deciding what the total score of the current
19220 thread is. Also a way to highlight based on this.
19222 command to show and edit group scores
19224 a gnus-tree-minimize-horizontal to minimize tree buffers
19227 command to generate nnml overview file for one group.
19229 `C-u C-u a' -- prompt for many crossposted groups.
19231 keep track of which mail groups have received new articles (in this session).
19232 Be able to generate a report and perhaps do some marking in the group
19235 gnus-build-sparse-threads to a number -- build only sparse threads
19236 that are of that length.
19238 have nnmh respect mh's unseen sequence in .mh_profile.
19240 cache the newsgroups descriptions locally.
19242 asynchronous posting under nntp.
19244 be able to control word adaptive scoring from the score files.
19246 a variable to make `C-c C-c' post using the "current" select method.
19248 `limit-exclude-low-scored-articles'.
19250 if `gnus-summary-show-thread' is a number, hide threads that have
19251 a score lower than this number.
19253 split newsgroup subscription variable up into "order" and "method".
19255 buttonize ange-ftp file names.
19257 a command to make a duplicate copy of the current article
19258 so that each copy can be edited separately.
19260 nnweb should allow fetching from the local nntp server.
19262 record the sorting done in the summary buffer so that
19263 it can be repeated when limiting/regenerating the buffer.
19265 nnml-generate-nov-databses should generate for
19268 when the user does commands in the group buffer, check
19269 the modification time of the .newsrc.eld file and use
19270 ask-user-about-supersession-threat. Also warn when trying
19271 to save .newsrc.eld and it has changed.
19273 M-g on a topic will display all groups with 0 articles in
19276 command to remove all topic stuff.
19278 allow exploding incoming digests when reading incoming mail
19279 and splitting the resulting digests.
19281 nnsoup shouldn't set the `message-' variables.
19283 command to nix out all nnoo state information.
19285 nnmail-process-alist that calls functions if group names
19286 matches an alist -- before saving.
19288 use buffer-invisibility-spec everywhere for hiding text.
19290 variable to activate each group before entering them
19291 to get the (new) number of articles. `gnus-activate-before-entering'.
19293 command to fetch a Message-ID from any buffer, even
19294 starting Gnus first if necessary.
19296 when posting and checking whether a group exists or not, just
19297 ask the nntp server instead of relying on the active hashtb.
19299 buttonize the output of `C-c C-a' in an apropos-like way.
19301 `G p' should understand process/prefix, and allow editing
19302 of several groups at once.
19304 command to create an ephemeral nnvirtual group that
19305 matches some regexp(s).
19307 nndoc should understand "Content-Type: message/rfc822" forwarded messages.
19309 it should be possible to score "thread" on the From header.
19311 hitting RET on a "gnus-uu-archive" pseudo article should unpack it.
19313 `B i' should display the article at once in the summary buffer.
19315 remove the "*" mark at once when unticking an article.
19317 `M-s' should highlight the matching text.
19319 when checking for duplicated mails, use Resent-Message-ID if present.
19321 killing and yanking groups in topics should be better. If killing one copy
19322 of a group that exists in multiple topics, only that copy should
19323 be removed. Yanking should insert the copy, and yanking topics
19324 should be possible to be interspersed with the other yankings.
19326 command for enter a group just to read the cached articles. A way to say
19327 "ignore the nntp connection; just read from the cache."
19329 `X u' should decode base64 articles.
19331 a way to hide all "inner" cited text, leaving just the most
19332 recently cited text.
19334 nnvirtual should be asynchronous.
19336 after editing an article, gnus-original-article-buffer should
19339 there should probably be a way to make Gnus not connect to the
19340 server and just read the articles in the server
19342 allow a `set-default' (or something) to change the default
19343 value of nnoo variables.
19345 a command to import group infos from a .newsrc.eld file.
19347 groups from secondary servers have the entire select method
19348 listed in each group info.
19350 a command for just switching from the summary buffer to the group
19353 a way to specify that some incoming mail washing functions
19354 should only be applied to some groups.
19356 Message `C-f C-t' should ask the user whether to heed
19357 mail-copies-to: never.
19359 new group parameter -- `post-to-server' that says to post
19360 using the current server. Also a variable to do the same.
19362 the slave dribble files should auto-save to the slave file names.
19364 a group parameter that says what articles to display on group entry, based
19367 a way to visually distinguish slave Gnusae from masters. (Whip instead
19370 Use DJ Bernstein "From " quoting/dequoting, where applicable.
19372 Why is hide-citation-maybe and hide-citation different? Also
19375 group user-defined meta-parameters.
19379 From: John Griffith <griffith@@sfs.nphil.uni-tuebingen.de>
19381 I like the option for trying to retrieve the FAQ for a group and I was
19382 thinking it would be great if for those newsgroups that had archives
19383 you could also try to read the archive for that group. Part of the
19384 problem is that archives are spread all over the net, unlike FAQs.
19385 What would be best I suppose is to find the one closest to your site.
19387 In any case, there is a list of general news group archives at @*
19388 ftp://ftp.neosoft.com/pub/users/claird/news.lists/newsgroup_archives.html
19395 From: Jason L Tibbitts III <tibbs@@hpc.uh.edu>
19396 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
19398 (gnus-group-add-parameter group
19399 (cons 'gnus-group-date-last-entered (list (current-time-string))))))
19401 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
19402 "Return the date the group was last read."
19403 (cond ((car (gnus-group-get-parameter gnus-tmp-group 'gnus-group-date-last-entered)))
19408 tanken var at når du bruker `gnus-startup-file' som prefix (FOO) til å lete
19409 opp en fil FOO-SERVER, FOO-SERVER.el, FOO-SERVER.eld, kan du la den være en
19410 liste hvor du bruker hvert element i listen som FOO, istedet. da kunne man
19411 hatt forskjellige serveres startup-filer forskjellige steder.
19415 LMI> Well, nnbabyl could alter the group info to heed labels like
19416 LMI> answered and read, I guess.
19418 It could also keep them updated (the same for the Status: header of
19421 They could be used like this:
19425 `M l <name> RET' add label <name> to current message.
19426 `M u <name> RET' remove label <name> from current message.
19427 `/ l <expr> RET' limit summary buffer according to <expr>.
19429 <expr> would be a boolean expression on the labels, e.g.
19431 `/ l bug & !fixed RET'
19434 would show all the messages which are labeled `bug' but not labeled
19437 One could also imagine the labels being used for highlighting, or
19438 affect the summary line format.
19442 Sender: abraham@@dina.kvl.dk
19444 I'd like a gnus-find-file which work like find file, except that it
19445 would recognize things that looks like messages or folders:
19447 - If it is a directory containing numbered files, create an nndir
19450 - For other directories, create a nneething summary buffer.
19452 - For files matching "\\`From ", create a nndoc/mbox summary.
19454 - For files matching "\\`BABYL OPTIONS:", create a nndoc/baby summary.
19456 - For files matching "\\`[^ \t\n]+:", create an *Article* buffer.
19458 - For other files, just find them normally.
19460 I'd like `nneething' to use this function, so it would work on a
19461 directory potentially containing mboxes or babyl files.
19464 Please send a mail to bwarsaw@@cnri.reston.va.us (Barry A. Warsaw) and
19465 tell him what you are doing.
19468 Currently, I get prompted:
19472 decend into sci.something ?
19476 The problem above is that since there is really only one subsection of
19477 science, shouldn't it prompt you for only descending sci.something? If
19478 there was a sci.somethingelse group or section, then it should prompt
19479 for sci? first the sci.something? then sci.somethingelse?...
19482 Ja, det burde være en måte å si slikt. Kanskje en ny variabel?
19483 `gnus-use-few-score-files'? SÃ¥ kunne score-regler legges til den
19484 "mest" lokale score-fila. F. eks. ville no-gruppene betjenes av
19485 "no.all.SCORE", osv.
19488 What i want is for Gnus to treat any sequence or combination of the following
19489 as a single spoiler warning and hide it all, replacing it with a "Next Page"
19495 more than n blank lines
19497 more than m identical lines
19498 (which should be replaced with button to show them)
19500 any whitespace surrounding any of the above
19504 Well, we could allow a new value to `gnus-thread-ignore-subject' --
19505 `spaces', or something. (We could even default to that.) And then
19506 subjects that differ in white space only could be considered the
19507 "same" subject for threading purposes.
19510 Modes to preprocess the contents (e.g. jka-compr) use the second form
19511 "(REGEXP FUNCTION NON-NIL)" while ordinary modes (e.g. tex) use the first
19512 form "(REGEXP . FUNCTION)", so you could use it to distinguish between
19513 those two types of modes. (auto-modes-alist, insert-file-contents-literally.)
19516 Under XEmacs -- do funny article marks:
19519 soup - bowl of soup
19520 score below - dim light bulb
19521 score over - bright light bulb
19524 Yes. I think the algorithm is as follows:
19529 show-list-of-articles-in-group
19530 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
19531 if (no-more-articles-in-group-to-select)
19532 if (articles-selected)
19533 start-reading-selected-articles;
19534 junk-unread-articles;
19539 else if (key-pressed = '.')
19540 if (consolidated-menus) # same as hide-thread in Gnus
19541 select-thread-under-cursor;
19543 select-article-under-cursor;
19547 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
19548 if (more-pages-in-article)
19550 else if (more-selected-articles-to-read)
19557 My precise need here would have been to limit files to Incoming*.
19558 One could think of some `nneething-only-files' variable, but I guess
19559 it would have been unacceptable if one was using many unrelated such
19562 A more useful approach would be to, in response to the `G D' prompt, be
19563 allowed to say something like: `~/.mail/Incoming*', somewhat limiting
19564 the top-level directory only (in case directories would be matched by
19565 the wildcard expression).
19568 It would be nice if it also handled
19570 <URL:news://sunsite.auc.dk/>
19572 which should correspond to `B nntp RET sunsite.auc.dk' in *Group*.
19577 Take a look at w3-menu.el in the Emacs-W3 distribution - this works out
19578 really well. Each menu is 'named' by a symbol that would be on a
19579 gnus-*-menus (where * would be whatever, but at least group, summary, and
19580 article versions) variable.
19582 So for gnus-summary-menus, I would set to '(sort mark dispose ...)
19584 A value of '1' would just put _all_ the menus in a single 'GNUS' menu in
19585 the main menubar. This approach works really well for Emacs-W3 and VM.
19589 nndoc should take care to create unique Message-IDs for all its
19592 gnus-score-followup-article only works when you have a summary buffer
19593 active. Make it work when posting from the group buffer as well.
19594 (message-sent-hook).
19596 rewrite gnus-demon to use run-with-idle-timers.
19599 * Enhancements to Gnus:
19603 * gnus-servers (gnus-start-server-buffer?)--enters Gnus and goes
19604 straight to the server buffer, without opening any connections to
19607 * gnus-server-read-server-newsrc--produces a buffer very similar to
19608 the group buffer, but with only groups from that server listed;
19609 quitting this buffer returns to the server buffer.
19612 add a command to check the integrity of an nnfolder folder --
19613 go through the article numbers and see that there are no duplicates,
19617 `unsmileyfy-buffer' to undo smileification.
19620 a command to give all relevant info on an article, including all
19624 when doing `-request-accept-article', the backends should do
19625 the nnmail duplicate checking.
19628 allow `message-signature-file' to be a function to return the
19629 value of the signature file.
19632 In addition, I would love it if I could configure message-tab so that it
19633 could call `bbdb-complete-name' in other headers. So, some sort of
19636 (setq message-tab-alist
19637 '((message-header-regexp message-expand-group)
19638 ("^\\(To\\|[cC]c\\|[bB]cc\\)" bbdb-complete-name)))
19640 then you could run the relevant function to complete the information in
19644 cache the newsgroups file locally to avoid reloading it all the time.
19647 a command to import a buffer into a group.
19650 nnweb should allow fetching by Message-ID from servers.
19653 point in the article buffer doesn't always go to the
19654 beginning of the buffer when selecting new articles.
19657 a command to process mark all unread articles.
19660 `gnus-gather-threads-by-references-and-subject' -- first
19661 do gathering by references, and then go through the dummy roots and
19662 do more gathering by subject.
19665 gnus-uu-mark-in-numerical-order -- process mark articles in
19666 article numerical order.
19669 (gnus-thread-total-score
19670 (gnus-id-to-thread (mail-header-id (gnus-summary-article-header))))
19674 sorting by score is wrong when using sparse threads.
19677 a command to fetch an arbitrary article -- without having to be
19678 in the summary buffer.
19681 a new nncvs backend. Each group would show an article, using
19682 version branches as threading, checkin date as the date, etc.
19685 http://www.dejanews.com/forms/dnsetfilter_exp.html ?
19686 This filter allows one to construct advance queries on the Dejanews
19687 database such as specifying start and end dates, subject, author,
19688 and/or newsgroup name.
19691 new Date header scoring type -- older, newer
19694 use the summary toolbar in the article buffer.
19697 a command to fetch all articles that are less than X days old.
19700 in pick mode, `q' should save the list of selected articles in the
19701 group info. The next time the group is selected, these articles
19702 will automatically get the process mark.
19705 Isn't it possible to (also?) allow M-^ to automatically try the
19706 default server if it fails on the current server? (controlled by a
19707 user variable, (nil, t, 'ask)).
19710 make it possible to cancel articles using the select method for the
19714 `gnus-summary-select-article-on-entry' or something. It'll default
19715 to t and will select whatever article decided by `gnus-auto-select-first'.
19718 a new variable to control which selection commands should be unselecting.
19719 `first', `best', `next', `prev', `next-unread', `prev-unread' are
19723 be able to select groups that have no articles in them
19724 to be able to post in them (using the current select method).
19727 be able to post via DejaNews.
19730 `x' should retain any sortings that have been performed.
19733 allow the user to specify the precedence of the secondary marks. Also
19734 allow them to be displayed separately.
19737 gnus-summary-save-in-pipe should concatenate the results from
19738 the processes when doing a process marked pipe.
19741 a new match type, like Followup, but which adds Thread matches on all
19742 articles that match a certain From header.
19745 a function that can be read from kill-emacs-query-functions to offer
19746 saving living summary buffers.
19749 a function for selecting a particular group which will contain
19750 the articles listed in a list of article numbers/id's.
19753 a battery of character translation functions to translate common
19754 Mac, MS (etc) characters into ISO 8859-1.
19757 (defun article-fix-m$word ()
19758 "Fix M$Word smartquotes in an article."
19761 (let ((buffer-read-only nil))
19762 (goto-char (point-min))
19763 (while (search-forward "\221" nil t)
19764 (replace-match "`" t t))
19765 (goto-char (point-min))
19766 (while (search-forward "\222" nil t)
19767 (replace-match "'" t t))
19768 (goto-char (point-min))
19769 (while (search-forward "\223" nil t)
19770 (replace-match "\"" t t))
19771 (goto-char (point-min))
19772 (while (search-forward "\224" nil t)
19773 (replace-match "\"" t t)))))
19778 (add-hook 'gnus-exit-query-functions
19780 (if (and (file-exists-p nnmail-spool-file)
19781 (> (nnheader-file-size nnmail-spool-file) 0))
19782 (yes-or-no-p "New mail has arrived. Quit Gnus anyways? ")
19783 (y-or-n-p "Are you sure you want to quit Gnus? "))))
19787 allow message-default-headers to be a function.
19790 new Date score match types -- < > = (etc) that take floating point
19791 numbers and match on the age of the article.
19795 > > > If so, I've got one gripe: It seems that when I fire up gnus 5.2.25
19796 > > > under xemacs-19.14, it's creating a new frame, but is erasing the
19797 > > > buffer in the frame that it was called from =:-O
19799 > > Hm. How do you start up Gnus? From the toolbar or with
19800 > > `M-x gnus-other-frame'?
19802 > I normally start it up from the toolbar; at
19803 > least that's the way I've caught it doing the
19808 all commands that react to the process mark should push
19809 the current process mark set onto the stack.
19812 gnus-article-hide-pgp
19813 Selv ville jeg nok ha valgt å slette den dersom teksten matcher
19815 "\\(This\s+\\)?[^ ]+ has been automatically signed by"
19817 og det er maks hundre tegn mellom match-end og ----linja. Men -det-
19818 er min type heuristikk og langt fra alles.
19821 `gnus-subscribe-sorted' -- insert new groups where they would have been
19822 sorted to if `gnus-group-sort-function' were run.
19825 gnus-(group,summary)-highlight should respect any `face' text props set
19829 use run-with-idle-timer for gnus-demon instead of the
19830 home-brewed stuff for better reliability.
19833 add a way to select which NoCeM type to apply -- spam, troll, etc.
19836 nndraft-request-group should tally auto-save files.
19839 implement nntp-retry-on-break and nntp-command-timeout.
19842 gnus-article-highlight-limit that says when not to highlight (long)
19846 (nnoo-set SERVER VARIABLE VALUE)
19852 interrupitng agent fetching of articles should save articles.
19855 command to open a digest group, and copy all the articles there to the
19859 a variable to disable article body highlights if there's more than
19860 X characters in the body.
19863 handle 480/381 authinfo requests separately.
19866 include the texi/dir file in the distribution.
19869 format spec to "tab" to a position.
19872 Move all prompting to the new `M-n' default style.
19875 command to display all dormant articles.
19878 gnus-auto-select-next makeover -- list of things it should do.
19881 a score match type that adds scores matching on From if From has replied
19882 to something someone else has said.
19885 Read Netscape discussion groups:
19886 snews://secnews.netscape.com/netscape.communicator.unix
19889 One command to edit the original version if an article, and one to edit
19890 the displayed version.
19893 @kbd{T v} -- make all process-marked articles the children of the
19897 Switch from initial text to the new default text mechanism.
19900 How about making it possible to expire local articles? Will it be
19901 possible to make various constraints on when an article can be
19902 expired, e.g. (read), (age > 14 days), or the more interesting (read
19906 New limit command---limit to articles that have a certain string
19907 in the head or body.
19910 Allow breaking lengthy @sc{nntp} commands.
19913 gnus-article-highlight-limit, to disable highlighting in big articles.
19916 Editing an article should put the article to be edited
19917 in a special, unique buffer.
19920 A command to send a mail to the admin-address group param.
19923 A Date scoring type that will match if the article
19924 is less than a certain number of days old.
19927 New spec: %~(tab 56) to put point on column 56
19930 Allow Gnus Agent scoring to use normal score files.
19933 Rething the Agent active file thing. `M-g' doesn't update the active
19934 file, for instance.
19937 With dummy roots, `^' and then selecing the first article
19938 in any other dummy thread will make Gnus highlight the
19939 dummy root instead of the first article.
19942 Propagate all group properties (marks, article numbers, etc) up to the
19943 topics for displaying.
19946 `n' in the group buffer with topics should go to the next group
19947 with unread articles, even if that group is hidden in a topic.
19950 gnus-posting-styles doesn't work in drafts.
19953 gnus-summary-limit-include-cached is slow when there are
19954 many articles in the cache, since it regenerates big parts of the
19955 summary buffer for each article.
19958 Implement gnus-batch-brew-soup.
19961 Group parameters and summary commands for un/subscribing to mailing
19965 Introduce nnmail-home-directory.
19968 gnus-fetch-group and friends should exit Gnus when the user
19972 The jingle is only played on the second invocation of Gnus.
19975 Bouncing articles should do MIME.
19978 Crossposted articles should "inherit" the % or @ mark from the other
19979 groups it has been crossposted to, or something. (Agent.)
19982 If point is on a group that appears multiple times in topics, and
19983 you press `l', point will move to the first instance of the group.
19986 A spec for the group line format to display the number of
19987 agent-downloaded articles in the group.
19990 Some nntp servers never respond when posting, so there should be a
19991 timeout for all commands.
19994 When stading on a topic line and `t'-ing, point goes to the last line.
19995 It should go somewhere else.
19998 I'm having trouble accessing a newsgroup with a "+" in its name with
19999 Gnus. There is a new newsgroup on msnews.microsoft.com named
20000 "microsoft.public.multimedia.directx.html+time" that I'm trying to
20002 "nntp+msnews.microsoft.com:microsoft.public.multimedia.directx.html+time"
20003 but it gives an error that it cant access the group.
20005 Is the "+" character illegal in newsgroup names? Is there any way in
20006 Gnus to work around this? (gnus 5.6.45 - XEmacs 20.4)
20013 Subject: Answer to your mails 01.01.1999-01.05.1999
20014 --text follows this line--
20015 Sorry I killfiled you...
20017 Under the subject "foo", you wrote on 01.01.1999:
20019 Under the subject "foo1", you wrote on 01.01.1999:
20024 Allow "orphan" scores in the Agent scoring.
20028 - Edit article's summary line.
20030 - Sort lines in buffer by subject
20032 --> the old subject line appears in Summary buffer, not the one that was
20038 Remove list identifiers from the subject in the summary when doing `^'
20042 Have the Agent write out articles, one by one, as it retrieves them,
20043 to avoid having to re-fetch them all if Emacs should crash while
20047 Be able to forward groups of messages as MIME digests.
20050 nnweb should include the "get whole article" article when getting articles.
20053 Solve the halting problem.
20062 @section The Manual
20066 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
20067 either @code{texi2dvi}
20069 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
20070 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
20072 to get what you hold in your hands now.
20074 The following conventions have been used:
20079 This is a @samp{string}
20082 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
20085 This is a @file{file}
20088 This is a @code{symbol}
20092 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
20096 (setq flargnoze "yes")
20099 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
20102 (setq flumphel 'yes)
20105 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
20106 ever get them confused.
20110 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
20111 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
20112 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
20113 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
20114 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
20115 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
20116 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
20122 @node On Writing Manuals
20123 @section On Writing Manuals
20125 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
20126 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
20127 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
20128 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
20129 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
20130 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
20133 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
20134 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
20135 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
20138 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
20139 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
20144 @section Terminology
20146 @cindex terminology
20151 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
20152 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
20153 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
20154 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
20155 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
20159 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
20160 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
20161 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
20162 not posting, and replying is not following up.
20166 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
20170 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
20175 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
20176 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
20177 is all done by the backends.
20181 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
20182 default, way of getting news.
20186 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
20187 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary backends for getting
20192 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
20193 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
20197 A message that has been posted as news.
20200 @cindex mail message
20201 A message that has been mailed.
20205 A mail message or news article
20209 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
20214 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
20219 A line from the head of an article.
20223 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
20224 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
20228 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
20229 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
20230 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
20231 normal @sc{head} format.
20235 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
20236 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
20237 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
20238 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
20239 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
20240 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
20242 @item killed groups
20243 @cindex killed groups
20244 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
20245 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
20247 @item zombie groups
20248 @cindex zombie groups
20249 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
20252 @cindex active file
20253 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
20254 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
20255 is rather large, as you might surmise.
20258 @cindex bogus groups
20259 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
20260 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
20261 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
20264 @cindex activating groups
20265 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
20266 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
20267 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
20271 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
20273 @item select method
20274 @cindex select method
20275 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
20278 @item virtual server
20279 @cindex virtual server
20280 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
20281 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
20282 whole is a virtual server.
20286 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
20287 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
20290 @item ephemeral groups
20291 @cindex ephemeral groups
20292 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
20293 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
20294 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
20297 @cindex solid groups
20298 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
20299 group buffer are solid groups.
20301 @item sparse articles
20302 @cindex sparse articles
20303 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
20304 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
20308 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
20309 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
20313 @cindex thread root
20314 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
20315 articles in the thread.
20319 An article that has responses.
20323 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
20327 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
20328 specified by RFC1153.
20334 @node Customization
20335 @section Customization
20336 @cindex general customization
20338 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
20339 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
20340 for some quite common situations.
20343 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
20344 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
20345 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
20346 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
20350 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
20351 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
20353 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
20354 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
20355 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
20359 @item gnus-read-active-file
20360 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
20361 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
20362 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
20363 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
20364 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
20366 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
20367 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
20368 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
20369 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
20373 @node Slow Terminal Connection
20374 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
20376 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
20377 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
20378 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
20382 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
20383 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
20384 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
20385 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
20386 horizontal and vertical recentering.
20388 @item gnus-visible-headers
20389 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
20390 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
20391 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
20392 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
20394 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
20396 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
20397 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
20398 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
20401 @item gnus-use-full-window
20402 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
20403 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
20404 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
20405 want to read them anyway.
20407 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
20408 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
20411 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
20412 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
20413 lines, which might save some time.
20417 @node Little Disk Space
20418 @subsection Little Disk Space
20421 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
20422 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
20426 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
20427 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
20428 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
20429 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
20432 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
20433 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
20434 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
20435 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
20438 @item gnus-save-killed-list
20439 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
20440 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
20441 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
20442 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
20448 @subsection Slow Machine
20449 @cindex slow machine
20451 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
20452 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
20454 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
20455 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
20457 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
20458 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
20459 summary buffer faster.
20463 @node Troubleshooting
20464 @section Troubleshooting
20465 @cindex troubleshooting
20467 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
20475 Make sure your computer is switched on.
20478 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
20479 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
20483 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
20484 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
20485 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
20486 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
20489 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
20493 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
20494 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
20495 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
20496 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
20497 something like that.
20500 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
20503 @cindex reporting bugs
20505 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
20507 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
20508 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
20509 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
20510 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
20512 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
20513 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
20514 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
20515 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
20518 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
20519 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
20520 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
20521 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
20522 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
20523 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
20525 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
20526 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
20527 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
20530 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
20531 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
20533 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
20534 @cindex ding mailing list
20535 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
20536 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
20540 @node Gnus Reference Guide
20541 @section Gnus Reference Guide
20543 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
20544 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
20545 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
20546 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
20549 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
20550 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
20551 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
20552 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
20553 and general methods of operation.
20556 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
20557 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
20558 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
20559 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
20560 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
20561 * Group Info:: The group info format.
20562 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
20563 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
20564 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
20568 @node Gnus Utility Functions
20569 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
20570 @cindex Gnus utility functions
20571 @cindex utility functions
20573 @cindex internal variables
20575 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
20576 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
20577 Below is a list of the most common ones.
20581 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
20582 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
20583 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
20585 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
20586 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
20587 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
20589 @item gnus-group-real-name
20590 @findex gnus-group-real-name
20591 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
20594 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
20595 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
20596 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
20597 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
20599 @item gnus-get-info
20600 @findex gnus-get-info
20601 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
20603 @item gnus-group-unread
20604 @findex gnus-group-unread
20605 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
20609 @findex gnus-active
20610 The active entry for @var{group}.
20612 @item gnus-set-active
20613 @findex gnus-set-active
20614 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
20616 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
20617 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
20618 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
20621 @item gnus-continuum-version
20622 @findex gnus-continuum-version
20623 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
20624 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
20627 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
20628 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
20629 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
20631 @item gnus-news-group-p
20632 @findex gnus-news-group-p
20633 Says whether @var{group} came from a news backend.
20635 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
20636 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
20637 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
20639 @item gnus-server-to-method
20640 @findex gnus-server-to-method
20641 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
20643 @item gnus-server-equal
20644 @findex gnus-server-equal
20645 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
20647 @item gnus-group-native-p
20648 @findex gnus-group-native-p
20649 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
20651 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
20652 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
20653 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
20655 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
20656 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
20657 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
20659 @item group-group-find-parameter
20660 @findex group-group-find-parameter
20661 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
20662 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
20664 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
20665 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
20666 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
20668 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
20669 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
20670 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
20672 @item gnus-check-backend-function
20673 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
20674 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the backend
20675 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
20678 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
20682 @item gnus-read-method
20683 @findex gnus-read-method
20684 Prompts the user for a select method.
20689 @node Backend Interface
20690 @subsection Backend Interface
20692 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
20693 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
20694 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
20695 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
20696 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
20697 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
20699 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
20700 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
20701 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
20702 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
20703 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
20704 been opened, the function should fail.
20706 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
20707 name. Take this example:
20711 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
20712 (nntp-port-number 4324))
20715 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
20716 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
20718 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
20719 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
20720 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
20722 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
20723 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
20724 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
20726 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
20727 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
20728 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
20729 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
20730 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
20731 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
20734 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
20735 some might be said not to be. The latter are backends that generally
20736 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
20737 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
20740 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
20743 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
20746 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
20747 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
20748 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
20749 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
20750 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
20751 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
20755 @node Required Backend Functions
20756 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
20760 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
20762 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
20763 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
20764 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
20765 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
20767 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
20768 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
20769 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
20770 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
20772 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
20773 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
20774 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
20775 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
20776 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
20777 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
20778 number, do maximum fetches.
20780 Here's an example HEAD:
20783 221 1056 Article retrieved.
20784 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
20785 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
20786 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
20787 Subject: Re: Something very droll
20788 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
20789 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
20791 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
20792 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
20793 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
20797 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
20798 these in the data buffer.
20800 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
20804 head = error / valid-head
20805 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
20806 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
20807 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
20808 header = <text> eol
20811 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
20812 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
20816 nov-buffer = *nov-line
20817 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
20818 field = <text except TAB>
20821 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
20825 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
20827 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
20828 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
20830 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
20831 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
20832 server. In fact, it should do so.
20834 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
20835 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
20838 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
20840 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
20841 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
20844 There should be no data returned.
20847 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
20849 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
20850 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
20851 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
20852 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
20854 There should be no data returned.
20857 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
20859 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
20860 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
20861 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
20862 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
20864 There should be no data returned.
20867 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
20869 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
20871 There should be no data returned.
20874 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
20876 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
20877 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
20878 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
20879 it would be nice if that were possible.
20881 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
20882 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
20883 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
20884 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
20885 into its article buffer.
20887 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
20888 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
20889 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
20890 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
20891 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
20892 on successful article retrieval.
20895 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
20897 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
20898 making @var{group} the current group.
20900 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
20903 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
20906 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
20909 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
20910 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
20911 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
20912 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
20913 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
20914 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
20915 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
20916 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
20919 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
20920 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
20921 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
20925 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
20927 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
20928 a no-op on most backends.
20930 There should be no data returned.
20933 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
20935 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
20938 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
20941 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
20942 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
20945 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
20946 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
20949 active-file = *active-line
20950 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
20952 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
20955 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
20956 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
20957 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
20960 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
20962 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
20963 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
20964 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
20965 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
20966 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
20967 clear if the posting could not be completed.
20969 There should be no result data from this function.
20974 @node Optional Backend Functions
20975 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
20979 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
20981 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
20982 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
20983 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
20985 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
20986 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
20987 former is in the same format as the data from
20988 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
20989 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
20992 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
20996 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
20998 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
20999 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
21000 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
21001 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
21002 should return the (altered) group info.
21004 There should be no result data from this function.
21007 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
21009 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
21010 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
21011 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
21012 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
21013 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
21014 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
21015 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
21016 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
21018 There should be no result data from this function.
21021 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
21023 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
21024 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
21025 @code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some backends (such as @sc{imap}) however carry all
21026 information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to propagate
21027 the mark information to the server.
21029 ACTION is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
21032 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
21035 Range is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. Action is
21036 @code{set}, @code{add} or @code{del}, respectively used for removing all
21037 existing marks and setting them as specified, adding (preserving the
21038 marks not mentioned) mark and removing (preserving the marks not
21039 mentioned) marks. Mark is a list of marks; where each mark is a
21040 symbol. Currently used marks are @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply},
21041 @code{expire}, @code{killed}, @code{dormant}, @code{save},
21042 @code{download} and @code{unsend}, but your backend should, if possible,
21043 not limit itself to theese.
21045 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
21046 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
21047 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
21048 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
21050 An example action list:
21053 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
21054 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
21055 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
21058 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
21059 mark on (currently not used for anything).
21061 There should be no result data from this function.
21063 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
21065 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
21066 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
21067 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
21068 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
21069 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
21071 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
21072 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
21073 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
21076 There should be no result data from this function.
21079 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
21081 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
21082 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
21083 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
21084 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
21085 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
21086 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
21087 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
21089 There should be no result data from this function.
21092 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
21094 The result data from this function should be a description of
21098 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
21100 description = <text>
21103 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
21105 The result data from this function should be the description of all
21106 groups available on the server.
21109 description-buffer = *description-line
21113 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
21115 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
21116 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
21117 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
21120 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
21122 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
21124 There should be no return data.
21127 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
21129 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
21130 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
21131 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
21132 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
21133 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
21136 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
21139 There should be no result data returned.
21142 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
21145 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
21146 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
21148 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
21149 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
21150 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
21151 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
21152 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
21153 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
21155 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
21156 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
21159 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
21160 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
21162 There should be no data returned.
21165 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
21167 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
21168 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
21169 this function in short order.
21171 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
21172 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
21174 There should be no data returned.
21177 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
21179 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
21180 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
21182 There should be no data returned.
21185 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
21187 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
21188 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
21189 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
21191 There should be no data returned.
21194 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
21196 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
21197 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
21199 There should be no data returned.
21204 @node Error Messaging
21205 @subsubsection Error Messaging
21207 @findex nnheader-report
21208 @findex nnheader-get-report
21209 The backends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
21210 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
21211 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the backend
21212 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
21213 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
21214 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
21217 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
21219 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
21222 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
21223 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
21224 recently reported message for the backend in question. This function
21225 takes one argument---the server symbol.
21227 Internally, these functions access @var{backend}@code{-status-string},
21228 so the @code{nnchoke} backend will have its error message stored in
21229 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
21232 @node Writing New Backends
21233 @subsubsection Writing New Backends
21235 Many backends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
21236 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
21237 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
21238 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
21239 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
21242 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
21243 backends when writing new backends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
21244 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
21246 All the backends declare their public variables and functions by using a
21247 package called @code{nnoo}.
21249 To inherit functions from other backends (and allow other backends to
21250 inherit functions from the current backend), you should use the
21256 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
21257 parameters. For instance:
21260 (nnoo-declare nndir
21264 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
21265 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
21268 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
21269 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
21270 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
21272 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
21273 variables in the parent backends to map the variable to when executing
21274 a function in those backends.
21277 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
21278 "Where nndir will look for groups."
21279 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
21282 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
21283 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
21284 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
21286 @item nnoo-define-basics
21287 This macro defines some common functions that almost all backends should
21291 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
21295 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
21296 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
21297 function as being public so that other backends can inherit it.
21299 @item nnoo-map-functions
21300 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current backend to
21301 functions from the parent backends.
21304 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
21305 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
21306 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
21309 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
21310 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
21311 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
21312 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
21315 This macro allows importing functions from backends. It should be the
21316 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
21317 haven't already been defined.
21323 nnmh-request-newgroups)
21327 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
21328 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
21329 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
21334 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} backend.
21337 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
21338 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
21342 (require 'nnheader)
21346 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
21348 (nnoo-declare nndir
21351 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
21352 "Where nndir will look for groups."
21353 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
21355 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
21356 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
21359 (defvoo nndir-current-group "" nil nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
21360 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
21361 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
21363 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
21364 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
21366 ;;; Interface functions.
21368 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
21370 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
21371 (setq nndir-directory
21372 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
21374 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
21375 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
21376 (push `(nndir-current-group
21377 ,(file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
21379 (push `(nndir-top-directory
21380 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
21382 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
21384 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
21385 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
21386 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
21387 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
21388 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
21392 nnmh-status-message
21394 nnmh-request-newgroups))
21400 @node Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
21401 @subsubsection Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
21403 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
21404 Having Gnus start using your new backend is rather easy---you just
21405 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
21406 enter the backend into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
21408 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the backend name and
21409 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
21414 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
21417 The abilities can be:
21421 This is a mailish backend---followups should (probably) go via mail.
21423 This is a newsish backend---followups should (probably) go via news.
21425 This backend supports both mail and news.
21427 This is neither a post nor mail backend---it's something completely
21430 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
21431 articles and groups.
21433 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
21434 true for almost all backends.
21435 @item prompt-address
21436 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
21437 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for backends like
21438 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
21442 @node Mail-like Backends
21443 @subsubsection Mail-like Backends
21445 One of the things that separate the mail backends from the rest of the
21446 backends is the heavy dependence by the mail backends on common
21447 functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
21448 @code{nnml-request-scan}:
21451 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
21452 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
21453 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
21456 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
21457 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
21460 This function takes four parameters.
21464 This should be a symbol to designate which backend is responsible for
21467 @item exit-function
21468 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
21470 @item temp-directory
21471 Where the temporary files should be stored.
21474 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
21475 performed for one group only.
21478 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{backend}@code{-save-mail} to
21479 save each article. @var{backend}@code{-active-number} will be called to
21480 find the article number assigned to this article.
21482 The function also uses the following variables:
21483 @var{backend}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
21484 this backend); and @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} and
21485 @var{backend}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
21486 @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
21490 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
21491 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
21495 @node Score File Syntax
21496 @subsection Score File Syntax
21498 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
21499 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
21500 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
21502 Here's a typical score file:
21506 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
21513 BNF definition of a score file:
21516 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
21517 element = rule / atom
21518 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
21519 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
21520 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
21521 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
21523 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
21524 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
21525 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
21526 date-header = "date"
21527 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
21528 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
21529 score = "nil" / <integer>
21530 date = "nil" / <natural number>
21531 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
21532 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
21533 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
21534 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
21535 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
21536 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
21537 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
21538 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
21539 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
21540 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
21541 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
21542 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
21543 exclude-files / read-only / touched
21544 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
21545 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
21546 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
21547 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
21548 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
21549 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
21550 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
21551 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
21552 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
21553 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
21554 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
21555 eval = "eval" space <form>
21556 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
21559 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
21562 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
21563 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
21564 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
21565 one looong line, then that's ok.
21567 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
21568 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
21572 @subsection Headers
21574 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
21575 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
21576 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
21577 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
21579 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
21580 RFC1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
21581 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
21582 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
21583 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
21584 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
21585 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
21587 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
21588 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
21589 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
21590 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
21591 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
21593 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
21594 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
21600 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
21601 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
21603 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
21604 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
21605 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
21606 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
21608 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
21612 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
21615 is transformed into
21618 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
21621 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
21622 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
21625 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
21628 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
21629 is slightly tricky:
21632 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
21638 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
21641 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
21647 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
21654 and is equal to the previous range.
21656 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
21657 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
21658 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
21662 range = simple-range / normal-range
21663 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
21664 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
21665 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
21666 number *[ " " contents ]
21669 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
21670 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
21671 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
21672 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
21673 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
21678 @subsection Group Info
21680 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
21681 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
21682 describes the group.
21684 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
21685 second is a more complex one:
21688 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
21690 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
21691 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
21693 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
21696 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
21697 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
21698 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
21699 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
21700 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
21701 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
21702 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
21703 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
21704 this section is about.
21706 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
21707 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
21708 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
21710 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
21713 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
21714 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
21715 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
21716 group = quote <string> quote
21717 ralevel = rank / level
21718 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
21719 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
21720 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
21722 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
21723 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
21724 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
21725 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
21728 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
21729 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
21732 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
21733 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
21736 @item gnus-info-group
21737 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
21738 @findex gnus-info-group
21739 @findex gnus-info-set-group
21740 Get/set the group name.
21742 @item gnus-info-rank
21743 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
21744 @findex gnus-info-rank
21745 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
21746 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
21748 @item gnus-info-level
21749 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
21750 @findex gnus-info-level
21751 @findex gnus-info-set-level
21752 Get/set the group level.
21754 @item gnus-info-score
21755 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
21756 @findex gnus-info-score
21757 @findex gnus-info-set-score
21758 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
21760 @item gnus-info-read
21761 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
21762 @findex gnus-info-read
21763 @findex gnus-info-set-read
21764 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
21766 @item gnus-info-marks
21767 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
21768 @findex gnus-info-marks
21769 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
21770 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
21772 @item gnus-info-method
21773 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
21774 @findex gnus-info-method
21775 @findex gnus-info-set-method
21776 Get/set the group select method.
21778 @item gnus-info-params
21779 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
21780 @findex gnus-info-params
21781 @findex gnus-info-set-params
21782 Get/set the group parameters.
21785 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
21786 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
21788 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
21789 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
21790 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
21791 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
21794 @node Extended Interactive
21795 @subsection Extended Interactive
21796 @cindex interactive
21797 @findex gnus-interactive
21799 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
21800 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
21801 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
21804 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
21805 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
21810 The best thing to do would have been to implement
21811 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
21812 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
21813 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
21814 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
21815 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
21816 @code{interactive}.
21818 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
21823 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
21824 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
21828 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
21829 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
21830 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
21833 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
21837 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
21841 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
21847 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
21848 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
21852 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
21853 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
21854 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
21856 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
21857 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
21858 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
21859 Gnus, that's very useful.
21861 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
21862 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
21863 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
21864 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
21865 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
21866 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
21867 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
21868 following function:
21871 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
21875 (,function ,@@args))
21879 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
21880 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
21881 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
21884 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
21885 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
21886 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
21888 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
21889 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
21890 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
21893 @node Various File Formats
21894 @subsection Various File Formats
21897 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
21898 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
21902 @node Active File Format
21903 @subsubsection Active File Format
21905 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
21906 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
21909 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
21912 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
21913 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
21914 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
21915 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
21916 no.general 1000 900 y
21919 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
21922 active = *group-line
21923 group-line = group space high-number space low-number space flag <NEWLINE>
21924 group = <non-white-space string>
21926 high-number = <non-negative integer>
21927 low-number = <positive integer>
21928 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
21931 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
21932 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
21935 @node Newsgroups File Format
21936 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
21938 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
21939 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
21940 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
21943 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
21944 Here's the definition:
21948 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
21949 group = <non-white-space string>
21951 description = <string>
21956 @node Emacs for Heathens
21957 @section Emacs for Heathens
21959 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
21960 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
21961 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
21962 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
21963 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
21964 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
21965 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
21969 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
21970 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
21975 @subsection Keystrokes
21979 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
21982 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
21985 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
21986 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
21987 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
21988 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
21989 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
21990 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
21992 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
21993 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
21994 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
21995 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
21996 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
21997 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
21998 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
22000 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
22001 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
22002 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
22003 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
22004 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
22005 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
22006 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
22008 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
22009 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
22010 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
22011 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
22012 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
22018 @subsection Emacs Lisp
22020 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
22021 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
22022 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
22023 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
22025 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
22026 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
22027 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
22028 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
22029 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
22030 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
22031 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
22034 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
22035 write the following:
22038 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
22041 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
22042 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
22043 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
22046 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
22047 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
22048 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
22049 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
22050 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
22052 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
22053 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
22054 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
22058 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
22062 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
22065 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
22066 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
22069 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
22072 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
22073 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
22076 @include gnus-faq.texi