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4 @settitle September Gnus Manual
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176 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
183 \thispagestyle{empty}
185 Copyright \copyright{} 1995 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
187 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
188 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
189 are preserved on all copies.
191 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
192 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
193 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
194 permission notice identical to this one.
196 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
197 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
206 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
208 Copyright (C) 1995 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
210 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
211 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
212 are preserved on all copies.
215 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
216 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
217 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
218 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
221 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
222 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
223 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
224 permission notice identical to this one.
226 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
227 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
233 @title September Gnus Manual
235 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
238 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
239 Copyright @copyright{} 1995 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
241 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
242 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
243 are preserved on all copies.
245 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
246 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
247 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
248 permission notice identical to this one.
250 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
251 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
260 @top The Gnus Newsreader
264 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
265 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
266 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
274 \thispagestyle{empty}
277 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
278 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
280 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
281 being accused of plagiarism:
283 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
284 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
285 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you can
286 even read news with it!
288 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
289 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
290 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
291 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
292 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
299 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
300 * The Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
301 * The Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
302 * The Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
303 * Message:: Message sending interface.
304 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
305 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
306 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
307 * Various:: General purpose settings.
308 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
309 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
310 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
311 * Key Index:: Key Index.
316 @chapter Starting Gnus
321 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
322 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
325 @findex gnus-other-frame
326 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
327 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
328 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
330 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
334 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
335 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
336 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
337 * Slave Gnusii:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
338 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
339 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
340 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
341 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
342 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
343 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
347 @node Finding the News
348 @section Finding the News
350 @vindex gnus-select-method
352 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
353 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
354 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
355 native method. All groups that are not fetched with this method are
358 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
359 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
362 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
365 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
368 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
371 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
372 certainly be much faster.
374 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
376 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
377 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
378 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
379 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
380 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
381 that fails as well, Gnus will will try to use the machine that is
382 running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long-shot, though.
384 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
385 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
386 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
387 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
389 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
390 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
391 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
392 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
393 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
394 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting.
396 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
398 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
399 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
400 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
401 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
402 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
403 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
405 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
407 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
408 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
409 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
410 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
411 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
412 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
415 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
416 would typically set this variable to
419 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
424 @section The First Time
425 @cindex first time usage
427 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
428 be subscribed by default.
430 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
431 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
432 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
433 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
436 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
437 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is here
438 defined as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
440 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
441 help you with most common problems.
443 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
444 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
448 @node The Server is Down
449 @section The Server is Down
450 @cindex server errors
452 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
453 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
454 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
456 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
457 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
458 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
459 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
460 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
461 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
462 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
464 @findex gnus-no-server
466 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
467 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
468 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
469 if you're in a hurry as well.
473 @section Slave Gnusiï
476 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
477 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (eg., if you
478 are using the two different Gnusiï to read from two different servers),
479 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
481 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusiï that use the same
484 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
485 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
486 @dfn{servants}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
487 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
488 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
489 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
490 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
492 Anyways, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
493 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusiï should be started with
494 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
495 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contains information only
496 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
497 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
498 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
499 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
501 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
502 information in the normal (i. e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
505 @node Fetching a Group
506 @section Fetching a Group
508 @findex gnus-fetch-group
509 It it sometime convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
510 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
511 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
512 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
513 It takes the group name as a parameter.
520 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
521 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
522 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
524 This variable should contain a function. Some handy pre-fab values
529 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
530 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
531 Make all new groups zombies. You can browse the zombies later (with
532 @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly, or subscribe to them.
535 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
536 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
537 Subscribe all new groups randomly.
539 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
540 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
541 Subscribe all new groups alphabetically.
543 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
544 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
545 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically.
547 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
548 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
549 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
550 you about @strong{all} new groups.
552 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
553 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
558 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
559 A closely related variable is
560 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
561 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
562 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
563 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
566 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above to
567 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
568 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
570 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
571 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
572 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
575 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
578 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
579 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
580 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
581 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
582 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
583 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
584 subscribing these groups.
585 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
586 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
588 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
589 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
590 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
591 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
592 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
593 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
594 and if the the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
595 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
597 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
598 Yet another variable that meddles here is
599 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
600 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
601 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
602 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
603 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
604 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
605 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
606 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
608 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
609 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
610 you could set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
611 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
612 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
613 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
614 is @code{t} by default.
616 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
617 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
618 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
619 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
620 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster &
621 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
622 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
623 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
624 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
625 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
627 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
628 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
629 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
630 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
631 few days. If any do, then it works. If any don't, then it doesn't
632 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
633 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
634 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
635 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
636 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
637 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
639 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
640 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
641 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
642 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
643 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
644 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
648 @section Startup Files
649 @cindex startup files
652 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
653 information is traditionally stored in this file.
655 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
656 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
657 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
658 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
659 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
660 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
661 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
663 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
664 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
665 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
666 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file.
668 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
669 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
670 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
671 the file and save some space, as well as making exit from Gnus faster.
672 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
673 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right?
675 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
676 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
677 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
678 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
679 will also means that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
680 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
681 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
682 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
685 @vindex gnus-startup-file
686 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
687 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
688 file being whatever that one is with a @samp{.eld} appended.
690 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
691 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
692 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
693 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
694 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
695 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
696 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
697 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
698 control on or off. Version control is off by default when saving the
707 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
708 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
709 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
710 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
711 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
714 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
715 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
718 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
719 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
720 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
722 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
723 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
724 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
725 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
726 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
727 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
730 @node The Active File
731 @section The Active File
733 @cindex ignored groups
735 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
736 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
737 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
739 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
740 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
741 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
742 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
743 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
744 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
745 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
748 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
749 @c if you set it to anything else.
751 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
753 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
754 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
755 reading the active file. This variable is @code{t} by default.
757 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
758 you actually subscribe to.
760 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
761 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
762 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
763 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
765 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
766 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
767 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
768 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
769 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
770 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
772 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
773 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
774 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
775 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
776 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
777 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
779 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
780 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
783 @node Startup Variables
784 @section Startup Variables
789 @vindex gnus-load-hook
790 A hook that is run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
791 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
792 times you start Gnus.
794 @item gnus-startup-hook
795 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
796 A hook that is run after starting up Gnus successfully.
798 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
799 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
800 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
801 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
802 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
803 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
804 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
805 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
807 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
808 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
809 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
810 your boss might not notice that you are reading news instead of doing
813 @item gnus-no-groups-message
814 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
815 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
819 @node The Group Buffer
820 @chapter The Group Buffer
823 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
824 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
825 long as Gnus is active.
828 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
829 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
830 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
831 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
832 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
833 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
834 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
835 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
836 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
837 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
838 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
839 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
840 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
841 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
842 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
843 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
847 @node Group Buffer Format
848 @section Group Buffer Format
849 @cindex group buffer format
852 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
853 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
854 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
858 @node Group Line Specification
859 @subsection Group Line Specification
861 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
862 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
864 Here's a couple of example group lines:
867 25: news.announce.newusers
868 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
873 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
874 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
875 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
876 asterisk at the beginning of the line?)
878 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
879 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
880 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
881 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
882 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
883 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
885 The default value that produced those lines above is
886 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n}.
888 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
889 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
890 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
891 never examined by Gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
894 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
895 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
896 instead of wasting time reading news.)
898 Here's a list of all available format characters:
903 Only marked articles.
906 Whether the group is subscribed.
909 Level of subscribedness.
912 Number of unread articles.
915 Number of dormant articles.
918 Number of ticked articles.
921 Number of read articles.
924 Total number of articles.
927 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
930 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
939 Newsgroup description.
942 @samp{m} if moderated.
945 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
954 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
958 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
961 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
962 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
963 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
964 The default is @code{1}.
967 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
968 be a letter. @sc{gnus} will call the function
969 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
970 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current headers as
971 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
972 into the buffer just like information from any other specifier.
976 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
977 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
978 group, or a bogus (or semi-bogus) native group.
981 @node Group Modeline Specification
982 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
984 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
985 The mode line can be changed by setting
986 (@code{gnus-group-mode-line-format}). It doesn't understand that many
991 The native news server.
993 The native select method.
997 @node Group Highlighting
998 @subsection Group Highlighting
1000 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1001 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1002 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1003 that look like @var{(form . face)}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1004 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1006 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1010 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1012 ,(custom-face-lookup "Red" nil nil t nil nil))
1013 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) .
1014 ,(custom-face-lookup "SeaGreen" nil nil t nil nil))
1016 ,(custom-face-lookup "SpringGreen" nil nil t nil nil))
1018 ,(custom-face-lookup "SteelBlue" nil nil t nil nil))
1020 ,(custom-face-lookup "SkyBlue" nil nil t nil nil))
1024 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1031 The number of unread articles in the group.
1035 Whether the group is a mail group.
1037 The level of the group.
1039 The score of the group.
1041 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1044 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1045 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1046 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1048 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1049 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1050 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1051 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1052 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1055 @node Group Maneuvering
1056 @section Group Maneuvering
1057 @cindex group movement
1059 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1060 expected, hopefully.
1066 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1067 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1068 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1075 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1076 Go to the previous group group that has unread articles
1077 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1081 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1082 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1086 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1087 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1091 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1092 Go to the next unread group on the same level (or lower)
1093 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1097 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1098 Go to the previous unread group on the same level (or lower)
1099 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1102 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1108 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1109 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1110 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1115 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1116 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1117 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1121 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1122 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1123 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1126 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1127 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1128 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1129 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1133 @node Selecting a Group
1134 @section Selecting a Group
1135 @cindex group selection
1140 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1141 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1142 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1143 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1144 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1145 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1146 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, Gnus
1147 will fetch @var{N} number of articles. If @var{N} is positive, fetch
1148 the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is negative, fetch the
1149 @var{abs(N)} oldest articles.
1153 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1154 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1155 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1156 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1157 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1161 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1162 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1163 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1164 minimum amount off fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1165 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1166 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1167 enter some humongous group.
1170 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1171 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1172 This is yet one more command that does the same as the one above, but
1173 this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1174 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1178 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
1179 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
1180 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
1181 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
1182 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is when catching up a group from
1187 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
1188 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
1189 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
1192 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1193 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
1194 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
1195 unread articles than this, Gnus will query the user before entering the
1196 group. The user can then specify how many articles should be fetched
1197 from the server. If the user specifies a negative number (@code{-n}),
1198 the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it is positive, the
1199 @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will be fetched.
1201 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
1202 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
1203 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
1204 automatically when entering a group.
1209 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
1210 full summary buffer.
1213 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
1216 Select the most high-scored article in the group when entering the
1220 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
1221 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
1222 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
1225 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
1226 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
1227 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
1228 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
1229 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
1230 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
1231 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
1232 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
1233 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which is a list of functions.
1234 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
1235 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
1236 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
1237 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
1238 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
1240 Each function takes two threads and return non-@code{nil} if the first
1241 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
1242 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread. If you use
1243 more than one function, the primary sort key should be the last function
1244 in the list. You should probably always include
1245 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
1246 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
1247 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
1248 ascending article order.
1250 If you would like to sort by score, then by subject, and finally by
1251 number, you could do something like:
1254 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
1255 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
1256 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
1257 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
1260 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
1261 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
1262 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
1263 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
1264 which the articles arrived.
1266 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
1270 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
1272 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
1273 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
1276 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
1277 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
1278 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
1279 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
1282 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
1283 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
1284 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
1285 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
1286 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
1287 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
1288 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
1289 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
1290 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
1291 is uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
1292 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
1293 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
1294 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
1296 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
1300 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
1301 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
1302 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
1306 @node Subscription Commands
1307 @section Subscription Commands
1316 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
1317 Toggle subscription to the current group
1318 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
1324 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
1325 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
1326 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
1327 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
1333 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
1334 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
1340 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
1341 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
1344 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
1345 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
1346 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
1347 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
1348 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
1354 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
1355 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
1359 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
1360 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
1363 @kindex S C-k (Group)
1364 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
1365 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
1366 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
1367 be used with some caution. The only thing where this command comes in
1368 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
1369 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level @code{7} will
1370 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
1371 @file{.newsrc} file.
1375 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1379 @section Group Levels
1382 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
1383 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
1384 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
1385 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
1386 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1392 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
1393 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
1394 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
1395 prompted for a level.
1398 @vindex gnus-level-killed
1399 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
1400 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
1401 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
1402 Gnus considers groups on between levels 1 and
1403 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
1404 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
1405 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
1406 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
1407 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (default 9),
1408 completely dead. Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly
1409 the same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what
1410 articles you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and
1411 living groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely
1412 for reasons of efficiency.
1414 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
1415 low levels (eg. 1 or 2).
1417 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
1418 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
1419 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
1421 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
1422 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
1423 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
1424 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
1425 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
1426 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
1427 relevant legal ranges.
1429 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
1430 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
1431 will only move to groups that are of the same level (or lower). In
1432 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
1433 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
1434 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
1437 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
1438 All groups with a level less than or equal to
1439 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
1442 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
1443 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
1444 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
1445 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
1448 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
1449 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
1450 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
1451 use this level as the ``work'' level.
1453 @vindex gnus-activate-level
1454 Gnus will normally just activate groups that are on level
1455 @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to activate
1456 unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable to
1461 @section Group Score
1464 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
1465 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
1466 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
1469 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can assign a score to each
1470 group. You can then sort the group buffer based on this score.
1471 Alternatively, you can sort on score and then level. (Taken together,
1472 the level and the score is called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group
1473 that is on level 4 and has a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group
1474 on level 5 that has a score of 300. (The level is the most significant
1475 part and the score is the least significant part.)
1477 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
1478 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
1479 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
1480 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
1481 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
1482 action after each summary exit, you can add
1483 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
1484 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
1485 slow things down somewhat.
1488 @node Marking Groups
1489 @section Marking Groups
1490 @cindex marking groups
1492 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
1493 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
1494 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
1495 bidding on those groups.
1497 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
1498 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
1499 with the process mark and then execute the command.
1507 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
1508 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
1514 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
1515 Remove the mark from the current group
1516 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
1520 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
1521 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
1525 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
1526 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
1530 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
1531 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
1535 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
1536 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
1537 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
1540 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
1542 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
1543 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
1544 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
1545 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
1546 the command to be executed.
1549 @node Foreign Groups
1550 @section Foreign Groups
1552 Here are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
1553 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
1554 special-purpose groups:
1560 @findex gnus-group-make-group
1561 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
1562 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
1563 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
1567 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
1568 Rename the current group to something else
1569 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is legal only on some groups --
1570 mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow on some
1575 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
1576 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
1577 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
1581 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
1582 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
1583 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
1587 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
1588 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
1589 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
1593 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
1594 Make a directory group. You will be prompted for a directory name
1595 (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
1599 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
1600 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
1604 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
1605 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
1606 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
1607 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
1608 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
1609 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
1610 group will be created from from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
1614 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
1615 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
1616 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
1617 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
1621 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
1622 Read an arbitrary directory as if with were a newsgroup with the
1623 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
1627 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
1628 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
1629 Make a group based on some file or other
1630 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1631 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
1632 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
1633 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs}, and
1634 @code{forward}. If you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will
1635 guess at the file type.
1638 @kindex G DEL (Group)
1639 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
1640 This function will delete the current group
1641 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
1642 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
1643 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
1644 absolutely sure of what you are doing.
1648 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
1649 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
1650 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}).
1654 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
1655 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
1656 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
1659 @xref{Select Methods} for more information on the various select
1662 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
1663 If the @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
1664 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
1665 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
1666 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers.
1669 @node Group Parameters
1670 @section Group Parameters
1671 @cindex group parameters
1673 Gnus stores all information on a group in a list that is usually known
1674 as the @dfn{group info}. This list has from three to six elements.
1675 Here's an example info.
1678 ("nnml:mail.ding" 3 ((1 . 232) 244 (256 . 270)) ((tick 246 249))
1679 (nnml "private") ((to-address . "ding@@ifi.uio.no")))
1682 The first element is the @dfn{group name}, as Gnus knows the group,
1683 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
1684 normally is a small integer. The third element is a list of ranges of
1685 read articles. The fourth element is a list of lists of article marks
1686 of various kinds. The fifth element is the select method (or virtual
1687 server, if you like). The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group
1688 parameters}, which is what this section is about.
1690 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
1691 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
1692 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
1694 The group parameters store information local to a particular group:
1699 If the group parameter list contains an element that looks like
1700 @code{(to-address . "some@@where.com")}, that address will be used by
1701 the backend when doing followups and posts. This is primarily useful in
1702 mail groups that represent closed mailing lists---mailing lists where
1703 it's expected that everybody that writes to the mailing list is
1704 subscribed to it. Since using this parameter ensures that the mail only
1705 goes to the mailing list itself, it means that members won't receive two
1706 copies of your followups.
1708 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
1709 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
1710 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
1711 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
1712 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
1713 list address instead.
1717 If the group parameter list has an element that looks like
1718 @code{(to-list . "some@@where.com")}, that address will be used when
1719 doing a @kbd{a} in any group. It is totally ignored when doing a
1720 followup---except that if it is present in a news group, you'll get mail
1721 group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
1723 @item broken-reply-to
1724 @cindex broken-reply-to
1725 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
1726 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
1727 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
1728 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
1729 broken behavior. So there!
1733 If the group parameter list contains an element like @code{(to-group
1734 . "some.group.name")}, all posts will be sent to that group.
1738 If this symbol is present in the group parameter list, all articles that
1739 are read will be marked as expirable. For an alternative approach,
1740 @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
1743 @cindex total-expire
1744 If this symbol is present, all read articles will be put through the
1745 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
1750 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
1751 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
1752 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
1753 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
1754 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
1755 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
1758 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
1759 @samp{file} into the current score file for the group in question. This
1760 means that all score commands you issue will end up in that file.
1763 When unsubscribing to a mailing list you should never send the
1764 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
1765 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
1766 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
1769 This parameter allows you to enter a arbitrary comment on the group.
1771 @item @var{(variable form)}
1772 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
1773 are entering. Say you want to turn threading off in
1774 @samp{news.answers}. You'd then put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in
1775 the group parameters of that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be
1776 made into a local variable in the summary buffer you enter, and the form
1777 @code{nil} will be @code{eval}ed there.
1779 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
1780 If you want to hear a beep when you enter the group
1781 @samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, you could put something like
1782 @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that group.
1783 @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the @code{(ding)}
1784 form, but who cares?
1788 If you want to change the group info you can use the @kbd{G E} command
1789 to enter a buffer where you can edit it.
1791 You usually don't want to edit the entire group info, so you'd be better
1792 off using the @kbd{G p} command to just edit the group parameters.
1795 @node Listing Groups
1796 @section Listing Groups
1797 @cindex group listing
1799 These commands all list various slices of the groups that are available.
1807 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
1808 List all groups that have unread articles
1809 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
1810 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
1811 only lists groups of level five or lower (i.e., just subscribed groups).
1817 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
1818 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
1819 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
1820 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
1821 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
1822 unsubscribed groups).
1826 @findex gnus-group-list-level
1827 List all unread groups on a specific level
1828 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
1829 with no unread articles.
1833 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
1834 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
1835 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
1836 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
1841 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
1842 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
1846 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
1847 List all subscribed groups with unread articles that match a regexp
1848 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
1852 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
1853 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
1857 @findex gnus-group-list-active
1858 List absolutely all groups that are in the active file(s) of the
1859 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
1860 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
1861 to do a @kbd{A m} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
1866 @findex gnus-group-apropos
1867 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
1868 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
1872 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
1873 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
1874 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
1878 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
1879 @cindex visible group parameter
1880 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
1881 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
1882 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
1883 get the same effect.
1885 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
1886 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
1887 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
1888 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
1889 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
1892 @node Sorting Groups
1893 @section Sorting Groups
1894 @cindex sorting groups
1896 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
1897 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
1898 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
1899 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
1900 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
1901 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
1906 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
1907 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
1908 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
1910 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
1911 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
1912 Sort by group level.
1914 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
1915 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
1916 Sort by group score.
1918 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
1919 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
1920 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
1921 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}.
1923 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
1924 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
1925 Sort by number of unread articles.
1927 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
1928 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
1929 Sort by alphabetically on the select method.
1934 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
1935 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
1939 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
1940 some sorting criteria:
1944 @kindex G S a (Group)
1945 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
1946 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
1947 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
1950 @kindex G S u (Group)
1951 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
1952 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
1953 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
1956 @kindex G S l (Group)
1957 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
1958 Sort the group buffer by group level
1959 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
1962 @kindex G S v (Group)
1963 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
1964 Sort the group buffer by group score
1965 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}).
1968 @kindex G S r (Group)
1969 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
1970 Sort the group buffer by group level
1971 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}).
1974 @kindex G S m (Group)
1975 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
1976 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
1977 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
1981 When given a prefix, all these commands will sort in reverse order.
1984 @node Group Maintenance
1985 @section Group Maintenance
1986 @cindex bogus groups
1991 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
1992 Find bogus groups and delete them
1993 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
1997 @findex gnus-find-new-newsgroups
1998 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-find-new-newsgroups}). If
1999 given a prefix, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server for
2003 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
2004 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
2005 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
2006 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
2009 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
2010 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
2011 Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
2012 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
2017 @node Browse Foreign Server
2018 @section Browse Foreign Server
2019 @cindex foreign servers
2020 @cindex browsing servers
2025 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
2026 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
2027 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
2028 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
2031 @findex gnus-browse-server-mode
2032 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
2033 will be use the @code{gnus-browse-server-mode}. This buffer looks a bit
2034 (well, a lot) like a normal group buffer, but with one major difference
2035 - you can't enter any of the groups. If you want to read any of the
2036 news available on that server, you have to subscribe to the groups you
2037 think may be interesting, and then you have to exit this buffer. The
2038 new groups will be added to the group buffer, and then you can read them
2039 as you would any other group.
2041 Future versions of Gnus may possibly permit reading groups straight from
2044 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
2049 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2050 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2054 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2055 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2058 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
2059 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
2060 Enter the current group and display the first article
2061 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
2064 @kindex RET (Browse)
2065 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
2066 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
2070 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
2071 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
2072 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2078 @findex gnus-browse-exit
2079 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
2083 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
2084 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
2085 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
2090 @section Exiting Gnus
2091 @cindex exiting Gnus
2093 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
2098 @findex gnus-group-suspend
2099 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
2100 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
2101 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
2105 @findex gnus-group-exit
2106 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
2110 @findex gnus-group-quit
2111 Quit Gnus without saving any startup files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
2114 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
2115 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
2116 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
2117 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
2118 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
2123 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
2124 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
2125 trying to customize meta-variables.
2130 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, feels her feet go
2131 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
2132 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
2138 @section Group Topics
2141 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
2142 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
2143 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
2144 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
2145 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
2146 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
2148 @findex gnus-topic-mode
2150 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
2151 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
2152 is a toggling command.)
2154 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
2155 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
2156 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
2157 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
2160 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
2161 the hook for the group mode:
2164 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
2168 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
2169 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
2170 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
2174 @node Topic Variables
2175 @subsection Topic Variables
2176 @cindex topic variables
2178 @vindex gnus-topic-unique
2179 If @code{gnus-topic-unique} is non-@code{nil}, each group will be member
2180 of (tops) one topic each. If this is @code{nil}, each group might end
2181 up being a member of several topics.
2183 Now, if you select a topic, if will fold/unfold that topic, which is
2184 really neat, I think.
2186 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
2187 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
2188 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
2189 Elements allowed are:
2201 Number of groups in the topic.
2203 Number of unread articles in the topic.
2205 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
2208 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
2209 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
2210 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
2211 The default is @code{2}.
2213 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
2214 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
2217 @node Topic Commands
2218 @subsection Topic Commands
2219 @cindex topic commands
2221 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
2222 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
2223 definitions slightly.
2229 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
2230 Create a new topic (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}). You will be
2231 prompted for a topic name and the name of the parent topic.
2235 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
2236 Move the current group to some other topic
2237 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command understands the
2238 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2242 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
2243 Copy the current group to some other topic
2244 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command understands the
2245 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2249 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
2250 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
2251 This command understands the process/prefix convention
2252 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2256 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
2257 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2258 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
2262 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
2263 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2264 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
2268 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
2269 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
2270 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
2273 @kindex T M-# (Group)
2274 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
2275 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
2276 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
2280 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
2282 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
2283 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
2284 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
2285 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
2286 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
2287 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
2290 @kindex T TAB (Group)
2291 @findex gnus-topic-indent
2292 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2293 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
2294 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
2298 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
2299 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}).
2303 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
2304 Yank the previously killed group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}).
2305 Note that all topics will be yanked before all groups.
2309 @findex gnus-topic-rename
2310 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
2313 @kindex T DEL (Group)
2314 @findex gnus-topic-delete
2315 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
2319 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
2320 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
2321 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
2326 @node Topic Topology
2327 @subsection Topic Topology
2328 @cindex topic topology
2331 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
2337 2: alt.religion.emacs
2340 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2342 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2343 13: comp.sources.unix
2346 So, here we have one top-level topic, two topics under that, and one
2347 sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always just one (1)
2348 top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as follows:
2352 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
2353 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
2357 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
2358 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
2359 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
2360 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
2361 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
2362 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
2364 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
2365 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
2366 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
2369 @node Misc Group Stuff
2370 @section Misc Group Stuff
2373 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
2374 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
2375 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
2382 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
2383 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}). @xref{The
2388 @findex gnus-group-post-news
2389 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). The current
2390 group name will be used as the default.
2394 @findex gnus-group-mail
2395 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
2399 Variables for the group buffer:
2403 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
2404 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
2405 @code{gnus-group-mode-hook} is called after the group buffer has been
2408 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
2409 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
2410 @code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} is called after the group buffer is
2411 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
2417 @node Scanning New Messages
2418 @subsection Scanning New Messages
2419 @cindex new messages
2420 @cindex scanning new news
2426 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
2427 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
2428 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
2429 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
2430 command will force a total rereading of the active file(s) from the
2435 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
2436 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
2437 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
2438 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}). The
2439 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} variable controls whether
2440 this command is to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t}
2443 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
2444 @cindex activating groups
2446 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
2447 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
2452 @findex gnus-group-restart
2453 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}).
2457 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
2458 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
2460 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
2461 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
2465 @node Group Information
2466 @subsection Group Information
2467 @cindex group information
2468 @cindex information on groups
2474 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
2477 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
2478 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
2479 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
2480 remote machine. @code{ange-ftp} will be used for fetching the file.
2484 @cindex describing groups
2485 @cindex group description
2486 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
2487 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
2488 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
2492 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
2493 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
2494 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
2499 @findex gnus-version
2500 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
2504 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
2505 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
2508 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
2511 @findex gnus-info-find-node
2512 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
2517 @subsection File Commands
2518 @cindex file commands
2524 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
2525 @vindex gnus-init-file
2526 @cindex reading init file
2527 Read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
2528 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
2532 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
2533 @cindex saving .newsrc
2534 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
2535 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
2536 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
2540 @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
2541 Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
2546 @node The Summary Buffer
2547 @chapter The Summary Buffer
2548 @cindex summary buffer
2550 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
2551 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
2554 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
2555 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
2556 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
2557 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
2558 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
2559 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
2560 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
2561 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
2562 * Threading:: How threads are made.
2563 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
2564 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
2565 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
2566 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
2567 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
2568 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
2569 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
2570 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
2571 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
2572 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
2573 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
2574 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
2575 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
2576 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
2580 @node Summary Buffer Format
2581 @section Summary Buffer Format
2582 @cindex summary buffer format
2585 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
2586 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
2587 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
2590 @findex mail-extract-address-components
2591 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
2592 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
2593 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
2594 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
2595 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined function exist:
2596 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
2597 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
2598 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
2601 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
2602 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
2603 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
2604 with those specs that require it. The default is @samp{}.
2607 @node Summary Buffer Lines
2608 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
2610 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
2611 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
2612 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
2613 lines a a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions.
2615 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
2617 The following format specification characters are understood:
2625 Subject if the article is the root, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject}
2628 Full @code{From} line.
2630 The name (from the @code{From} header).
2632 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
2633 spec in that it uses @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is
2634 slower, but may be more thorough.
2636 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
2639 Number of lines in the article.
2641 Number of characters in the article.
2643 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
2645 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
2646 pushes everything after it off the screen).
2648 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{\[}, but can also be @samp{<}
2649 for adopted articles.
2651 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{\]}, but can also be @samp{>}
2652 for adopted articles.
2654 One space for each thread level.
2656 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
2664 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
2665 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
2666 default level. If the difference between
2667 @code{gnus-summary-default-level} and the score is less than
2668 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
2680 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
2681 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
2683 A single character will be displayed if the article has any children.
2685 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
2686 be a letter. @sc{gnus} will call the function
2687 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
2688 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
2689 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
2690 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
2693 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
2694 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
2695 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
2696 that. This means that it is illegal to have these specs after a
2697 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
2698 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
2700 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
2701 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
2703 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
2706 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
2707 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
2709 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
2710 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar. Set
2711 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you like. Here are the
2712 elements you can play with:
2718 Unprefixed group name.
2720 Current article number.
2724 Number of unread articles in this group.
2726 Number of unselected articles in this group.
2728 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
2729 either as @samp{<%U(+%u) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
2730 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
2731 and no unselected ones.
2733 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
2734 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
2736 Subject of the current article.
2740 Name of the current score file.
2742 Number of dormant articles.
2744 Number of ticked articles.
2746 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
2748 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
2752 @node Summary Highlighting
2753 @subsection Summary Highlighting
2757 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
2758 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
2759 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
2760 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
2761 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
2763 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
2764 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
2765 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
2766 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
2768 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
2769 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
2770 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) that is used to
2771 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
2773 @item gnus-summary-highlight
2774 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
2775 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
2776 list where the elements are on the format @code{(FORM . FACE)}. If you
2777 would, for instance, like ticked articles to be italic and high-scored
2778 articles to be bold, you could set this variable to something like
2780 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
2781 ((> score default) . bold))
2783 As you may have guessed, if @var{FORM} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
2784 @var{FACE} will be applied to the line.
2788 @node Summary Maneuvering
2789 @section Summary Maneuvering
2790 @cindex summary movement
2792 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
2793 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
2795 None of these commands select articles.
2800 @kindex M-n (Summary)
2801 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
2802 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
2803 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
2804 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
2808 @kindex M-p (Summary)
2809 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
2810 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
2811 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
2812 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
2817 @kindex G j (Summary)
2818 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
2819 Ask for an article number and then go that article
2820 (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
2823 @kindex G g (Summary)
2824 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
2825 Ask for an article number and then go the summary line of that article
2826 (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
2829 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
2830 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
2831 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
2832 to the group buffer.
2834 Variables related to summary movement:
2838 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
2839 @item gnus-auto-select-next
2840 If you are at the end of the group and issue one of the movement
2841 commands, Gnus will offer to go to the next group. If this variable is
2842 @code{t} and the next group is empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and
2843 return to the group buffer. If this variable is neither @code{t} nor
2844 @code{nil}, Gnus will select the next group, no matter whether it has
2845 any unread articles or not. As a special case, if this variable is
2846 @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
2847 confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same will
2848 happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
2849 Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
2850 command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
2851 @pxref{Group Levels}.
2853 @item gnus-auto-select-same
2854 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
2855 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
2856 article with the same subject as the current. This variable is not
2857 particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
2859 @item gnus-summary-check-current
2860 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
2861 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
2862 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
2863 Instead, they will choose the current article.
2865 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
2866 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
2867 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
2868 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
2869 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
2870 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
2871 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
2872 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
2878 @node Choosing Articles
2879 @section Choosing Articles
2880 @cindex selecting articles
2882 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
2883 and they all select and display an article.
2887 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
2888 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
2889 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
2890 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
2895 @kindex G n (Summary)
2896 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
2897 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
2902 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
2903 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
2908 @kindex G N (Summary)
2909 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
2910 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
2915 @kindex G P (Summary)
2916 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
2917 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
2920 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
2921 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
2922 Go to the next article with the same subject
2923 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
2926 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
2927 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
2928 Go to the previous article with the same subject
2929 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
2933 @kindex G f (Summary)
2935 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
2936 Go to the first unread article
2937 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
2941 @kindex G b (Summary)
2943 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
2944 Go to the article with the highest score
2945 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
2950 @kindex G l (Summary)
2951 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
2952 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
2955 @kindex G p (Summary)
2956 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
2957 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
2958 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
2959 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
2960 history as you like.
2963 Some variables that are relevant for moving and selecting articles:
2966 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
2967 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
2968 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
2969 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
2970 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
2971 the server and display it in the article buffer.
2973 @item gnus-select-article-hook
2974 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
2975 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
2976 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
2978 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
2979 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
2980 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
2981 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
2982 @findex gnus-unread-mark
2983 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
2984 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
2985 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
2986 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
2987 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
2988 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
2989 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
2990 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
2991 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
2996 @node Paging the Article
2997 @section Scrolling the Article
2998 @cindex article scrolling
3003 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3004 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3005 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
3006 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
3007 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3010 @kindex DEL (Summary)
3011 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
3012 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
3015 @kindex RET (Summary)
3016 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
3017 Scroll the current article one line forward
3018 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
3023 @kindex A < (Summary)
3024 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
3025 Scroll to the beginning of the article
3026 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
3031 @kindex A > (Summary)
3032 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
3033 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
3036 @kindex A s (Summary)
3037 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
3038 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
3039 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
3044 @node Reply Followup and Post
3045 @section Reply, Followup and Post
3048 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
3049 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
3050 * Summary Mail and Post Commands:: Sending both news and mail.
3054 @node Summary Mail Commands
3055 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
3057 @cindex composing mail
3059 Commands for composing a mail message:
3065 @kindex S r (Summary)
3067 @findex gnus-summary-reply
3068 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
3069 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
3074 @kindex S R (Summary)
3075 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
3076 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
3077 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
3078 command uses the process/prefix convention.
3081 @kindex S o m (Summary)
3082 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
3083 Forward the current article to some other person
3084 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}).
3087 @kindex S o p (Summary)
3088 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
3089 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
3090 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
3095 @kindex S m (Summary)
3096 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
3097 Send a mail to some other person
3098 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
3101 @kindex S D b (Summary)
3102 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
3103 @vindex gnus-bounced-headers-junk
3104 @cindex bouncing mail
3105 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
3106 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
3107 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
3108 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
3109 sending the mail off again. The headers that match the regexp
3110 @code{gnus-bounced-headers-junk} (default @samp{^Received:}) are
3111 automatically deleted first. If you give a prefix to this command, and
3112 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
3113 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
3114 very well fail, though.
3117 @kindex S D r (Summary)
3118 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
3119 @vindex gnus-ignored-resent-headers
3120 Not to be confused with the previous command,
3121 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
3122 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
3123 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
3124 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
3125 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
3126 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
3127 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl. All old
3128 headers that match the regular expression
3129 @code{gnus-ignored-resent-headers} will be deleted before resending the
3130 message. The default is @samp{"^Return-receipt"}.
3132 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
3133 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
3134 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
3135 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
3136 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
3139 @kindex S O m (Summary)
3140 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
3141 Digest the current series and forward the result using mail
3142 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
3143 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3146 @kindex S O p (Summary)
3147 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
3148 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
3149 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}).
3153 @node Summary Post Commands
3154 @subsection Summary Post Commands
3156 @cindex composing news
3158 Commands for posting an article:
3164 @kindex S p (Summary)
3165 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
3166 Post an article to the current group
3167 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
3172 @kindex S f (Summary)
3173 @findex gnus-summary-followup
3174 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
3178 @kindex S F (Summary)
3180 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
3181 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
3182 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
3183 process/prefix convention.
3186 @kindex S u (Summary)
3187 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
3188 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
3189 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
3193 @node Summary Mail and Post Commands
3194 @subsection Summary Mail and Post Commands
3195 @cindex mail and post
3196 @cindex post and mail
3198 Commands for sending mail and post at the same time:
3202 @kindex S b (Summary)
3203 @findex gnus-summary-followup-and-reply
3204 Post a followup and send a reply to the current article
3205 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-and-reply}).
3208 @kindex S B (Summary)
3209 @findex gnus-summary-followup-and-reply-with-original
3210 Post a followup and send a reply to the current article and include the
3211 original message (@code{gnus-summary-followup-and-reply-with-original}).
3212 This command uses the process/prefix convention.
3216 @node Canceling and Superseding
3217 @section Canceling Articles
3218 @cindex canceling articles
3219 @cindex superseding articles
3221 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
3222 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
3224 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
3226 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
3228 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
3229 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
3230 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
3231 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
3233 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
3234 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
3237 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
3238 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
3239 your original article.
3241 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
3243 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
3244 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
3245 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
3248 @vindex gnus-delete-supersedes-headers
3249 You probably want to delete some of the old headers before sending the
3250 superseding article---@code{Path} and @code{Date} are probably
3251 incorrect. Set @code{gnus-delete-supersedes-headers} to a regexp to
3252 match the lines you want removed. The default is
3253 @samp{^Path:\\|^Date}.
3255 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
3256 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
3257 have posted almost the same article twice.
3259 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
3260 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
3261 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
3262 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*post-buf*}). There you will
3263 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
3264 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
3265 header by substituting one of those words for @code{Message-ID}. Then
3266 just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as you would do normally.
3267 The previous article will be canceled/superseded.
3269 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
3272 @node Marking Articles
3273 @section Marking Articles
3274 @cindex article marking
3275 @cindex article ticking
3278 There are several marks you can set on an article.
3280 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
3281 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
3282 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
3284 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
3287 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
3288 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
3289 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
3293 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
3297 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
3298 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
3302 @node Unread Articles
3303 @subsection Unread Articles
3305 The following marks mark articles as unread, in one form or other.
3307 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
3308 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
3311 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
3312 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
3313 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
3314 tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an
3315 article forever, you'll have to save it. Ticked articles have a
3316 @samp{!} (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}) in the first column.
3319 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
3320 A @dfn{dormant} article is marked with a @samp{?}
3321 (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}), and will only appear in the summary buffer
3322 if there are followups to it.
3325 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
3326 An @dfn{unread} article is marked with a @samp{SPACE}
3327 (@code{gnus-unread-mark}). These are articles that haven't been read at
3333 @subsection Read Articles
3334 @cindex expirable mark
3336 All the following marks mark articles as read.
3341 @vindex gnus-del-mark
3342 Articles that are marked as read. They have a @samp{r}
3343 (@code{gnus-del-mark}) in the first column. These are articles that the
3344 user has marked as read more or less manually.
3347 @vindex gnus-read-mark
3348 Articles that are actually read are marked with @samp{R}
3349 (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
3352 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
3353 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions are now
3354 @dfn{old} and marked with @samp{O} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
3357 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
3358 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
3361 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
3362 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
3365 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
3366 Marked as read by having a too low score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
3369 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
3370 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
3373 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
3374 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
3377 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
3378 @sc{SOUP}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}).
3381 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
3382 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}).
3385 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
3386 They are interpreted differently by the adaptive scoring scheme,
3389 One more special mark, though:
3393 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
3394 You can also mark articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as
3395 such automatically). That doesn't make much sense in normal groups,
3396 because a user does not control the expiring of news articles, but in
3397 mail groups, for instance, articles that are marked as @dfn{expirable}
3398 can be deleted by Gnus at any time. Expirable articles are marked with
3399 @samp{E} (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
3404 @subsection Other Marks
3405 @cindex process mark
3408 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
3414 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
3415 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
3416 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
3417 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
3418 encounters the article.
3421 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
3422 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
3423 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
3424 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
3427 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
3428 Articles that are stored in the article cache will be marked with an
3429 @samp{*} in the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}).
3432 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
3433 Articles that are ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
3434 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
3435 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}.
3438 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
3439 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
3440 It the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
3441 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
3442 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
3445 @vindex gnus-process-mark
3446 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}. A
3447 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
3448 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
3449 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
3450 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
3454 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
3455 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
3456 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
3458 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
3459 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
3460 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
3464 @subsection Setting Marks
3465 @cindex setting marks
3467 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
3473 @kindex M t (Summary)
3474 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
3475 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
3480 @kindex M ? (Summary)
3481 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
3482 Mark the current article as dormant
3483 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}).
3487 @kindex M d (Summary)
3489 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
3490 Mark the current article as read
3491 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
3496 @kindex M k (Summary)
3497 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
3498 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
3499 and then select the next unread article
3500 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
3504 @kindex M K (Summary)
3505 @kindex C-k (Summary)
3506 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
3507 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
3508 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
3511 @kindex M C (Summary)
3512 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
3513 Mark all unread articles in the group as read
3514 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
3517 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
3518 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
3519 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
3520 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
3523 @kindex M H (Summary)
3524 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
3525 Catchup the current group to point
3526 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
3529 @kindex C-w (Summary)
3530 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
3531 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
3532 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
3535 @kindex M V k (Summary)
3536 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
3537 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
3538 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
3542 @kindex M c (Summary)
3543 @kindex M-u (Summary)
3544 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
3545 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
3546 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}).
3550 @kindex M e (Summary)
3552 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
3553 Mark the current article as expirable
3554 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
3557 @kindex M b (Summary)
3558 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
3559 Set a bookmark in the current article
3560 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
3563 @kindex M B (Summary)
3564 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
3565 Remove the bookmark from the current article
3566 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
3569 @kindex M V c (Summary)
3570 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
3571 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
3572 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
3575 @kindex M V u (Summary)
3576 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
3577 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
3578 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
3581 @kindex M V m (Summary)
3582 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
3583 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
3584 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
3585 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
3588 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
3589 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
3590 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
3591 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
3592 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
3593 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
3594 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
3595 The default is @code{t}.
3598 @node Setting Process Marks
3599 @subsection Setting Process Marks
3600 @cindex setting process marks
3607 @kindex M P p (Summary)
3608 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
3609 Mark the current article with the process mark
3610 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
3611 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
3615 @kindex M P u (Summary)
3616 @kindex M-# (Summary)
3617 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
3618 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
3621 @kindex M P U (Summary)
3622 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
3623 Remove the process mark from all articles
3624 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
3627 @kindex M P R (Summary)
3628 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
3629 Mark articles by a regular expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
3632 @kindex M P r (Summary)
3633 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
3634 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
3637 @kindex M P t (Summary)
3638 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
3639 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
3640 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
3643 @kindex M P T (Summary)
3644 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
3645 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
3646 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
3649 @kindex M P v (Summary)
3650 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
3651 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
3652 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
3655 @kindex M P s (Summary)
3656 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
3657 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
3660 @kindex M P S (Summary)
3661 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
3662 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
3663 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
3666 @kindex M P a (Summary)
3667 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
3668 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
3671 @kindex M P b (Summary)
3672 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
3673 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
3674 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
3682 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
3683 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
3684 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
3691 @kindex / / (Summary)
3692 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
3693 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
3694 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
3697 @kindex / a (Summary)
3698 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
3699 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
3700 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
3704 @kindex / u (Summary)
3706 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
3707 Limit the summary buffer to articles that are not marked as read
3708 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
3709 buffer to articles that are strictly unread. This means that ticked and
3710 dormant articles will also be excluded.
3713 @kindex / m (Summary)
3714 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
3715 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have not been marked
3716 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
3719 @kindex / n (Summary)
3720 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
3721 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
3722 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
3723 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3726 @kindex / w (Summary)
3727 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
3728 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
3729 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
3733 @kindex / v (Summary)
3734 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
3735 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
3736 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
3740 @kindex M S (Summary)
3741 @kindex / E (Summary)
3742 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
3743 Display all expunged articles
3744 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
3747 @kindex / D (Summary)
3748 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
3749 Display all dormant articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
3752 @kindex / d (Summary)
3753 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
3754 Hide all dormant articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
3757 @kindex / c (Summary)
3758 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
3759 Hide all dormant articles that have no children
3760 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
3763 @kindex / C (Summary)
3764 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
3765 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
3766 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
3767 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
3775 @cindex article threading
3777 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put replies to
3778 articles directly after the articles they reply to---in a hierarchical
3782 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
3783 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
3787 @node Customizing Threading
3788 @subsection Customizing Threading
3789 @cindex customizing threading
3795 @item gnus-show-threads
3796 @vindex gnus-show-threads
3797 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
3798 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
3799 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
3800 slower and more awkward.
3802 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
3803 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
3804 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
3805 more old headers---headers to articles that are marked as read. If you
3806 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
3807 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
3808 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
3809 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
3810 fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
3811 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
3812 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
3813 expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that.
3815 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
3816 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
3817 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
3818 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
3819 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
3820 articles that belong in the same thread together. This will leave
3821 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
3822 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
3823 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
3824 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
3825 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
3826 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
3827 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
3828 @code{nil} by default.
3830 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
3831 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
3832 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
3833 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
3834 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
3835 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
3836 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subjects lines. If
3837 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
3838 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
3839 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
3840 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
3842 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
3843 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
3844 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects.
3846 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
3847 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
3848 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
3849 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
3850 simplification is used.
3852 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
3853 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
3854 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
3855 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
3857 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
3859 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
3862 (mapconcat 'identity
3864 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
3865 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
3866 "answer" "reference" "announce"
3867 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
3872 (mapconcat 'identity
3873 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
3875 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
3878 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
3881 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
3882 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
3883 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
3884 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
3885 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
3886 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
3887 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process. The
3888 default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
3890 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
3891 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
3892 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
3893 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
3894 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
3895 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
3896 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever includes unrelated
3897 articles, but it's also means that people who have posted with broken
3898 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
3902 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
3903 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
3904 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
3905 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
3907 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
3908 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
3909 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
3912 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
3916 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
3917 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
3920 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
3921 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
3922 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
3923 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
3924 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
3925 read or killed the root in a previous session.
3927 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
3928 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
3929 There are four possible values:
3931 @cindex adopting articles
3936 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
3937 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
3938 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
3939 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
3942 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
3943 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
3944 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
3945 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
3946 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
3947 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
3948 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
3951 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
3952 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
3953 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
3957 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
3958 display them after one another.
3961 Don't gather loose threads.
3964 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
3965 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
3966 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
3969 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
3970 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
3971 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
3974 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
3975 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
3976 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
3977 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
3978 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
3981 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
3982 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
3983 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
3984 The default is @code{4}.
3988 @node Thread Commands
3989 @subsection Thread Commands
3990 @cindex thread commands
3996 @kindex T k (Summary)
3997 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
3998 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
3999 Mark all articles in the current sub-thread as read
4000 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
4001 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
4006 @kindex T l (Summary)
4007 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
4008 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
4009 Lower the score of the current thread
4010 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
4013 @kindex T i (Summary)
4014 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
4015 Increase the score of the current thread
4016 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
4019 @kindex T # (Summary)
4020 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
4021 Set the process mark on the current thread
4022 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
4025 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
4026 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
4027 Remove the process mark from the current thread
4028 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
4031 @kindex T T (Summary)
4032 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
4033 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
4036 @kindex T s (Summary)
4037 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
4038 Expose the thread hidden under the current article, if any
4039 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
4042 @kindex T h (Summary)
4043 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
4044 Hide the current (sub)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
4047 @kindex T S (Summary)
4048 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
4049 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
4052 @kindex T H (Summary)
4053 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
4054 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
4057 @kindex T t (Summary)
4058 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
4059 Re-thread the thread the current article is part of
4060 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
4061 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
4064 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
4065 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
4066 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
4067 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}.
4071 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
4072 understand the numeric prefix.
4077 @kindex T n (Summary)
4078 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
4079 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
4082 @kindex T p (Summary)
4083 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
4084 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
4087 @kindex T d (Summary)
4088 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
4089 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
4092 @kindex T u (Summary)
4093 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
4094 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
4097 @kindex T o (Summary)
4098 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
4099 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
4102 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
4103 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
4104 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
4105 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
4106 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
4107 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
4108 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If is
4109 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
4110 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
4111 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
4112 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
4113 that have subjects that are fuzzily equal will be included.
4116 @node Asynchronous Fetching
4117 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
4118 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
4120 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
4121 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
4122 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
4123 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
4124 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
4126 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
4127 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
4129 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
4130 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
4131 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
4132 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
4133 connection is blocked.
4135 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
4136 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
4137 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
4138 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
4140 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
4141 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
4142 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
4143 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
4146 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
4149 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
4150 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
4151 happen automatically.
4153 @vindex nntp-async-number
4154 You can control how many articles that are to be pre-fetched by setting
4155 @code{nntp-async-number}. This is five by default, which means that when
4156 you read an article in the group, @code{nntp} will pre-fetch the next
4157 five articles. If this variable is @code{t}, @code{nntp} will pre-fetch
4158 all the articles that it can without bound. If it is @code{nil}, no
4159 pre-fetching will be made.
4161 @vindex gnus-asynchronous-article-function
4162 You may wish to create some sort of scheme for choosing which articles
4163 that @code{nntp} should consider as candidates for pre-fetching. For
4164 instance, you may wish to pre-fetch all articles with high scores, and
4165 not pre-fetch low-scored articles. You can do that by setting the
4166 @code{gnus-asynchronous-article-function}, which will be called with an
4167 alist where the keys are the article numbers. Your function should
4168 return an alist where the articles you are not interested in have been
4169 removed. You could also do sorting on article score and the like.
4172 @node Article Caching
4173 @section Article Caching
4174 @cindex article caching
4177 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
4178 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
4179 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
4180 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
4181 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
4183 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
4185 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
4186 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
4187 @vindex gnus-use-cache
4188 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
4189 all articles that are ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
4190 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
4191 cache is flat or hierarchal is controlled by the
4192 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
4194 When re-select a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
4195 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
4196 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
4197 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
4198 as dormant, and don't worry.
4200 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
4202 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
4203 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
4204 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
4205 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
4206 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
4207 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
4208 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
4209 articles that are marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
4210 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
4211 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
4213 @findex gnus-jog-cache
4214 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
4215 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
4216 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, and store them in
4217 the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this command if 1)
4218 your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really, really slow
4219 and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk. Seriously.
4221 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
4222 It is likely that you do not want caching on some groups. For instance,
4223 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
4224 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
4225 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space. To limit the caching,
4226 you could set the @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to
4227 @samp{^nnml}, for instance. This variable is @code{nil} by
4230 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
4231 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
4232 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
4233 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
4234 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
4235 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
4236 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
4237 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
4238 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
4242 @node Persistent Articles
4243 @section Persistent Articles
4244 @cindex persistent articles
4246 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
4247 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
4248 useful in my opinion.
4250 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
4251 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
4252 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
4253 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
4254 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
4255 the expiry going on at the news server.
4257 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
4258 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
4259 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
4265 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
4266 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
4269 @kindex M-* (Summary)
4270 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
4271 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
4272 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
4276 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
4278 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
4279 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
4280 interested in persistent articles:
4283 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
4287 @node Article Backlog
4288 @section Article Backlog
4290 @cindex article backlog
4292 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
4293 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
4294 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
4295 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
4296 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
4297 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
4298 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
4299 increase memory usage some.
4301 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
4302 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
4303 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
4304 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
4305 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
4306 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
4307 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
4309 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
4312 @node Saving Articles
4313 @section Saving Articles
4314 @cindex saving articles
4316 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
4317 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
4318 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
4319 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
4320 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
4322 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
4323 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
4324 unwanted headers before saving the article.
4326 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
4327 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
4328 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
4329 deleted before saving.
4335 @kindex O o (Summary)
4337 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
4338 Save the current article using the default article saver
4339 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
4342 @kindex O m (Summary)
4343 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
4344 Save the current article in mail format
4345 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
4348 @kindex O r (Summary)
4349 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
4350 Save the current article in rmail format
4351 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
4354 @kindex O f (Summary)
4355 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
4356 Save the current article in plain file format
4357 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
4360 @kindex O b (Summary)
4361 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
4362 Save the current article body in plain file format
4363 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
4366 @kindex O h (Summary)
4367 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
4368 Save the current article in mh folder format
4369 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
4372 @kindex O v (Summary)
4373 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
4374 Save the current article in a VM folder
4375 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
4378 @kindex O p (Summary)
4379 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
4380 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
4381 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
4384 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
4385 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
4386 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
4387 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
4388 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
4389 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
4390 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
4391 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
4392 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
4393 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
4394 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
4395 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
4399 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
4400 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
4401 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the four ready-made
4402 functions below, or you can create your own.
4406 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
4407 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
4408 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
4409 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
4410 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
4411 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
4412 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
4414 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
4415 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
4416 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
4417 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
4418 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
4419 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
4421 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
4422 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
4423 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
4424 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
4425 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
4426 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
4427 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
4429 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
4430 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
4431 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
4432 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
4433 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
4435 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
4436 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
4437 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
4438 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
4439 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
4442 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
4443 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
4444 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
4445 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
4446 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}. The former creates capitalized names, and
4447 the latter does not.
4449 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
4450 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
4451 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
4452 reader to use this setting.
4455 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
4456 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
4457 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
4458 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
4461 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
4462 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
4463 available functions that generate names:
4467 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
4468 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
4469 Generates file names that look like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
4471 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
4472 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
4473 Generates file names that look like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
4475 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
4476 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
4477 Generates file names that look like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
4479 @item gnus-plain-save-name
4480 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
4481 Generates file names that look like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
4484 @vindex gnus-split-methods
4485 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
4486 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
4487 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
4488 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
4492 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
4493 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
4494 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
4495 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
4498 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
4499 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
4500 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
4501 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function); or it
4502 can be a list (which will be @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions
4503 have a non-@code{nil} result, the @dfn{file} will be used as a default
4504 prompt. In addition, the result of the operation itself will be used if
4505 the function or form called returns a string or a list of strings.
4507 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
4508 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
4509 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
4510 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
4512 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
4513 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
4514 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
4517 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
4518 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
4519 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
4520 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
4521 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
4522 all the files in the toplevel directory
4523 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
4524 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
4525 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
4526 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
4528 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
4529 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
4530 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
4531 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
4532 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
4535 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
4539 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
4540 (setq gnus-default-article-save 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
4543 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
4544 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
4545 the toplevel directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
4546 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
4549 @node Decoding Articles
4550 @section Decoding Articles
4551 @cindex decoding articles
4553 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
4554 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
4557 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
4558 * Shared Articles:: Unshar articles.
4559 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
4560 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
4561 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
4564 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
4565 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
4566 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
4567 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
4568 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
4570 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
4571 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
4572 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
4574 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
4575 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
4576 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
4578 Subjects that are nonstandard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
4579 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
4580 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
4583 @node Uuencoded Articles
4584 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
4586 @cindex uuencoded articles
4591 @kindex X u (Summary)
4592 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
4593 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
4596 @kindex X U (Summary)
4597 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
4598 Uudecodes and saves the current series
4599 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
4602 @kindex X v u (Summary)
4603 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
4604 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
4607 @kindex X v U (Summary)
4608 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
4609 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
4610 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
4613 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
4614 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
4615 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
4616 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
4617 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
4619 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
4620 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
4621 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
4622 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
4625 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
4626 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
4627 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
4628 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
4629 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
4630 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
4634 @node Shared Articles
4635 @subsection Shared Articles
4637 @cindex shared articles
4642 @kindex X s (Summary)
4643 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
4644 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
4647 @kindex X S (Summary)
4648 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
4649 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
4652 @kindex X v s (Summary)
4653 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
4654 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
4657 @kindex X v S (Summary)
4658 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
4659 Unshars, views and saves the current series
4660 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
4664 @node PostScript Files
4665 @subsection PostScript Files
4671 @kindex X p (Summary)
4672 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
4673 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
4676 @kindex X P (Summary)
4677 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
4678 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
4679 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
4682 @kindex X v p (Summary)
4683 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
4684 View the current PostScript series
4685 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
4688 @kindex X v P (Summary)
4689 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
4690 View and save the current PostScript series
4691 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
4695 @node Decoding Variables
4696 @subsection Decoding Variables
4698 Adjective, not verb.
4701 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
4702 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
4703 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
4707 @node Rule Variables
4708 @subsubsection Rule Variables
4709 @cindex rule variables
4711 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
4712 variables are on the form
4715 (list '(regexp1 command2)
4722 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
4723 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
4725 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
4726 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
4729 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
4730 (list '(\"\\\\.au$\" \"sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio\")))
4733 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
4734 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
4735 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
4736 user and default view rules.
4738 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
4739 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
4740 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
4745 @node Other Decode Variables
4746 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
4749 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
4751 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
4752 All functions in this list will be called right each file has been
4753 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
4754 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
4755 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
4759 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
4760 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
4763 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
4764 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
4765 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
4768 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
4769 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
4770 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
4772 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
4773 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
4774 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
4775 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
4776 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
4779 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
4780 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
4781 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
4783 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
4784 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
4785 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
4786 looking for files to display.
4788 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
4789 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
4790 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
4793 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
4794 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
4795 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
4798 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
4799 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
4800 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
4803 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
4804 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
4805 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
4808 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
4809 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
4810 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark articles that were
4811 unsuccessfully decoded as unread.
4813 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
4814 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
4815 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
4816 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
4818 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
4819 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
4821 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
4822 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
4823 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
4824 @code{metamail} for viewing.
4826 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
4827 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
4828 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
4829 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
4830 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
4831 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC1153---no easy way
4832 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
4833 simply dropped them.
4838 @node Uuencoding and Posting
4839 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
4843 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
4844 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
4845 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
4846 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
4847 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
4848 for you when you post the article.
4850 @item gnus-uu-post-length
4851 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
4852 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
4853 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
4855 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
4856 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
4857 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
4858 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen are able
4859 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
4860 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
4861 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
4863 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
4864 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
4865 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
4866 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
4867 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
4868 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
4869 Default is @code{t}.
4875 @subsection Viewing Files
4876 @cindex viewing files
4877 @cindex pseudo-articles
4879 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
4880 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
4881 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
4882 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
4883 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
4884 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
4885 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
4887 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
4888 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
4889 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
4890 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
4892 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
4893 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
4894 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
4896 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
4897 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
4898 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
4899 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
4900 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
4902 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
4903 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
4904 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
4905 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
4906 a list of parameters to that command.
4908 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
4909 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
4910 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
4912 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
4913 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
4914 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
4917 @node Article Treatment
4918 @section Article Treatment
4920 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
4921 object of newsreaders are to actually, like, read what people have
4922 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
4923 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
4924 these articles easier.
4927 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
4928 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
4929 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
4930 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
4931 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
4935 @node Article Highlighting
4936 @subsection Article Highlighting
4939 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
4940 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
4945 @kindex W H a (Summary)
4946 @findex gnus-article-highlight
4947 Highlight the current article (@code{gnus-article-highlight}).
4950 @kindex W H h (Summary)
4951 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
4952 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
4953 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
4954 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
4955 variable, which is a list where each element has the form @var{(regexp
4956 name content)}. @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
4957 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name and
4958 @var{content} is the face for highlighting the header value. The first
4959 match made will be used. Note that @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^}
4960 prepended---Gnus will add one.
4963 @kindex W H c (Summary)
4964 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
4965 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
4967 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
4970 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
4972 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
4973 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
4974 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
4976 @item gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
4977 @vindex gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
4978 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
4980 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
4981 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
4982 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
4984 @item gnus-cite-face-list
4985 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
4986 List of faces used for highlighting citations. When there are citations
4987 from multiple articles in the same message, Gnus will try to give each
4988 citation from each article its own face. This should make it easier to
4991 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
4992 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
4993 Regexp matching normal SuperCite attribution lines.
4995 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
4996 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
4997 Regexp matching mangled SuperCite attribution lines.
4999 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
5000 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
5001 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
5002 that it's a citation.
5004 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
5005 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
5006 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
5008 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
5009 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
5010 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
5012 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
5013 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
5014 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
5015 cited text belonging to the attribution.
5021 @kindex W H s (Summary)
5022 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
5023 @vindex gnus-signature-face
5024 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
5025 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
5026 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} in an article will be
5027 considered a signature and will be highlighted with
5028 @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by default.
5033 @node Article Hiding
5034 @subsection Article Hiding
5035 @cindex article hiding
5037 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
5038 too much cruft in most articles.
5043 @kindex W W a (Summary)
5044 @findex gnus-article-hide
5045 Do maximum hiding on the summary buffer (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}).
5048 @kindex W W h (Summary)
5049 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
5050 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
5054 @kindex W W b (Summary)
5055 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
5056 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
5057 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
5060 @kindex W W s (Summary)
5061 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
5062 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}).
5065 @kindex W W p (Summary)
5066 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
5067 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}).
5070 @kindex W W c (Summary)
5071 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
5072 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
5073 customizing the hiding:
5077 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
5078 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
5079 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
5080 50), hide the cited text.
5082 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
5083 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
5084 The cited text must be have at least this length (default 10) before it
5087 @item gnus-cited-text-button-line-format
5088 @vindex gnus-cited-text-button-line-format
5089 Gnus adds buttons show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
5090 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
5091 by this format-like variable. These specs are legal:
5095 Start point of the hidden text.
5097 End point of the hidden text.
5099 Length of the hidden text.
5102 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
5103 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
5104 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave shown.
5109 @kindex W W C (Summary)
5110 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
5111 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
5112 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
5113 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
5114 in @code{gnus-article-display-hook} (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
5118 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
5119 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
5120 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
5122 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
5123 citation customization.
5125 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
5126 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
5127 signature. If it is a number, no signature may not be longer (in
5128 characters) than that number. If it is a function, the function will be
5129 called without any parameters, and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no
5130 signature in the buffer. If it is a string, it will be used as a
5131 regexp. If it matches, the text in question is not a signature.
5134 @node Article Washing
5135 @subsection Article Washing
5137 @cindex article washing
5139 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
5140 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
5142 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
5143 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
5149 @kindex W l (Summary)
5150 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
5151 Remove page breaks from the current article
5152 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}).
5155 @kindex W r (Summary)
5156 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
5157 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
5158 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
5161 @kindex A g (Summary)
5162 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
5163 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
5164 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
5165 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
5166 the way it came from the server.
5169 @kindex W t (Summary)
5170 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
5171 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
5172 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
5175 @kindex W v (Summary)
5176 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
5177 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
5178 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
5181 @kindex W m (Summary)
5182 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
5183 Toggle whether to run the article through @sc{mime} before displaying
5184 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
5187 @kindex W o (Summary)
5188 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
5189 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
5192 @kindex W w (Summary)
5193 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
5194 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
5197 @kindex W c (Summary)
5198 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
5199 Remove CR (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
5202 @kindex W L (Summary)
5203 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
5204 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
5205 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
5208 @kindex W q (Summary)
5209 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
5210 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
5213 @kindex W f (Summary)
5215 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
5216 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
5217 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
5218 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
5219 Look for and display any X-Face headers
5220 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
5221 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable. If
5222 this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell.
5223 If it is a function, this function will be called with the face as the
5224 argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp)
5225 matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
5228 @kindex W b (Summary)
5229 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
5230 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
5233 @kindex W B (Summary)
5234 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
5235 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
5236 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
5241 @node Article Buttons
5242 @subsection Article Buttons
5245 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
5246 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
5247 with the minimum of fuzz.
5249 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
5250 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
5251 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
5256 @item gnus-button-alist
5257 @vindex gnus-button-alist
5258 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
5261 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
5267 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
5268 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that match embedded URLs:
5269 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
5272 Gnus has to know which parts of the match is to be highlighted. This is
5273 a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp that is to be
5274 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use @code{0} here.
5277 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
5278 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
5279 avoid false matches.
5282 This function will be called when you click on this button.
5285 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
5286 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
5290 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
5293 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
5296 @item gnus-header-button-alist
5297 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
5298 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
5299 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
5300 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
5303 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
5306 @var{header} is a regular expression.
5308 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
5309 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
5310 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
5311 default values of the variables above.
5313 @item gnus-article-button-face
5314 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
5315 Face used on bottons.
5317 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
5318 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
5319 Face is used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
5325 @subsection Article Date
5327 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
5328 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
5329 when the article was sent.
5334 @kindex W T u (Summary)
5335 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
5336 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
5337 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
5340 @kindex W T l (Summary)
5341 @findex gnus-article-date-local
5342 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
5345 @kindex W T e (Summary)
5346 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
5347 Say how much time has (e)lapsed between the article was posted and now
5348 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}).
5351 @kindex W T o (Summary)
5352 @findex gnus-article-date-original
5353 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
5354 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and is
5355 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
5356 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
5357 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
5362 @node Summary Sorting
5363 @section Summary Sorting
5364 @cindex summary sorting
5366 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
5367 can't really see why you'd want that.
5372 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
5373 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
5374 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
5377 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
5378 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
5379 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
5382 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
5383 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
5384 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
5387 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
5388 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
5389 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
5392 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
5393 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
5394 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
5397 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
5398 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
5399 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
5400 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
5401 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
5405 @node Finding the Parent
5406 @section Finding the Parent
5407 @cindex parent articles
5408 @cindex referring articles
5410 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
5412 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
5413 displayed in the article buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
5414 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
5415 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
5416 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
5417 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
5418 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
5419 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
5421 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
5422 @kindex A R (Summary)
5423 You can have Gnus fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References}
5424 header of the article by pushing @kbd{A R}
5425 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
5427 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
5428 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
5429 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
5430 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
5431 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
5432 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long thingies that look
5433 something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You have to get
5434 it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
5436 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
5437 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
5438 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
5439 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
5440 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the same
5441 as the one that keeps the spool you are reading from updated, but that's
5442 not really necessary.
5444 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
5445 not do a particularly excellent job of it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
5446 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
5447 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
5448 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
5449 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
5452 @node Alternative Approaches
5453 @section Alternative Approaches
5455 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
5456 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
5459 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
5460 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
5465 @subsection Pick and Read
5466 @cindex pick and read
5468 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{nn}) use a two-phased
5469 reading interface. The user first marks the articles she wants to read
5470 from a summary buffer. Then she starts reading the articles with just
5471 an article buffer displayed.
5473 @findex gnus-pick-mode
5474 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
5475 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
5476 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
5477 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
5478 it makes one additional command for switching to the summary buffer
5481 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
5485 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
5486 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
5487 Pick the article (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
5491 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
5492 Unpick the article (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
5496 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
5497 Unpick all articles (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
5501 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5502 Pick the thread (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5506 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5507 Unpick the thread (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5511 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
5512 Pick the region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
5516 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
5517 Unpick the region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
5521 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-regexp
5522 Pick articles that match a regexp (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-regexp}).
5526 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-regexp
5527 Unpick articles that match a regexp (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-regexp}).
5531 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
5532 Pick the buffer (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
5536 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-buffer
5537 Unpick the buffer (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-buffer}).
5541 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
5542 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
5543 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
5544 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
5545 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
5546 will still be visible when you are reading.
5550 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
5553 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
5556 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
5557 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
5561 @subsection Binary Groups
5562 @cindex binary groups
5564 @findex gnus-binary-mode
5565 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
5566 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
5567 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
5568 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
5569 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
5570 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
5573 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
5574 In fact, the only way to see the actual articles if you have turned this
5575 mode on is the @kbd{g} command (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
5577 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
5578 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
5582 @section Tree Display
5585 @vindex gnus-use-trees
5586 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
5587 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
5588 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
5591 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
5594 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
5595 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
5596 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
5598 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
5599 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
5600 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers. The default
5601 is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}. For a list of legal specs, @pxref{Summary
5604 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
5605 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
5606 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
5607 default is @code{modeline}.
5609 @item gnus-tree-line-format
5610 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
5611 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
5612 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
5613 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
5614 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
5615 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
5621 The name of the poster.
5623 The @code{From} header.
5625 The number of the article.
5627 The opening bracket.
5629 The closing bracket.
5634 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
5636 Variables related to the display are:
5639 @item gnus-tree-brackets
5640 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
5641 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
5642 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @var{((real-open . real-close)
5643 (sparse-open . sparse-close) (dummy-open . dummy-close))}, and the
5644 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}))}.
5646 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
5647 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
5648 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
5649 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
5653 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
5654 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
5655 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
5656 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
5657 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
5658 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}.
5660 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
5661 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
5662 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
5663 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
5664 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
5665 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
5666 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
5670 Here's and example from a horizontal tree buffer:
5673 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
5683 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
5687 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
5688 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
5690 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
5692 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
5698 @node Mail Group Commands
5699 @section Mail Group Commands
5700 @cindex mail group commands
5702 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
5703 illegal in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
5705 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
5706 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5711 @kindex B e (Summary)
5712 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
5713 Expire all expirable articles in the group
5714 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
5717 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
5718 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
5719 Expunge all the expirable articles in the group
5720 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
5721 articles that are eligible for expiry in the current group will
5722 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
5725 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
5726 @findex gnus-summary-delete-articles
5727 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
5728 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
5729 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
5732 @kindex B m (Summary)
5734 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
5735 Move the article from one mail group to another
5736 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
5739 @kindex B c (Summary)
5741 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
5742 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
5743 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}).
5746 @kindex B C (Summary)
5747 @cindex crosspost mail
5748 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
5749 Crosspost the current article to some other group
5750 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
5751 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
5752 be properly updated.
5755 @kindex B i (Summary)
5756 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
5757 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
5758 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
5759 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
5761 Something similar can be done by just starting to compose a mail
5762 message. Instead of typing @kbd{C-c C-c} to mail it off, you can type
5763 @kbd{C-c M-C-p} instead. This will put the message you have just created
5764 into the current mail group.
5767 @kindex B r (Summary)
5768 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
5769 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
5773 @kindex B w (Summary)
5775 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
5776 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
5777 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
5778 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
5779 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}).
5782 @kindex B q (Summary)
5783 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
5784 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
5785 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
5786 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
5789 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
5790 @cindex moving articles
5791 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
5792 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
5793 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
5794 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
5795 suggestions you find reasonable.
5798 @node Various Summary Stuff
5799 @section Various Summary Stuff
5802 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
5803 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
5804 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
5808 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
5809 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
5810 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
5812 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
5813 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
5814 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
5815 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
5816 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
5817 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
5820 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
5821 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
5822 Is is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
5823 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
5824 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
5829 @node Summary Group Information
5830 @subsection Summary Group Information
5835 @kindex H f (Summary)
5836 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
5837 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
5838 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
5839 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
5840 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
5841 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
5842 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
5843 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} probably will be used for
5847 @kindex H d (Summary)
5848 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
5849 Give a brief description of the current group
5850 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
5851 rereading the description from the server.
5854 @kindex H h (Summary)
5855 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
5856 Give a very brief description of the most important summary keystrokes
5857 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
5860 @kindex H i (Summary)
5861 @findex gnus-info-find-node
5862 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
5866 @node Searching for Articles
5867 @subsection Searching for Articles
5872 @kindex M-s (Summary)
5873 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
5874 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
5875 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
5878 @kindex M-r (Summary)
5879 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
5880 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
5881 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
5885 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
5886 This command will prompt you for a header field, a regular expression to
5887 match on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
5888 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}).
5891 @kindex M-& (Summary)
5892 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
5893 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
5894 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
5898 @node Really Various Summary Commands
5899 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
5904 @kindex A D (Summary)
5905 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
5906 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
5907 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
5908 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
5909 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
5910 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
5911 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages on
5912 some format, you @kbd{A D} and read these messages in a more convenient
5916 @kindex C-t (Summary)
5917 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
5918 Toggle truncation of summary lines (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}).
5922 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
5923 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
5924 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
5928 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
5929 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
5930 @cindex summary exit
5931 @cindex exiting groups
5933 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
5934 group and return you to the group buffer.
5940 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
5942 @findex gnus-summary-exit
5943 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
5944 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
5945 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
5946 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
5947 called before doing much of the exiting, and calls
5948 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
5949 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exiting
5954 @kindex Z E (Summary)
5956 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
5957 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
5958 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
5962 @kindex Z c (Summary)
5964 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
5965 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
5966 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
5969 @kindex Z C (Summary)
5970 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
5971 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
5972 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
5975 @kindex Z n (Summary)
5976 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
5977 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
5978 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
5981 @kindex Z R (Summary)
5982 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
5983 Exit this group, and then enter it again
5984 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
5985 all articles, both read and unread.
5989 @kindex Z G (Summary)
5990 @kindex M-g (Summary)
5991 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
5992 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
5993 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
5994 articles, both read and unread.
5997 @kindex Z N (Summary)
5998 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
5999 Exit the group and go to the next group
6000 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
6003 @kindex Z P (Summary)
6004 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
6005 Exit the group and go to the previous group
6006 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
6009 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
6010 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current
6013 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
6014 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
6015 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
6016 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
6017 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
6018 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
6019 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
6020 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
6021 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
6022 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
6023 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
6024 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
6026 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
6028 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
6029 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
6030 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
6031 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
6032 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
6033 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
6034 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
6035 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
6036 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups.
6040 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
6041 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
6042 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
6043 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
6044 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
6047 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
6048 separately to several groups is not.
6050 @cindex cross-posting
6053 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
6054 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
6055 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
6056 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
6057 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
6058 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
6059 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
6060 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
6061 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
6062 the cross reference mechanism.
6064 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
6065 @cindex overview.fmt
6066 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
6067 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
6068 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
6069 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
6070 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
6071 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
6074 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
6075 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
6076 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
6082 @node The Article Buffer
6083 @chapter The Article Buffer
6084 @cindex article buffer
6086 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
6087 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
6088 tell Gnus otherwise.
6091 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
6092 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
6093 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
6094 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer
6095 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
6099 @node Hiding Headers
6100 @section Hiding Headers
6101 @cindex hiding headers
6102 @cindex deleting headers
6104 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
6105 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
6107 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
6108 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
6109 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
6110 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
6111 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
6112 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
6113 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
6114 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
6115 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
6117 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
6121 @item gnus-visible-headers
6122 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
6123 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
6124 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
6125 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
6127 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
6128 the article and the subject, you'd say:
6131 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
6134 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers that are to
6137 @item gnus-ignored-headers
6138 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
6139 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
6140 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
6141 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
6142 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
6144 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
6145 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
6148 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
6151 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers that are to
6154 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
6155 variable will have no effect.
6159 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
6160 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
6161 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
6162 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
6163 the headers are to be displayed.
6165 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
6166 and then the subject, you might say something like:
6169 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
6172 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
6173 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers that
6174 are listed in this variable.
6176 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
6177 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
6178 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
6179 You can hide further boring headers by entering
6180 @code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers} into
6181 @code{gnus-article-display-hook}. What this function does depends on
6182 the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a list, but this
6183 list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is lists various
6184 @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove from sight.
6186 These conditions are:
6189 Remove all empty headers.
6191 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
6194 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
6195 @code{Newsgroups} header.
6197 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
6200 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
6204 To include the four first elements, you could say something like;
6207 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
6208 '(empty newsgroups followup-to reply-to))
6211 This is also the default value for this variable.
6215 @section Using @sc{mime}
6218 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
6219 while people stand around yawning.
6221 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
6222 while all newsreaders die of fear.
6224 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
6225 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
6226 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
6228 @vindex gnus-show-mime
6229 @vindex gnus-show-mime-method
6230 @vindex gnus-strict-mime
6231 @findex metamail-buffer
6232 Gnus handles @sc{mime} by shoving the articles through
6233 @code{gnus-show-mime-method}, which is @code{metamail-buffer} by
6234 default. Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
6235 @sc{mime} all the time. However, if @code{gnus-strict-mime} is
6236 non-@code{nil}, the @sc{mime} method will only be used if there are
6237 @sc{mime} headers in the article.
6239 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the summary
6240 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
6241 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
6242 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
6243 comes streaming out out your speakers, and you can't find the volume
6244 button, because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you,
6245 and you try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the
6246 program to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly
6247 decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
6249 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
6252 @node Customizing Articles
6253 @section Customizing Articles
6254 @cindex article customization
6256 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
6257 The @code{gnus-article-display-hook} is called after the article has
6258 been inserted into the article buffer. It is meant to handle all
6259 treatment of the article before it is displayed.
6261 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
6262 By default it contains @code{gnus-article-hide-headers},
6263 @code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}, and
6264 @code{gnus-article-maybe-highlight}, but there are thousands, nay
6265 millions, of functions you can put in this hook. For an overview of
6266 functions @pxref{Article Highlighting}, @pxref{Article Hiding},
6267 @pxref{Article Washing}, @pxref{Article Buttons} and @pxref{Article
6270 You can, of course, write your own functions. The functions are called
6271 from the article buffer, and you can do anything you like, pretty much.
6272 There is no information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can
6273 change everything. However, you shouldn't delete any headers. Instead
6274 make them invisible if you want to make them go away.
6277 @node Article Keymap
6278 @section Article Keymap
6280 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
6281 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
6282 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
6283 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
6286 A few additional keystrokes are available:
6291 @kindex SPACE (Article)
6292 @findex gnus-article-next-page
6293 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
6296 @kindex DEL (Article)
6297 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
6298 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
6301 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
6302 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
6303 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
6304 @kbd{r}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
6305 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
6308 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
6309 @findex gnus-article-mail
6310 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
6311 given a prefix, include the mail.
6315 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
6316 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
6317 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
6321 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
6322 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
6323 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
6326 @kindex TAB (Article)
6327 @findex gnus-article-next-button
6328 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}. This
6329 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
6332 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
6333 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
6334 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}.
6340 @section Misc Article
6344 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
6345 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
6346 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
6347 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
6350 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
6351 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
6352 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
6353 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
6354 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
6355 the contents of the article buffer.
6357 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
6358 @item gnus-article-display-hook
6359 This hook is called as the last thing when displaying an article, and is
6360 intended for modifying the contents of the buffer, doing highlights,
6361 hiding headers, and the like.
6363 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
6364 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
6365 Hook called in article mode buffers.
6367 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
6368 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
6369 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
6370 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. It accepts exactly the same
6371 format specifications as that variable.
6372 @vindex gnus-break-pages
6374 @item gnus-break-pages
6375 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
6376 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
6377 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
6378 paging will not be done.
6380 @item gnus-page-delimiter
6381 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
6382 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
6393 All message composition (both mail and news) takes place in
6394 @code{message} mode buffers.
6397 * Message Interface:: Setting up message buffers.
6398 * Message Commands:: Commands you can execute in message mode buffers.
6399 * Message Variables:: Customizing the message buffers.
6403 @node Message Interface
6404 @section Message Interface
6406 When a program (or a person) wants to respond to a message -- reply,
6407 follow up, forward, cancel -- the program (or person) should just put
6408 point in the buffer where the message is and call the required command.
6409 @code{Message} will then pop up a new @code{message} mode buffer with
6410 appropriate headers filled out, and the user can edit the message before
6414 * New Mail Message::
6415 * New News Message::
6427 @node New Mail Message
6428 @subsection New Mail Message
6430 @findex message-mail
6431 The @code{message-mail} command pops up a new message buffer.
6433 Two optional parameters are accepted: The first will be used as the
6434 @code{To} header and the second as the @code{Subject} header. If these
6435 aren't present, those two headers will be empty.
6438 @node New News Message
6439 @subsection New News Message
6441 @findex message-news
6442 The @code{message-news} command pops up a new message buffer.
6444 This function accepts two optional parameters. The first will be used
6445 as the @code{Newsgroups} header and the second as the @code{Subject}
6446 header. If these aren't present, those two headers will be empty.
6452 @findex message-reply
6453 The @code{message-reply} function pops up a message buffer that's a
6454 reply to the message in the current buffer.
6456 @vindex message-reply-to-function
6457 Message uses the normal methods to determine where replies are to go,
6458 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
6459 @code{message-reply-to-function} variable.
6461 If you want the replies to go to the @code{Sender} instead of the
6462 @code{From}, you could do something like this:
6465 (setq message-reply-to-function
6467 (cond ((equal (mail-fetch-field "from") "somebody")
6468 (mail-fetch-field "sender"))
6473 This function will be called narrowed to the head of the article that is
6476 As you can see, this function should return a string if it has an
6477 opinion as to what the To header should be. If it does not, it should
6478 just return @code{nil}, and the normal methods for determining the To
6479 header will be used.
6481 This function can also return a list. In that case, each list element
6482 should be a cons, where the car should be the name of an header
6483 (eg. @code{Cc}) and the cdr should be the header value
6484 (eg. @samp{larsi@@ifi.uio.no}). All these headers will be inserted into
6485 the head of the outgoing mail.
6489 @subsection Wide Reply
6491 @findex message-wide-reply
6492 The @code{message-wide-reply} pops up a message buffer that's a wide
6493 reply to the message in the current buffer.
6495 @vindex message-wide-reply-to-function
6496 Message uses the normal methods to determine where wide replies are to go,
6497 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
6498 @code{message-wide-reply-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
6499 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
6503 @subsection Followup
6505 @findex message-followup
6506 The @code{message-followup} command pops up a message buffer that's a
6507 followup to the message in the current buffer.
6509 @vindex message-followup-to-function
6510 Message uses the normal methods to determine where followups are to go,
6511 but you can change the behavior to suit your needs by fiddling with the
6512 @code{message-followup-to-function}. It is used in the same way as
6513 @code{message-reply-to-function} (@pxref{Reply}).
6515 @vindex message-use-followup-to
6516 The @code{message-use-followup-to} variable says what to do about
6517 @code{Followup-To} headers. If it is @code{use}, always use the value.
6518 If it is @code{ask} (which is the default), ask whether to use the
6519 value. If it is @code{t}, use the value unless it is @samp{poster}. If
6520 it is @code{nil}, don't use the value.
6523 @node Canceling News
6524 @subsection Canceling News
6526 @findex message-cancel-news
6527 The @code{message-cancel-news} command cancels the article in the
6532 @subsection Superseding
6534 @findex message-supersede
6535 The @code{message-supersede} command pops up a message buffer that will
6536 supersede the message in the current buffer.
6538 @vindex message-ignored-supersedes-headers
6539 Headers matching the @code{message-ignored-supersedes-headers} are
6540 removed before popping up the new message buffer. The default is
6541 @samp{^Path:\\|^Date\\|^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^Lines:\\|^Received:\\|^X-From-Line:\\|Return-Path:}.
6546 @subsection Forwarding
6548 @findex message-forward
6549 The @code{message-forward} command pops up a message buffer to forward
6550 the message in the current buffer. If given a prefix, forward using
6554 @item message-forward-start-separator
6555 @vindex message-forward-start-separator
6556 Delimiter inserted before forwarded messages. The default is
6557 @samp{------- Start of forwarded message -------\n}.
6559 @vindex message-forward-end-separator
6560 @item message-forward-end-separator
6561 @vindex message-forward-end-separator
6562 Delimiter inserted after forwarded messages. The default is
6563 @samp{------- End of forwarded message -------\n}.
6565 @item message-signature-before-forwarded-message
6566 @vindex message-signature-before-forwarded-message
6567 If this variable is @code{t}, which it is by default, your personal
6568 signature will be inserted before the forwarded message. If not, the
6569 forwarded message will be inserted first in the new mail.
6571 @item message-forward-included-headers
6572 @vindex message-forward-included-headers
6573 Regexp matching header lines to be included in forwarded messages.
6579 @subsection Resending
6581 @findex message-resend
6582 The @code{message-resend} command will prompt the user for an address
6583 and resend the message in the current buffer to that address.
6585 @vindex message-ignored-resent-headers
6586 Headers the match the @code{message-ignored-resent-headers} regexp will
6587 be removed before sending the message. The default is
6588 @samp{^Return-receipt}.
6592 @subsection Bouncing
6594 @findex message-bounce
6595 The @code{message-bounce} command will, if the current buffer contains a
6596 bounced mail message, pop up a message buffer stripped of the bounce
6599 @vindex message-ignored-bounced-headers
6600 Headers that match the @code{message-ignored-bounced-headers} regexp
6601 will be removed before popping up the buffer. The default is
6605 @node Message Commands
6606 @section Message Commands
6609 * Message Header Commands:: Commands for moving to headers.
6610 * Message Movement:: Moving around in message buffers.
6611 * Message Insertion:: Inserting things into message buffers.
6612 * Various Message:: Various things.
6613 * Sending Messages:: Actually sending the message.
6617 @node Message Header Commands
6618 @subsection Message Header Commands
6620 All these commands move to the header in question. If it doesn't exist,
6621 it will be inserted.
6626 @kindex C-c ? (Message)
6627 @findex message-goto-to
6628 Describe the message mode.
6631 @kindex C-c C-f C-t (Message)
6632 @findex message-goto-to
6633 Go to the @code{To} header (@code{message-goto-to}).
6636 @kindex C-c C-f C-b (Message)
6637 @findex message-goto-bcc
6638 Go to the @code{Bcc} header (@code{message-goto-bcc}).
6641 @kindex C-c C-f C-f (Message)
6642 @findex message-goto-fcc
6643 Go to the @code{Fcc} header (@code{message-goto-fcc}).
6646 @kindex C-c C-f C-c (Message)
6647 @findex message-goto-cc
6648 Go to the @code{Cc} header (@code{message-goto-cc}).
6651 @kindex C-c C-f C-s (Message)
6652 @findex message-goto-subject
6653 Go to the @code{Subject} header (@code{message-goto-subject}).
6656 @kindex C-c C-f C-r (Message)
6657 @findex message-goto-reply-to
6658 Go to the @code{Reply-To} header (@code{message-goto-reply-to}).
6661 @kindex C-c C-f C-n (Message)
6662 @findex message-goto-newsgroups
6663 Go to the @code{Newsgroups} header (@code{message-goto-newsgroups}).
6666 @kindex C-c C-f C-d (Message)
6667 @findex message-goto-distribution
6668 Go to the @code{Distribution} header (@code{message-goto-distribution}).
6671 @kindex C-c C-f C-o (Message)
6672 @findex message-goto-followup-to
6673 Go to the @code{Followup-To} header (@code{message-goto-followup-to}).
6676 @kindex C-c C-f C-k (Message)
6677 @findex message-goto-keywords
6678 Go to the @code{Keywords} header (@code{message-goto-keywords}).
6681 @kindex C-c C-f C-u (Message)
6682 @findex message-goto-summary
6683 Go to the @code{Summary} header (@code{message-goto-summary}).
6688 @node Message Movement
6689 @subsection Message Movement
6693 @kindex C-c C-b (Message)
6694 @findex message-goto-body
6695 Move to the beginning of the body of the message
6696 (@code{message-goto-body}).
6699 @kindex C-c C-i (Message)
6700 @findex message-goto-signature
6701 Move to the signature of the message (@code{message-goto-signature}).
6706 @node Message Insertion
6707 @subsection Message Insertion
6712 @kindex C-c C-y (Message)
6713 @findex message-yank-original
6714 Yank the message that's being replied to into the message buffer
6715 (@code{message-yank-original}).
6718 @kindex C-c C-q (Message)
6719 @findex message-fill-yanked-message
6720 Fill the yanked message (@code{message-fill-yanked-message}).
6723 @kindex C-c C-w (Message)
6724 @findex message-insert-signature
6725 Insert a signature at the end of the buffer
6726 (@code{message-insert-signature}).
6731 @item message-ignored-cited-headers
6732 @vindex message-ignored-cited-headers
6733 All headers that match this regexp will be removed from yanked
6734 messages. The default is @samp{.}, which means that all headers will be
6737 @item message-citation-line-function
6738 @vindex message-citation-line-function
6739 Function called to insert the citation line. The default is
6740 @code{message-insert-citation-line}.
6742 @item message-yank-prefix
6743 @vindex message-yank-prefix
6746 When you are replying to or following up an article, you normally want
6747 to quote the person you are answering. Inserting quoted text is done by
6748 @dfn{yanking}, and each quoted line you yank will have
6749 @code{message-yank-prefix} prepended to it. The default is @samp{> }.
6750 If it is @code{nil}, just indent the message.
6752 @item message-indentation-spaces
6753 @vindex message-indentation-spaces
6754 Number of spaces to indent yanked messages.
6756 @item message-cite-function
6757 @vindex message-cite-function
6758 Function for citing an original message. The default is
6759 @code{message-cite-original}.
6761 @item message-indent-citation-function
6762 @vindex message-indent-citation-function
6763 Function for modifying a citation just inserted in the mail buffer.
6764 This can also be a list of functions. Each function can find the
6765 citation between @code{(point)} and @code{(mark t)}. And each function
6766 should leave point and mark around the citation text as modified.
6768 @item message-signature
6769 @vindex message-signature
6770 String to be inserted at the end of the message buffer. If @code{t}
6771 (which is the default), the @code{message-signature-file} file will be
6772 inserted instead. If a function, the result from the function will be
6773 used instead. If a form, the result from the form will be used instead.
6774 If this variable is @code{nil}, no signature will be inserted at all.
6776 @item message-signature-file
6777 @vindex message-signature-file
6778 File containing the signature to be inserted at the end of the buffer.
6779 The default is @samp{~/.signature}.
6783 Note that RFC1036 says that a signature should be preceded by the three
6784 characters @samp{-- } on a line by themselves. This is to make it
6785 easier for the recipient to automatically recognize and process the
6786 signature. So don't remove those characters, even though you might feel
6787 that they ruin you beautiful design, like, totally.
6789 Also note that no signature should be more than four lines long.
6790 Including ASCII graphics is an efficient way to get everybody to believe
6791 that you are silly and have nothing important to say.
6795 @node Various Message
6796 @subsection Various Message
6801 @kindex C-c C-r (Message)
6802 @findex message-caesar-buffer-body
6803 Caesar rotate (aka. rot13) the current message
6804 (@code{message-caesar-buffer-body}). If narrowing is in effect, just
6805 rotate the visible portion of the buffer. A numerical prefix says how
6806 many places to rotate the text. The default is 13.
6809 @kindex C-c C-t (Message)
6810 @findex message-insert-to
6811 Insert a @code{To} header that contains the @code{Reply-To} or
6812 @code{From} header of the message you're following up
6813 (@code{message-insert-to}).
6816 @kindex C-c C-n (Message)
6817 @findex message-insert-newsgroups
6818 Insert a @code{Newsgroups} header that reflects the @code{Followup-To}
6819 or @code{Newsgroups} header of the article you're replying to
6820 (@code{message-insert-newsgroups}).
6825 @node Sending Messages
6826 @subsection Sending Messages
6830 @kindex C-c C-c (Message)
6831 @findex message-send-and-exit
6832 Send the message and bury the current buffer
6833 (@code{message-send-and-exit}).
6836 @kindex C-c C-s (Message)
6837 @findex message-send
6838 Send the message (@code{message-send}).
6843 @node Message Variables
6844 @section Message Variables
6852 * Various Message Variables::
6853 * Sending Variables::
6857 @node Message Headers
6858 @subsection Message Headers
6860 Message is a quite aggressive on the message generation front. It has
6861 to be -- it's a combined news and mail agent. To be able to send
6862 combined messages, it has to generate all headers itself to ensure that
6863 mail and news copies of messages look sufficiently similar.
6867 @item message-generate-headers-first
6868 @vindex message-generate-headers-first
6869 If non-@code{nil}, generate all headers before starting to compose the
6872 @item message-from-style
6873 @vindex message-from-style
6874 Specifies how @code{From} headers should look. There are four legal
6879 Just the address -- @samp{king@@grassland.com}.
6882 @samp{king@@grassland.com (Elvis Parsley)}.
6885 @samp{Elvis Parsley <king@@grassland.com>}.
6888 Look like @code{angles} if that doesn't require quoting, and
6889 @code{parens} if it does. If even @code{parens} requires quoting, use
6890 @code{angles} anyway.
6894 @item message-deletable-headers
6895 @vindex message-deletable-headers
6896 Headers in this list that were previously generated by Gnus will be
6897 deleted before posting. Let's say you post an article. Then you decide
6898 to post it again to some other group, you naughty boy, so you jump back
6899 to the @code{*post-buf*} buffer, edit the @code{Newsgroups} line, and
6900 ship it off again. By default, this variable makes sure that the old
6901 generated @code{Message-ID} is deleted, and a new one generated. If
6902 this isn't done, the entire empire would probably crumble, anarchy would
6903 prevail, and cats would start walking on two legs and rule the world.
6906 @item message-default-headers
6907 @vindex message-default-headers
6908 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
6915 @subsection Mail Headers
6918 @item message-required-mail-headers
6919 @vindex message-required-mail-headers
6920 See @pxref{News Headers} for the syntax of this variable. It is
6921 @code{(From Date Subject (optional . In-Reply-To) Message-ID Lines
6922 (optional . X-Mailer))} by default.
6924 @item message-ignored-mail-headers
6925 @vindex message-ignored-mail-headers
6926 Regexp of headers to be removed before mailing. The default is
6927 @samp{^Gcc:\\|^Fcc:}.
6929 @item message-default-mail-headers
6930 @vindex message-default-mail-headers
6931 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
6932 buffers that are initialized as mail.
6937 @node Mail Variables
6938 @subsection Mail Variables
6941 @item message-send-mail-function
6942 @vindex message-send-mail-function
6943 Function used to send the current buffer as mail. The default is
6944 @code{message-send-mail}.
6950 @subsection News Headers
6952 @vindex message-required-news-headers
6953 @code{message-required-news-headers} a list of header symbols. These
6954 headers will either be automatically generated, or, if that's
6955 impossible, they will be prompted for. The following symbols are legal:
6961 This required header will be filled out with the result of the
6962 @code{message-make-from} function, which depends on the
6963 @code{message-from-style}, @code{user-full-name},
6964 @code{user-mail-address} variables.
6968 This required header will be prompted for if not present already.
6972 This required header says which newsgroups the article is to be posted
6973 to. If it isn't present already, it will be prompted for.
6976 @cindex organization
6977 This optional header will be filled out depending on the
6978 @code{message-user-organization} variable.
6979 @code{message-user-organization-file} will be used if that variable is
6984 This optional header will be computed by Gnus.
6988 This required header will be generated by Gnus. A unique ID will be
6989 created based on date, time, user name and system name.
6992 @cindex X-Newsreader
6993 This optional header will be filled out according to the
6994 @code{message-newsreader} local variable.
6997 This optional header will be filled out according to the
6998 @code{message-mailer} local variable, unless there already is an
6999 @code{X-Newsreader} header present.
7002 This optional header is filled out using the @code{Date} and @code{From}
7003 header of the article being replied.
7007 This extremely optional header will be inserted according to the
7008 @code{message-expires} variable. It is highly deprecated and shouldn't
7009 be used unless you know what you're doing.
7012 @cindex Distribution
7013 This optional header is filled out according to the
7014 @code{message-distribution-function} variable. It is a deprecated and
7015 much misunderstood header.
7019 This extremely optional header should probably not ever be used.
7020 However, some @emph{very} old servers require that this header is
7021 present. @code{message-user-path} further controls how this
7022 @code{Path} header is to look. If is is @code{nil}, the the server name
7023 as the leaf node. If is is a string, use the string. If it is neither
7024 a string nor @code{nil}, use the user name only. However, it is highly
7025 unlikely that you should need to fiddle with this variable at all.
7029 @cindex Mime-Version
7030 In addition, you can enter conses into this list. The car of this cons
7031 should be a symbol. This symbol's name is the name of the header, and
7032 the cdr can either be a string to be entered verbatim as the value of
7033 this header, or it can be a function to be called. This function should
7034 return a string to be inserted. For instance, if you want to insert
7035 @code{Mime-Version: 1.0}, you should enter @code{(Mime-Version . "1.0")}
7036 into the list. If you want to insert a funny quote, you could enter
7037 something like @code{(X-Yow . yow)} into the list. The function
7038 @code{yow} will then be called without any arguments.
7040 If the list contains a cons where the car of the cons is
7041 @code{optional}, the cdr of this cons will only be inserted if it is
7044 Other variables for customizing outgoing news articles:
7048 @item message-syntax-checks
7049 @vindex message-syntax-checks
7050 If non-@code{nil}, message will attempt to check the legality of the
7051 headers, as well as some other stuff, before posting. You can control
7052 the granularity of the check by adding or removing elements from this
7053 list. Legal elements are:
7057 Check the subject for commands.
7060 Insert a new @code{Sender} header if the @code{From} header looks odd.
7061 @item multiple-headers
7062 Check for the existence of multiple equal headers.
7065 Check for the existence of version and sendsys commands.
7067 Check whether the @code{Message-ID} looks ok.
7069 Check whether the @code{From} header seems nice.
7072 Check for too long lines.
7074 Check for illegal characters.
7076 Check for excessive size.
7078 Check whether there is any new text in the messages.
7080 Check the length of the signature.
7083 Check whether the article has an @code{Approved} header, which is
7084 something only moderators should include.
7086 Check whether the article is empty.
7088 Check whether any of the headers are empty.
7091 All these conditions are checked by default.
7093 @item message-ignored-news-headers
7094 @vindex message-ignored-news-headers
7095 Regexp of headers to be removed before posting. The default is
7096 @samp{^NNTP-Posting-Host:\\|^Xref:\\|^Bcc:\\|^Gcc:\\|^Fcc:}.
7098 @item message-default-news-headers
7099 @vindex message-default-news-headers
7100 This string is inserted at the end of the headers in all message
7101 buffers that are initialized as news.
7106 @node News Variables
7107 @subsection News Variables
7110 @item message-send-news-function
7111 @vindex message-send-news-function
7112 Function used to send the current buffer as news. The default is
7113 @code{message-send-news}.
7115 @item message-post-method
7116 @vindex message-post-method
7117 Method used for posting a prepared news message.
7122 @node Various Message Variables
7123 @subsection Various Message Variables
7126 @item message-signature-separator
7127 @vindex message-signature-separator
7128 Regexp matching the signature separator. It is @samp{^-- *$} by
7131 @item mail-header-separator
7132 @vindex mail-header-separator
7133 String used to separate the headers from the body. It is @samp{--text
7134 follows this line--} by default.
7136 @item message-autosave-directory
7137 @vindex message-autosave-directory
7138 Directory where message buffers will be autosaved to.
7140 @item message-setup-hook
7141 @vindex message-setup-hook
7142 Hook run when the message buffer has been initialized.
7144 @item message-header-setup-hook
7145 @vindex message-header-setup-hook
7146 Hook called narrowed to the headers after initializing the headers.
7148 @item message-send-hook
7149 @vindex message-send-hook
7150 Hook run before sending messages.
7152 @item message-sent-hook
7153 @vindex message-sent-hook
7154 Hook run after sending messages.
7156 @item message-mode-syntax-table
7157 @vindex message-mode-syntax-table
7158 Syntax table used in message mode buffers.
7164 @node Sending Variables
7165 @subsection Sending Variables
7169 @item message-fcc-handler-function
7170 @vindex message-fcc-handler-function
7171 A function called to save outgoing articles. This function will be
7172 called with the name of the file to store the article in. The default
7173 function is @code{rmail-output} which saves in Unix mailbox format.
7175 @item message-courtesy-message
7176 @vindex message-courtesy-message
7177 When sending combined messages, this string is inserted at the start of
7178 the mailed copy. If this variable is @code{nil}, no such courtesy
7179 message will be added.
7187 @node Composing Messages
7188 @chapter Composing Messages
7193 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
7194 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
7195 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the article
7196 by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. If you are in a foreign news group, and you
7197 wish to post the article using the foreign server, you can give a prefix
7198 to @kbd{C-c C-c} to make Gnus try to post using the foreign server.
7201 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
7202 * Post:: Posting and following up.
7203 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
7204 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
7205 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
7206 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to configure some key elements.
7207 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
7208 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
7211 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
7212 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
7218 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
7221 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
7222 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
7223 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
7224 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
7232 Variables for composing news articles:
7235 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-file
7236 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-file
7237 Gnus will keep a @code{Message-ID} history file of all the mails it has
7238 sent. If it discovers that it has already sent a mail, it will ask the
7239 user whether to re-send the mail. (This is primarily useful when
7240 dealing with @sc{soup} packets and the like where one is apt to sent the
7241 same packet multiple times.) This variable says what the name of this
7242 history file is. It is @file{~/News/Sent-Message-IDs} by default. Set
7243 this variable to @code{nil} if you don't want Gnus to keep a history
7246 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-length
7247 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-length
7248 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the history
7249 file. It is 1000 by default.
7254 @node Posting Server
7255 @section Posting Server
7257 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
7258 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
7260 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
7262 @vindex gnus-post-method
7264 It can be quite complicated. Normally, Gnus will use the same native
7265 server. However. If your native server doesn't allow posting, just
7266 reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
7267 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
7268 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
7271 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
7274 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
7275 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
7276 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
7277 the ``current'' server for posting.
7279 If you give a zero prefix (i. e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
7280 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
7282 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
7283 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
7288 @section Mail and Post
7290 Here's a list of variables that are relevant to both mailing and
7294 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
7295 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
7296 @cindex mailing lists
7298 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists that are
7299 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
7300 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
7301 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
7302 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
7303 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that match the groups that
7304 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
7305 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
7306 still a pain, though.
7310 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
7311 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
7312 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
7314 @vindex news-inews-hook
7316 @findex ispell-message
7318 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
7322 @node Archived Messages
7323 @section Archived Messages
7324 @cindex archived messages
7325 @cindex sent messages
7327 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail you send.
7328 The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to store
7329 the mail. If you want to disable this completely, you should set
7330 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil}.
7332 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
7333 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
7334 use to store sent messages. It is @code{(nnfolder "archive"
7335 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive/"))} by default, but you can use any
7336 mail select method (@code{nnml}, @code{nnmbox}, etc.). However,
7337 @code{nnfolder} is a quite likeable select method for doing this sort of
7338 thing. If you don't like the default directory chosen, you could say
7342 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
7343 '(nnfolder "archive"
7344 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
7345 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/sent-mail/active")
7346 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
7349 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
7351 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
7352 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
7353 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
7355 This variable can be:
7359 Messages will be saved in that group.
7360 @item a list of strings
7361 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
7362 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
7363 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
7368 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
7370 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
7373 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
7375 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
7378 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
7380 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
7381 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
7382 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
7383 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
7388 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
7389 '((if (message-news-p)
7394 This is the default.
7396 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
7397 messages in one file per month:
7400 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
7401 '((if (message-news-p)
7403 (concat "mail." (format-time-string
7404 "%Y-%m" (current-time))))))
7407 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
7408 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
7409 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
7410 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
7411 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
7412 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
7413 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
7414 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something nice --
7415 @samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
7416 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
7418 That's the default method of archiving sent mail. Gnus also offers two
7419 other variables for the people who don't like the default method. In
7420 that case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to
7421 @code{nil}; this will disable archiving.
7424 @item gnus-author-copy
7425 @vindex gnus-author-copy
7427 This is a file name, and all outgoing articles will be saved in that
7428 file. Initialized from the @code{AUTHORCOPY} environment variable.
7430 If this variable begins with the character @samp{|}, outgoing articles
7431 will be piped to the named program. It is possible to save an article in
7432 an MH folder as follows:
7435 (setq gnus-author-copy
7436 "|/usr/local/lib/mh/rcvstore +Article")
7439 If the first character is not a pipe, articles are saved using the
7440 function specified by the @code{gnus-author-copy-saver} variable.
7442 @item gnus-author-copy-saver
7443 @vindex gnus-author-copy-saver
7444 @findex rmail-output
7445 A function called to save outgoing articles. This function will be
7446 called with the same of the file to store the article in. The default
7447 function is @code{rmail-output} which saves in the Unix mailbox format.
7449 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
7450 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
7451 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
7452 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
7453 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
7456 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
7457 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
7458 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
7463 @node Posting Styles
7464 @section Posting Styles
7465 @cindex posting styles
7468 All them variables, they make my head swim.
7470 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
7471 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
7472 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
7475 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
7476 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
7477 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
7478 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
7479 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
7484 (signature . "Peace and happiness")
7485 (organization . "What me?"))
7487 (signature . "Death to everybody"))
7488 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
7489 (organization . "Emacs is it")))
7492 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
7493 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
7494 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
7495 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
7496 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
7497 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
7498 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
7499 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
7501 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
7502 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
7503 If it's a function symbol, that function will be called with no
7504 arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
7505 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
7506 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
7509 Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
7510 attribute consists of a @var{(name . value)} pair. The attribute name
7511 can be one of @code{signature}, @code{organization} or @code{from}. The
7512 attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
7513 a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
7516 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function (the
7517 return value will be used), a variable (its value will be used) or a
7518 list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value will be used).
7520 So here's a new example:
7523 (setq gnus-posting-styles
7525 (signature . "~/.signature")
7526 (from . "user@@foo (user)")
7527 ("X-Home-Page" . (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
7528 (organization . "People's Front Against MWM"))
7530 (signature . my-funny-signature-randomizer))
7531 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
7532 (signature . my-quote-randomizer))
7533 (posting-from-work-p
7534 (signature . "~/.work-signature")
7535 (from . "user@@bar.foo (user)")
7536 (organization . "Important Work, Inc"))
7538 (signature . "~/.mail-signature"))))
7546 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
7547 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
7548 craazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save the
7549 message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some other
7550 day, and send it when you feel its finished.
7552 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
7553 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
7554 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
7555 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
7556 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
7560 @vindex gnus-draft-group-directory
7561 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
7562 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
7563 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{gnus-draft-group-directory}
7564 controls both the name of the group and the location---the leaf element
7565 in the path will be used as the name of the group. What makes this
7566 group special is that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any
7567 articles as read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
7569 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
7572 @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
7573 @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
7574 @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
7575 @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
7576 @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
7577 @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
7578 If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
7579 encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
7580 (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
7581 interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
7582 and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
7583 (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
7584 If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
7585 @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
7587 @vindex gnus-use-draft
7588 To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
7589 @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
7591 @findex gnus-summary-send-draft
7592 @kindex S D c (Summary)
7593 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
7594 draft group and push @kbd{S D c} (@code{gnus-summary-send-draft}) to do
7595 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
7597 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
7600 @findex gnus-summary-send-all-drafts
7601 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
7602 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{S D a} command
7603 (@code{gnus-summary-send-all-drafts}). This command understands the
7604 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7607 @node Rejected Articles
7608 @section Rejected Articles
7609 @cindex rejected articles
7611 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
7612 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
7613 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
7614 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
7616 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
7617 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
7618 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
7619 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
7620 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
7622 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
7623 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
7624 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
7627 @node Select Methods
7628 @chapter Select Methods
7629 @cindex foreign groups
7630 @cindex select methods
7632 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group that is not read by the usual (or
7633 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
7634 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
7635 personal mail group.
7637 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
7638 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
7639 list where the first element says what backend to use (eg. @code{nntp},
7640 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
7641 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
7642 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
7644 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
7645 we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
7647 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
7650 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
7651 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
7652 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group, in
7653 all circumstances, @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the
7654 @code{nntp} backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
7656 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
7659 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
7660 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
7661 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
7662 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
7663 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
7667 @node The Server Buffer
7668 @section The Server Buffer
7670 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
7671 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
7672 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
7673 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
7674 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
7675 backend represents a virtual server.
7677 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
7678 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
7679 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
7680 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
7682 These select methods specifications can sometimes become quite
7683 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
7684 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number @code{13}, which
7685 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
7686 Anyways, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
7687 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
7688 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
7690 To enter the server buffer, user the @kbd{^}
7691 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
7694 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
7695 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
7696 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
7697 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
7698 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
7699 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
7702 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
7703 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
7706 @node Server Buffer Format
7707 @subsection Server Buffer Format
7708 @cindex server buffer format
7710 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
7711 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
7712 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
7713 variable, with some simple extensions:
7718 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
7721 The name of this server.
7724 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
7727 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
7730 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
7731 The mode line can also be customized by using the
7732 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable. The following specs are
7743 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
7746 @node Server Commands
7747 @subsection Server Commands
7748 @cindex server commands
7754 @findex gnus-server-add-server
7755 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
7759 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
7760 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
7763 @kindex SPACE (Server)
7764 @findex gnus-server-read-server
7765 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
7769 @findex gnus-server-exit
7770 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
7774 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
7775 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
7779 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
7780 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
7784 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
7785 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
7789 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
7790 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
7795 @node Example Methods
7796 @subsection Example Methods
7798 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
7801 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
7804 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
7810 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
7811 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
7814 After these two elements, there may be a arbitrary number of
7815 @var{(variable form)} pairs.
7817 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
7818 port @code{15} from that machine. This is what the select method should
7822 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
7825 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
7826 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example.
7828 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
7829 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
7830 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
7834 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
7837 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
7840 Here's the method for a public spool:
7844 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
7845 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
7849 @node Creating a Virtual Server
7850 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
7852 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
7853 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
7855 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
7856 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
7857 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
7859 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
7861 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
7862 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
7863 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
7864 will contain the following:
7874 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
7875 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
7876 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
7879 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
7880 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
7881 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
7884 @node Servers and Methods
7885 @subsection Servers and Methods
7887 Wherever you would normally use a select method
7888 (eg. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
7889 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
7890 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
7894 @node Unavailable Servers
7895 @subsection Unavailable Servers
7897 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
7898 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
7899 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
7900 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
7901 actually the case or not.
7903 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
7904 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to the server
7905 @samp{nepholococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
7906 away from you, the machine is quite, so it takes 1 minute just to find
7907 out that it refuses connection from you today. If Gnus were to attempt
7908 to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't attempt to do
7909 that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'', it will
7910 regard that server as ``down''.
7912 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
7913 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
7915 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke it
7916 with the following commands:
7922 @findex gnus-server-open-server
7923 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
7924 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
7928 @findex gnus-server-close-server
7929 Close the connection (if any) to the server
7930 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
7934 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
7935 Mark the current server as unreachable
7936 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
7940 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
7941 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from all servers
7942 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
7948 @section Getting News
7949 @cindex reading news
7950 @cindex news backends
7952 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
7953 only two methods of getting news -- it can read from an @sc{nntp}
7954 server, or it can read from a local spool.
7957 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
7958 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
7963 @subsection @sc{nntp}
7966 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
7967 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
7968 server as the, uhm, address.
7970 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
7971 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
7972 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
7973 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
7975 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
7976 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
7977 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
7979 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
7984 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
7985 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
7986 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
7988 @cindex authentification
7989 @cindex nntp authentification
7990 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
7991 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
7992 @code{nntp-server-opened-hook} is run after a connection has been made.
7993 It can be used to send commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has
7994 been contacted. By default is sends the command @code{MODE READER} to
7995 the server with the @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. Another
7996 popular function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which will prompt you for
7997 an @sc{nntp} password and stuff.
7999 @item nntp-server-action-alist
8000 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
8001 This is an list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
8002 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
8003 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
8006 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
8010 You probably don't want to do that, though.
8012 The default value is
8015 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
8016 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook nntp-send-mode-reader)))
8019 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
8020 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
8022 @item nntp-maximum-request
8023 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
8024 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
8025 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
8026 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
8027 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
8028 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
8029 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
8031 @item nntp-connection-timeout
8032 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
8033 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
8034 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
8035 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
8036 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
8037 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
8038 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
8039 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
8040 no timeouts are done.
8042 @item nntp-command-timeout
8043 @vindex nntp-command-timeout
8044 @cindex PPP connections
8045 @cindex dynamic IP addresses
8046 If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
8047 address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
8048 changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
8049 waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
8050 unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
8051 then, if it sits waiting longer than that number of seconds for a reply
8052 from the server, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
8053 the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
8054 likely number is 30 seconds.
8056 @item nntp-retry-on-break
8057 @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
8058 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
8059 hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
8062 @item nntp-server-hook
8063 @vindex nntp-server-hook
8064 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
8067 @findex nntp-open-rlogin
8068 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
8069 @item nntp-open-server-function
8070 @vindex nntp-open-server-function
8071 This function is used to connect to the remote system. Two pre-made
8072 functions are @code{nntp-open-network-stream}, which is the default, and
8073 simply connects to some port or other on the remote system. The other
8074 is @code{nntp-open-rlogin}, which does an rlogin on the remote system,
8075 and then does a telnet to the @sc{nntp} server available there.
8077 @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
8078 @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
8079 If you use @code{nntp-open-rlogin} as the
8080 @code{nntp-open-server-function}, this list will be used as the
8081 parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
8083 @item nntp-end-of-line
8084 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
8085 String to use as end-of-line markers when talking to the @sc{nntp}
8086 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
8087 using @code{rlogin} to talk to the server.
8089 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
8090 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
8091 User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
8095 @vindex nntp-address
8096 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
8098 @item nntp-port-number
8099 @vindex nntp-port-number
8100 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
8103 @item nntp-buggy-select
8104 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
8105 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
8107 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
8108 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
8109 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
8110 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks whether @sc{nov}
8111 can be used automatically.
8113 @item nntp-xover-commands
8114 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
8117 List of strings that are used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
8118 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
8122 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
8123 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
8124 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
8125 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
8126 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
8127 lines that you do not want, and will not use. This variable says how
8128 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
8129 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
8130 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
8131 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
8132 @code{nntp} will never split requests.
8134 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
8135 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
8136 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
8138 @item nntp-async-number
8139 @vindex nntp-async-number
8140 How many articles should be pre-fetched when in asynchronous mode. If
8141 this variable is @code{t}, @code{nntp} will pre-fetch all the articles
8142 that it can without bound. If it is @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be
8145 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
8146 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
8147 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
8148 server closes connection.
8154 @subsection News Spool
8158 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
8159 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups like
8160 @samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}.
8162 Anyways, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @samp{} (or
8163 anything else) as the address.
8165 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
8166 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
8167 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
8168 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
8172 @item nnspool-inews-program
8173 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
8174 Program used to post an article.
8176 @item nnspool-inews-switches
8177 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
8178 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
8180 @item nnspool-spool-directory
8181 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
8182 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
8183 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
8185 @item nnspool-nov-directory
8186 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
8187 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
8188 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
8190 @item nnspool-lib-dir
8191 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
8192 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
8194 @item nnspool-active-file
8195 @vindex nnspool-active-file
8196 The path of the active file.
8198 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
8199 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
8200 The path of the group descriptions file.
8202 @item nnspool-history-file
8203 @vindex nnspool-history-file
8204 The path of the news history file.
8206 @item nnspool-active-times-file
8207 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
8208 The path of the active date file.
8210 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
8211 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
8212 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
8215 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
8216 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
8218 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
8219 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
8220 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
8226 @section Getting Mail
8227 @cindex reading mail
8230 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
8234 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
8235 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
8236 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
8237 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
8238 * Mail and Procmail:: Reading mail groups that procmail create.
8239 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
8240 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
8241 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
8242 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
8243 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
8247 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
8248 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
8250 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
8251 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
8252 and things will happen automatically.
8254 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a one file per
8255 mail backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
8258 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
8259 '((nnml "private")))
8262 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
8263 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
8264 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
8265 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
8266 like any other group.
8268 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
8271 (setq nnmail-split-methods
8272 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
8273 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
8277 This will result in three new mail groups being created:
8278 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
8279 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
8282 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
8283 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though,
8284 especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
8287 @node Splitting Mail
8288 @subsection Splitting Mail
8289 @cindex splitting mail
8290 @cindex mail splitting
8292 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
8293 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
8294 to be split into groups.
8297 (setq nnmail-split-methods
8298 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
8299 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
8303 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
8304 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
8305 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
8306 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
8307 determine if it belongs in this mail group.
8309 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
8310 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
8311 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
8312 mail belongs in that group.
8314 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
8315 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any
8316 mails that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps.
8318 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
8319 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
8320 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
8321 message. The function should return a list of groups names that it
8322 thinks should carry this mail message.
8324 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent
8325 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
8326 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
8327 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
8329 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
8330 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
8331 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
8332 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
8333 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
8335 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
8338 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
8339 the crossposted articles. However, not all files systems support hard
8340 links. If that's the case for you, set
8341 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
8342 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
8344 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
8345 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
8346 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
8347 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
8348 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
8349 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
8350 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
8351 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
8355 @node Mail Backend Variables
8356 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
8358 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
8362 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
8363 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
8364 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
8365 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
8367 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
8368 @item nnmail-spool-file
8372 The backends will look for new mail in this file. If this variable is
8373 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
8374 themselves. If you are using a POP mail server and your name is
8375 @samp{larsi}, you should set this variable to @samp{po:larsi}. If
8376 your name is not @samp{larsi}, you should probably modify that
8377 slightly, but you may have guessed that already, you smart & handsome
8378 devil! You can also set this variable to @code{pop}, and Gnus will try
8379 to figure out the POP mail string by itself. In any case, Gnus will
8380 call @code{movemail} which will contact the POP server named in the
8381 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
8383 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
8384 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
8385 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
8386 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
8387 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
8388 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
8390 @vindex nnmail-use-procmail
8391 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
8392 @item nnmail-use-procmail
8393 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will look in
8394 @code{nnmail-procmail-directory} for incoming mail. All the files in
8395 that directory that have names ending in @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix}
8396 will be considered incoming mailboxes, and will be searched for new
8399 @vindex nnmail-crash-box
8400 @item nnmail-crash-box
8401 When the mail backends read a spool file, it is first moved to this
8402 file, which is @file{~/.gnus-crash-box} by default. If this file
8403 already exists, it will always be read (and incorporated) before any
8406 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
8407 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
8408 This is run in a buffer that holds all the new incoming mail, and can be
8409 used for, well, anything, really.
8411 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
8412 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
8413 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
8414 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
8415 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
8416 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
8417 starting to handle the new mail) and
8418 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
8419 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
8420 default file modes the new mail files get:
8423 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
8424 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
8426 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
8427 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
8430 @item nnmail-tmp-directory
8431 @vindex nnmail-tmp-directory
8432 This variable says where to move the incoming mail to while processing
8433 it. This is usually done in the same directory that the mail backend
8434 inhabits (i.e., @file{~/Mail/}), but if this variable is non-@code{nil},
8435 it will be used instead.
8437 @item nnmail-movemail-program
8438 @vindex nnmail-movemail-program
8439 This program is executed to move mail from the user's inbox to her home
8440 directory. The default is @samp{movemail}.
8442 @item nnmail-delete-incoming
8443 @vindex nnmail-delete-incoming
8444 @cindex incoming mail files
8445 @cindex deleting incoming files
8446 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will delete the temporary incoming
8447 file after splitting mail into the proper groups. This is @code{nil} by
8448 default for reasons of security.
8450 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
8451 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
8452 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
8453 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories like
8454 @file{mail.misc/}. If it is @code{nil}, the same group will end up in
8457 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
8458 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
8460 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
8465 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
8466 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
8467 @cindex mail splitting
8468 @cindex fancy mail splitting
8470 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
8471 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
8472 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
8473 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
8474 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
8475 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
8477 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
8480 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
8481 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
8482 ;; from real errors.
8483 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
8485 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
8486 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
8487 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
8488 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
8489 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
8490 ;; Other mailing lists...
8491 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
8492 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
8494 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen"))
8495 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
8499 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
8500 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
8501 the four possible split syntaxes:
8506 If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group name.
8508 @item (FIELD VALUE SPLIT)
8509 If the split is a list, and the first element is a string, then that
8510 means that if header FIELD (a regexp) contains VALUE (also a regexp),
8511 then store the message as specified by SPLIT.
8514 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{|} (vertical
8515 bar), then process each SPLIT until one of them matches. A SPLIT is
8516 said to match if it will cause the mail message to be stored in one or
8520 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{&}, then process
8521 all SPLITs in the list.
8524 In these splits, FIELD must match a complete field name. VALUE must
8525 match a complete word according to the fundamental mode syntax table.
8526 You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial field names or
8529 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
8530 FIELD and VALUE can also be lisp symbols, in that case they are expanded
8531 as specified by the variable @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is
8532 an alist of cons cells, where the car of the cells contains the key, and
8533 the cdr contains a string.
8535 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
8536 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
8537 when all this splitting is performed.
8540 @node Mail and Procmail
8541 @subsection Mail and Procmail
8546 Many people use @code{procmail} (or some other mail filter program or
8547 external delivery agent---@code{slocal}, @code{elm}, etc) to split
8548 incoming mail into groups. If you do that, you should set
8549 @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{procmail} to ensure that the mail
8550 backends never ever try to fetch mail by themselves.
8552 This also means that you probably don't want to set
8553 @code{nnmail-split-methods} either, which has some, perhaps, unexpected
8556 When a mail backend is queried for what groups it carries, it replies
8557 with the contents of that variable, along with any groups it has figured
8558 out that it carries by other means. None of the backends (except
8559 @code{nnmh}) actually go out to the disk and check what groups actually
8560 exist. (It's not trivial to distinguish between what the user thinks is
8561 a basis for a newsgroup and what is just a plain old file or directory.)
8563 This means that you have to tell Gnus (and the backends) what groups
8566 Let's take the @code{nnmh} backend as an example.
8568 The folders are located in @code{nnmh-directory}, say, @file{~/Mail/}.
8569 There are three folders, @file{foo}, @file{bar} and @file{mail.baz}.
8571 Go to the group buffer and type @kbd{G m}. When prompted, answer
8572 @samp{foo} for the name and @samp{nnmh} for the method. Repeat
8573 twice for the two other groups, @samp{bar} and @samp{mail.baz}. Be sure
8574 to include all your mail groups.
8576 That's it. You are now set to read your mail. An active file for this
8577 method will be created automatically.
8579 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
8580 @vindex nnmail-procmail-directory
8581 If you use @code{nnfolder} or any other backend that store more than a
8582 single article in each file, you should never have procmail add mails to
8583 the file that Gnus sees. Instead, procmail should put all incoming mail
8584 in @code{nnmail-procmail-directory}. To arrive at the file name to put
8585 the incoming mail in, append @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix} to the group
8586 name. The mail backends will read the mail from these files.
8588 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
8589 When Gnus reads a file called @file{mail.misc.spool}, this mail will be
8590 put in the @code{mail.misc}, as one would expect. However, if you want
8591 Gnus to split the mail the normal way, you could set
8592 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to @code{t}.
8594 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
8595 If you use @code{procmail} to split things directory into an @code{nnmh}
8596 directory (which you shouldn't do), you should set
8597 @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} to non-@code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
8598 ever expiring the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is quite,
8602 @node Incorporating Old Mail
8603 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
8605 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
8606 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
8607 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
8610 Doing so can be quite easy.
8612 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
8613 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
8614 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
8615 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
8616 your @code{nnml} groups.
8622 Go to the group buffer.
8625 Type `G f' and give the path of the mbox file when prompted to create an
8626 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
8629 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
8632 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group (@pxref{Setting
8636 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
8637 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
8640 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
8641 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
8642 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
8643 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
8644 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
8646 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
8647 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
8648 using the new mail backend.
8652 @subsection Expiring Mail
8653 @cindex article expiry
8655 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
8656 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
8657 different approach to mail reading.
8659 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
8660 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
8661 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
8662 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
8663 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
8664 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
8667 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
8668 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
8669 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
8670 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
8671 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
8672 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
8673 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
8674 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
8676 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
8677 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
8678 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
8679 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
8680 articles that are marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
8681 column in the summary buffer.
8683 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
8684 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
8687 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
8688 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
8691 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
8692 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
8694 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
8695 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
8696 expirable article has to live. The default is seven days.
8698 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
8699 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
8700 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
8701 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
8704 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
8706 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
8708 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
8710 ((string= group "mail.junk")
8712 ((string= group "important")
8718 The group names that this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
8719 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
8721 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
8722 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can be either a number (not
8723 necessarily an integer) or the symbols @code{immediate} or
8726 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
8727 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
8729 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
8730 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
8731 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
8732 easier for procmail users.
8734 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
8735 By the way, that line up there about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
8736 articles is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
8737 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
8738 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
8739 caution. Even more dangerous is the
8740 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
8741 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
8742 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
8743 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
8744 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
8745 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
8746 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
8751 @subsection Duplicates
8753 @vindex nnmail-delete-duplicates
8754 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
8755 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
8756 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
8757 @cindex duplicate mails
8758 If you are a member of a couple of mailing list, you will sometime
8759 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
8760 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
8761 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s -
8762 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
8763 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
8764 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
8765 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
8766 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
8767 @code{nnmail-delete-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
8768 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
8769 will generate a brand new @code{Message-ID} for the mail and insert a
8770 warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks that this is a
8771 duplicate of a different message.
8773 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
8774 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
8775 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
8776 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
8778 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
8781 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
8782 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
8786 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
8787 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
8788 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
8789 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
8790 (any mail "mail.misc")
8797 (setq nnmail-split-methods
8798 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
8803 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
8804 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
8805 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
8806 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
8807 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
8810 @node Not Reading Mail
8811 @subsection Not Reading Mail
8813 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
8814 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
8815 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
8817 If you set @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{nil}, none of the backends
8818 will ever attempt to read incoming mail, which should help.
8820 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
8821 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
8822 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
8823 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
8824 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
8825 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
8826 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
8827 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
8828 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
8829 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
8830 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
8832 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
8833 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
8837 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
8838 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
8840 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
8841 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
8842 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
8845 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
8846 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
8847 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
8848 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
8849 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
8854 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
8856 @cindex unix mail box
8858 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
8859 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
8860 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
8861 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
8862 which group it belongs in.
8864 Virtual server settings:
8867 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
8868 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
8869 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory.
8871 @item nnmbox-active-file
8872 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
8873 The name of the active file for the mail box.
8875 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
8876 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
8877 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
8883 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
8887 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
8888 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
8889 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
8890 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each mail
8891 article to say which group it belongs in.
8893 Virtual server settings:
8896 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
8897 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
8898 The name of the rmail mbox file.
8900 @item nnbabyl-active-file
8901 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
8902 The name of the active file for the rmail box.
8904 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
8905 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
8906 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail.
8911 @subsubsection Mail Spool
8913 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
8915 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
8916 format. It should be used with some caution.
8918 @vindex nnml-directory
8919 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files;
8920 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the correct
8921 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
8922 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
8924 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
8927 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
8928 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
8929 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
8930 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
8931 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
8932 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
8933 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
8934 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
8936 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
8937 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
8938 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes is the fastest
8939 backend when it comes to reading mail.
8941 Virtual server settings:
8944 @item nnml-directory
8945 @vindex nnml-directory
8946 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
8948 @item nnml-active-file
8949 @vindex nnml-active-file
8950 The active file for the @code{nnml} server.
8952 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
8953 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
8954 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
8957 @item nnml-get-new-mail
8958 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
8959 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail.
8961 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
8962 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
8963 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
8965 @item nnml-nov-file-name
8966 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
8967 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
8969 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
8970 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
8971 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
8975 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
8976 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
8977 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
8978 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
8979 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
8980 might take a while to complete.
8984 @subsubsection MH Spool
8986 @cindex mh-e mail spool
8988 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
8989 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
8990 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
8991 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
8993 Virtual server settings:
8996 @item nnmh-directory
8997 @vindex nnmh-directory
8998 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory.
9000 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
9001 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
9002 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail.
9005 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
9006 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
9007 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
9008 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
9009 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
9010 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
9011 to set this variable to @code{t}.
9016 @subsubsection Mail Folders
9018 @cindex mbox folders
9019 @cindex mail folders
9021 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
9022 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
9023 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
9026 Virtual server settings:
9029 @item nnfolder-directory
9030 @vindex nnfolder-directory
9031 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
9033 @item nnfolder-active-file
9034 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
9035 The name of the active file.
9037 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
9038 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
9039 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File Format}.
9041 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
9042 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
9043 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail.
9046 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
9047 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
9048 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
9049 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
9050 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
9051 @code{nnfolder-directory}.
9055 @section Other Sources
9057 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
9058 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
9062 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
9063 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
9064 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
9065 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{SOUP} packets ``offline''.
9069 @node Directory Groups
9070 @subsection Directory Groups
9072 @cindex directory groups
9074 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
9075 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
9078 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp}, that most
9079 wonderful of all wonderful Emacs packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I
9080 didn't think much about it---a backend to read directories. Big deal.
9082 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
9083 enter @file{"/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/"} as the the
9084 directory name, ange-ftp will actually allow you to read this directory
9085 over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
9087 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
9089 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
9090 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
9091 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
9092 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
9095 @node Anything Groups
9096 @subsection Anything Groups
9099 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
9100 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
9101 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
9104 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
9105 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
9106 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
9107 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're
9108 forgetting. @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it
9109 snoops each file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e.,
9110 the first few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head.
9111 If this is just some arbitrary file without a head (eg. a C source
9112 file), @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It
9113 will use file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
9116 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
9117 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
9118 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
9119 in the article buffer, just as usual.
9121 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
9122 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
9123 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
9124 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
9126 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
9127 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
9128 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
9129 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
9130 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
9131 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
9132 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
9133 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
9138 @item nneething-map-file-directory
9139 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
9140 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
9141 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
9143 @item nneething-exclude-files
9144 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
9145 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
9146 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
9148 @item nneething-map-file
9149 @vindex nneething-map-file
9150 Name of the map files.
9154 @node Document Groups
9155 @subsection Document Groups
9157 @cindex documentation group
9160 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
9161 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
9168 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
9173 The standard Unix mbox file.
9175 @cindex MMDF mail box
9177 The MMDF mail box format.
9180 Several news articles appended into a file.
9183 @cindex rnews batch files
9184 The rnews batch transport format.
9185 @cindex forwarded messages
9194 @cindex RFC 1153 digest
9195 @cindex RFC 341 digest
9196 MIME (RFC 1341) digest format.
9198 @item standard-digest
9199 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
9202 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
9205 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
9206 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
9207 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
9210 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
9211 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
9212 group. And that's it.
9214 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
9215 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
9216 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
9217 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
9218 @code{nndoc}, set the process mark on all the articles in the buffer
9219 (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r}) using
9220 @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL} file is
9221 now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can delete
9222 that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
9224 Virtual server variables:
9227 @item nndoc-article-type
9228 @vindex nndoc-article-type
9229 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
9230 @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{news}, @code{rnews},
9231 @code{mime-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, or @code{guess}.
9233 @item nndoc-post-type
9234 @vindex nndoc-post-type
9235 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
9236 a mail group. There are two legal values: @code{mail} (the default)
9246 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
9247 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
9248 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
9250 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
9251 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
9252 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
9255 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something a that's a bit
9256 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
9257 that interested in doing things properly.
9259 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
9260 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
9266 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
9267 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie, or you can use Gnus to create the
9268 packet with the @kbd{O s} command.
9271 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
9274 You put the packet in your home directory.
9277 You fire up Gnus using the @code{nnsoup} backend as the native server.
9280 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
9284 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
9288 You transfer this packet to the server.
9291 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
9294 You then repeat until you die.
9298 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
9299 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
9302 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
9303 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
9304 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
9309 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
9313 @kindex G s b (Group)
9314 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
9315 Pack all unread articles in the current group
9316 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
9317 process/prefix convention.
9320 @kindex G s w (Group)
9321 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
9322 Save all data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
9325 @kindex G s s (Group)
9326 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
9327 Send all replies from the replies packet
9328 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
9331 @kindex G s p (Group)
9332 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
9333 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
9336 @kindex G s r (Group)
9337 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
9338 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
9341 @kindex O s (Summary)
9342 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
9343 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
9344 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
9350 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
9355 @item gnus-soup-directory
9356 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
9357 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
9358 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
9360 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
9361 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
9362 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
9363 reply packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/}.
9365 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
9366 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
9367 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
9370 @item gnus-soup-packer
9371 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
9372 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
9373 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
9375 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
9376 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
9377 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
9378 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
9380 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
9381 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
9382 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
9384 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
9385 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
9386 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
9387 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
9393 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
9396 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
9397 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
9398 you can read them at leisure.
9400 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
9404 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
9405 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
9406 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
9407 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
9409 @item nnsoup-directory
9410 @vindex nnsoup-directory
9411 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
9412 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
9414 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
9415 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
9416 All replies will stored in this directory before being packed into a
9417 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
9419 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
9420 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
9421 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
9422 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
9423 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
9425 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
9426 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
9427 The index type of the replies packet. The is @samp{?n}, which means
9428 ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
9430 @item nnsoup-active-file
9431 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
9432 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
9433 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
9434 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
9435 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
9438 @vindex nnsoup-packer
9439 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
9440 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
9442 @item nnsoup-unpacker
9443 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
9444 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
9445 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
9447 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
9448 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
9449 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
9452 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
9453 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
9454 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
9461 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
9463 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
9464 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
9465 more for that to happen.
9467 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
9468 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
9469 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
9472 In specific, this is what it does:
9475 (setq gnus-inews-article-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
9476 (setq send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
9479 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
9480 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
9481 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
9484 @node Combined Groups
9485 @section Combined Groups
9487 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
9491 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
9492 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
9496 @node Virtual Groups
9497 @subsection Virtual Groups
9499 @cindex virtual groups
9501 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
9504 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small group, you can
9505 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
9506 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
9508 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
9509 regexp to match component groups.
9511 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
9512 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
9513 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
9514 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
9517 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
9518 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
9521 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
9524 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
9525 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
9527 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
9528 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
9529 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
9530 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
9533 "^nntp+some.server.jp:soc.motss$\\|^nntp+some.server.no:soc.motss$"
9536 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
9537 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
9538 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
9539 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
9540 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}.
9542 One limitation, however---all groups that are included in a virtual
9543 group has to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
9544 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
9546 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
9547 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
9548 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
9549 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
9550 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
9551 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
9552 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
9553 effect if you have two virtual groups that contain the same component
9554 group. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
9555 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
9556 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
9559 @node Kibozed Groups
9560 @subsection Kibozed Groups
9564 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
9565 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
9566 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
9567 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
9569 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
9570 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
9571 @code{nnkiboze} group. There most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
9572 and @code{nnvirtual} ends.
9574 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
9575 must have a score file to say what articles that are to be included in
9576 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
9578 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
9579 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
9580 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
9581 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
9582 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
9583 all the articles in all the components groups and run them through the
9584 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
9585 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
9587 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
9588 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
9589 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
9590 Stranger things have happened.
9592 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
9593 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
9595 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
9596 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
9597 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
9598 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
9599 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
9600 on what groups that have been searched through to find component
9603 Articles that are marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have their
9604 @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
9611 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
9612 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
9613 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
9616 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
9617 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
9618 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
9619 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
9620 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
9622 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
9623 before generating the summary buffer.
9625 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
9626 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
9627 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
9629 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
9630 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
9631 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
9632 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
9635 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
9636 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
9637 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
9638 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
9639 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
9640 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus *knows* what you read.
9641 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
9642 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
9643 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
9644 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
9645 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
9646 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
9650 @node Summary Score Commands
9651 @section Summary Score Commands
9652 @cindex score commands
9654 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
9655 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
9656 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
9657 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
9658 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
9660 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
9661 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
9662 some other score file (eg. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
9663 score file the current one.
9665 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
9670 @kindex V s (Summary)
9671 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
9672 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
9675 @kindex V S (Summary)
9676 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
9677 Display the score of the current article
9678 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
9681 @kindex V t (Summary)
9682 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
9683 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
9684 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
9687 @cindex V R (Summary)
9688 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
9689 Run the current summary through the scoring process
9690 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
9691 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
9692 effect you're having.
9695 @kindex V a (Summary)
9696 @findex gnus-summary-score-entry
9697 Add a new score entry, and allow specifying all elements
9698 (@code{gnus-summary-score-entry}).
9701 @kindex V c (Summary)
9702 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
9703 Make a different score file the current
9704 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
9707 @kindex V e (Summary)
9708 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
9709 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
9710 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
9714 @kindex V f (Summary)
9715 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
9716 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
9717 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
9720 @kindex V C (Summary)
9721 @findex gnus-score-customize
9722 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
9723 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
9726 @kindex I C-i (Summary)
9727 @findex gnus-summary-raise-score
9728 Increase the score of the current article
9729 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-score}).
9732 @kindex L C-l (Summary)
9733 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
9734 Lower the score of the current article
9735 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-score}).
9738 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
9743 @kindex V m (Summary)
9744 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
9745 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
9746 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
9749 @kindex V E (Summary)
9750 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
9751 Expunge all articles with a score below the default score (or the
9752 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
9755 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
9756 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
9761 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
9762 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
9764 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
9769 Score on the author name.
9772 Score on the subject line.
9775 Score on the Xref line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
9778 Score on thread---the References line.
9784 Score on the number of lines.
9787 Score on the Message-ID.
9800 The third key is the match type. Which match types are legal depends on
9801 what headers you are scoring on.
9845 Greater than number.
9850 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
9851 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
9852 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
9856 Temporary score entry.
9859 Permanent score entry.
9862 Immediately scoring.
9867 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
9868 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
9869 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
9870 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
9872 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
9873 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
9874 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
9875 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
9876 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
9878 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
9879 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
9880 pretend they are keymaps or not.
9883 @node Group Score Commands
9884 @section Group Score Commands
9885 @cindex group score commands
9887 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
9893 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
9894 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
9895 all the time. This command will flush the cache
9896 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
9901 @node Score Variables
9902 @section Score Variables
9903 @cindex score variables
9907 @item gnus-use-scoring
9908 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
9909 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
9910 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
9912 @item gnus-kill-killed
9913 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
9914 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
9915 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
9916 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
9917 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
9918 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
9919 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
9921 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
9922 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
9923 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
9924 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
9925 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
9927 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
9928 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
9929 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
9930 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
9932 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
9933 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
9935 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
9936 score files. However, if this might make you Emacs grow big and
9937 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files that are
9938 unlikely to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
9939 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
9940 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
9941 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
9944 @item gnus-save-score
9945 @vindex gnus-save-score
9946 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
9947 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
9948 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
9950 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
9951 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
9952 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
9953 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
9954 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
9955 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
9956 manually entered data.
9958 @item gnus-summary-default-score
9959 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
9960 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
9962 @item gnus-score-over-mark
9963 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
9964 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
9965 default. Default is @samp{+}.
9967 @item gnus-score-below-mark
9968 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
9969 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
9970 default. Default is @samp{-}.
9972 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
9973 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
9974 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
9975 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
9977 Predefined functions available are:
9980 @item gnus-score-find-single
9981 @findex gnus-score-find-single
9982 Only apply the group's own score file.
9984 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
9985 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
9986 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
9987 default. For instance, if the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus},
9988 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
9989 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
9990 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
9991 then a regexp match is done.
9993 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
9994 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
9996 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
9997 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
9998 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
9999 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE} or @file{all.emacs.SCORE},
10000 but you can have @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and
10001 @file{comp.emacs.SCORE}.
10004 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
10005 functions will be called, and all the returned lists of score files will
10006 be applied. These functions can also return lists of score alists
10007 directly. In that case, the functions that return these non-file score
10008 alists should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file
10009 functions, to ensure that the last score file returned is the local
10012 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
10013 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
10014 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
10015 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
10016 are expired. It's 7 by default.
10018 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
10019 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
10020 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
10021 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
10022 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
10023 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
10024 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
10027 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
10028 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
10029 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
10034 @node Score File Format
10035 @section Score File Format
10036 @cindex score file format
10038 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
10039 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
10040 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
10042 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
10046 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
10048 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
10050 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
10052 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
10057 (mark-and-expunge -10)
10061 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
10062 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
10063 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
10064 (gnus-summary-make-false-root 'empty))
10068 This example demonstrates absolutely everything about a score file.
10070 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
10071 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
10072 has to be legal syntactically, if not semantically.
10074 Six keys are supported by this alist:
10079 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
10080 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
10081 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
10082 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
10083 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
10084 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
10085 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
10086 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
10087 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
10088 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
10089 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
10090 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
10091 to articles that matches these score entries.
10093 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
10094 score entry has one to four elements.
10098 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
10099 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
10103 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
10104 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
10105 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
10106 is successful. If this element is not present, the
10107 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
10108 instead. This is 1000 by default.
10111 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
10112 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
10113 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
10114 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
10115 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 ce.
10118 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
10119 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
10120 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
10121 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
10124 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
10125 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp) as
10126 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types and @code{e} and
10127 @code{E} (exact match) types. If this element is not present, Gnus will
10128 assume that substring matching should be used. @code{R} and @code{S}
10129 differ from the other two in that the matches will be done in a
10130 case-sensitive manner. All these one-letter types are really just
10131 abbreviations for the @code{regexp}, @code{string} and @code{exact}
10132 types, which you can use instead, if you feel like.
10135 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
10136 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
10139 For the Date header we have three match types: @code{before}, @code{at}
10140 and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this ever being useful, but,
10141 like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide this function. Just in
10142 case. You never know. Better safe than sorry. Once burnt, twice shy.
10143 Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have sex on a first date.
10145 @item Head, Body, All
10146 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
10150 This match key will add a score entry on all articles that followup to
10151 some author. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header uses.
10154 This match key will add a score entry on all articles that are part of
10155 a thread. Uses the same match types as the @code{References} header
10161 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
10162 lower than this number will be marked as read.
10165 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
10166 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
10168 @item mark-and-expunge
10169 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
10170 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
10173 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
10174 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
10175 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
10176 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
10177 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
10180 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
10181 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
10184 @item exclude-files
10185 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. This files will
10186 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
10190 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
10191 ignored when handling global score files.
10194 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
10195 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}).
10198 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
10199 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
10200 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
10201 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
10203 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
10207 (mark-and-expunge -100)
10210 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
10211 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
10212 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
10213 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
10214 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
10216 I.e. -- the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where there
10217 exist a few interesting threads which can't be found automatically by
10218 ordinary scoring rules.
10221 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
10222 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
10223 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
10224 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
10225 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
10226 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
10227 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
10228 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
10229 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
10230 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
10231 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
10235 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
10236 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
10237 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
10238 file for a number of groups.
10241 @cindex local variables
10242 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
10243 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
10244 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
10245 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
10250 @node Score File Editing
10251 @section Score File Editing
10253 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
10254 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
10255 with a mode for that.
10257 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
10258 additional commands:
10263 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
10264 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
10265 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
10266 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
10269 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
10270 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
10271 Insert the current date in numerical format
10272 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
10273 you were wondering.
10276 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
10277 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
10278 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
10279 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
10280 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
10285 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
10287 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
10288 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
10290 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
10291 e} to begin editing score files.
10294 @node Adaptive Scoring
10295 @section Adaptive Scoring
10296 @cindex adaptive scoring
10298 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
10299 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
10300 stupidity, to be precise.
10302 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
10303 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
10304 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
10305 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
10306 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
10309 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
10310 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
10311 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
10312 might look something like this:
10315 (defvar gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
10316 '((gnus-unread-mark)
10317 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
10318 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
10319 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
10320 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
10321 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
10322 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
10323 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
10324 (gnus-ancient-mark)
10325 (gnus-low-score-mark)
10326 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
10329 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
10330 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
10331 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
10332 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
10333 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
10334 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
10337 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
10338 will be applied to each article.
10340 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
10341 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
10342 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
10343 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
10345 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
10346 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
10347 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
10348 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
10350 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
10351 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
10352 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
10353 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
10354 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
10355 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
10357 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
10358 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
10359 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
10360 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
10361 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
10362 aspirins afterwards.)
10364 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
10365 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
10366 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
10368 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
10369 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
10370 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
10372 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
10373 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
10374 let you use different rules in different groups.
10376 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
10377 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
10378 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
10381 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
10382 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
10383 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
10384 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
10385 the length of the match is less than
10386 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
10387 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
10391 @node Followups To Yourself
10392 @section Followups To Yourself
10394 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
10395 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
10396 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
10397 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
10398 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
10399 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
10403 @item gnus-score-followup-article
10404 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
10405 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
10408 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
10409 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
10410 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
10414 @vindex gnus-inews-article-hook
10415 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
10416 @code{gnus-inews-article-hook}.
10420 @section Scoring Tips
10421 @cindex scoring tips
10427 @cindex scoring crossposts
10428 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
10429 the @code{Xref} header.
10431 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
10434 @item Multiple crossposts
10435 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
10436 more than, say, 3 groups:
10438 ("xref" ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
10441 @item Matching on the body
10442 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
10443 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
10444 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
10445 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
10446 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
10447 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
10448 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
10451 @item Marking as read
10452 You will probably want to mark articles that has a score below a certain
10453 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
10454 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
10458 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
10460 @item Negated character classes
10461 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
10462 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
10463 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
10467 @node Reverse Scoring
10468 @section Reverse Scoring
10469 @cindex reverse scoring
10471 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
10472 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
10473 like this in your score file:
10477 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
10482 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
10483 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
10486 @node Global Score Files
10487 @section Global Score Files
10488 @cindex global score files
10490 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
10491 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
10492 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
10494 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
10495 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
10496 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
10498 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
10499 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
10500 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
10501 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
10502 files are applicable to which group.
10504 Say you want to use all score files in the
10505 @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory and the single score
10506 file @file{/ftp@@ftp.ifi.uio.no:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE}:
10509 (setq gnus-global-score-files
10510 '("/ftp@@ftp.ifi.uio.no:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
10511 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
10514 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
10515 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
10516 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
10517 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
10518 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
10520 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
10521 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
10523 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
10524 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
10525 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
10526 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
10527 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
10528 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
10530 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
10536 Articles that are heavily crossposted are probably junk.
10538 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
10540 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
10542 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
10543 lowered out of existence.
10545 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
10546 articles completely.
10549 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
10550 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
10551 old articles for a long time.
10554 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
10555 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
10556 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
10557 holding our breath yet?
10561 @section Kill Files
10564 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
10565 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
10566 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
10568 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
10569 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
10570 files into score files.
10572 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
10573 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
10574 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
10575 that isn't a very good idea.
10577 XCNormal kill files look like this:
10580 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
10581 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
10585 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove them from
10586 the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
10588 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
10589 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
10592 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
10597 @kindex M-k (Summary)
10598 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
10599 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
10602 @kindex M-K (Summary)
10603 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
10604 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
10607 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
10612 @kindex M-k (Group)
10613 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
10614 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
10617 @kindex M-K (Group)
10618 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
10619 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
10622 Kill file variables:
10625 @item gnus-kill-file-name
10626 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
10627 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
10628 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
10629 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
10630 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
10631 course) is called just @file{KILL}.
10633 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
10634 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
10635 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
10636 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
10639 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
10640 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
10641 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
10642 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
10643 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
10644 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
10645 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
10646 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
10647 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
10649 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
10650 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
10651 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
10660 GroupLens is a collaborative filtering system that helps you work
10661 together with other people to find the quality news articles out of the
10662 huge volume of news articles generated every day.
10664 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
10665 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
10666 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
10667 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
10668 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
10669 Once it has found for you some people you agree with it tells you, in
10670 the form of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use
10671 this prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
10675 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
10676 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
10677 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
10678 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
10682 @node Using GroupLens
10683 @subsection Using GroupLens
10685 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
10686 Bit Bureau (BBB). At the moment the only better bit in town is at
10687 @samp{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html}.
10689 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
10693 @item gnus-use-grouplens
10694 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
10695 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
10696 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
10698 @item grouplens-pseudonym
10699 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
10700 This variable should be set to the pseudonum you got when registering
10701 with the Better Bit Bureau.
10703 @item grouplens-newsgroups
10704 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
10705 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
10709 Thats the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
10710 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
10711 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
10712 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
10713 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
10714 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
10717 @node Rating Articles
10718 @subsection Rating Articles
10720 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
10721 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
10722 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
10723 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
10726 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
10731 @kindex r (GroupLens)
10732 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
10733 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
10736 @kindex k (GroupLens)
10737 @findex grouplens-score-thread
10738 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
10739 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
10740 threads in rec.humor.
10744 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
10745 the score of the article you're reading.
10750 @kindex n (GroupLens)
10751 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
10752 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
10755 @kindex , (GroupLens)
10756 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
10757 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
10761 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
10762 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
10765 @node Displaying Predictions
10766 @subsection Displaying Predictions
10768 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
10769 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
10770 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
10771 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
10772 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
10774 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
10775 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
10776 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
10777 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
10778 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
10779 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
10780 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
10781 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
10782 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
10783 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
10784 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
10785 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
10786 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
10788 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
10789 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
10790 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
10791 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
10793 The following are legal values for that variable.
10796 @item prediction-spot
10797 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
10800 @item confidence-interval
10801 A numeric confidence interval.
10803 @item prediction-bar
10804 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
10806 @item confidence-bar
10807 Numerical confidence.
10809 @item confidence-spot
10810 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
10812 @item prediction-num
10813 Plain-old numeric value.
10815 @item confidence-plus-minus
10816 Prediction +/i confidence.
10821 @node GroupLens Variables
10822 @subsection GroupLens Variables
10826 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
10827 The summary line format used in summary buffers that are GroupLens
10828 enhanced. It accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format
10829 (@pxref{ Summary Buffer Lines}). The default is
10830 @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
10832 @item grouplens-bbb-host
10833 Host running the bbbd server. The default is
10834 @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu}.
10836 @item grouplens-bbb-port
10837 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
10839 @item grouplens-score-offset
10840 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
10841 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
10844 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
10845 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
10846 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
10856 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
10857 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
10858 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
10859 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
10860 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
10861 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
10862 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
10863 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
10864 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
10865 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
10866 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
10867 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
10871 @node Process/Prefix
10872 @section Process/Prefix
10873 @cindex process/prefix convention
10875 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
10876 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
10878 This is a method for figuring out what articles that the user wants the
10879 command to be performed on.
10883 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
10884 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
10885 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
10886 with the current one.
10888 @vindex transient-mark-mode
10889 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
10890 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
10892 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
10893 process mark, perform the operation on the articles that are marked with
10896 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
10897 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
10899 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
10902 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
10903 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
10904 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
10905 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
10906 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
10907 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
10908 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
10909 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
10913 @section Interactive
10914 @cindex interaction
10918 @item gnus-novice-user
10919 @vindex gnus-novice-user
10920 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
10921 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
10922 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
10923 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
10926 @item gnus-expert-user
10927 @vindex gnus-expert-user
10928 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will never ever be asked any
10929 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
10930 matter how strange.
10932 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
10933 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
10934 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
10935 is @code{t} by default.
10937 @item gnus-interactive-post
10938 @vindex gnus-interactive-post
10939 If non-@code{nil}, the user will be prompted for a group name when
10940 posting an article. It is @code{t} by default.
10942 @item gnus-interactive-exit
10943 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
10944 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
10949 @node Formatting Variables
10950 @section Formatting Variables
10951 @cindex formatting variables
10953 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables that
10954 are called things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
10955 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
10956 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
10957 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
10960 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
10961 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
10962 lots of percentages everywhere.
10964 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
10965 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
10966 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''. Just like a
10967 normal format spec, almost.
10969 You can also say @samp{%6,4y}, which means that the field will never be
10970 more than 6 characters wide and never less than 4 characters wide.
10972 There are also specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the
10973 format variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers
10974 will get the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it
10975 will be highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse
10978 Text inside the @samp{%[} and @samp{%]} specifiers will have their
10979 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
10980 default. If you say @samp{%1[} instead, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1}
10981 instead, and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes
10982 for the @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
10983 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
10985 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
10988 ;; Create three face types.
10989 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
10990 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
10992 ;; We want the article count to be in
10993 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
10994 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
10995 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
10997 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
10998 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
11000 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
11001 (setq gnus-group-line-format
11002 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
11005 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
11006 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
11008 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
11009 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
11010 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
11011 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
11012 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
11013 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
11014 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}.
11016 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
11017 mode-line variables.
11019 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
11020 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
11022 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
11023 @findex gnus-update-format
11024 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
11025 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
11026 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
11027 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
11030 @node Windows Configuration
11031 @section Windows Configuration
11032 @cindex windows configuration
11034 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
11036 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
11037 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
11038 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
11039 @code{t} by default.
11041 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
11042 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
11043 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
11046 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
11047 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
11048 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
11052 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
11053 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
11054 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
11055 possible names is listed below.
11057 The @dfn{value} (i. e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
11058 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
11061 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
11065 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
11066 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
11067 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
11068 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
11069 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
11070 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
11071 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
11072 size spec per split.
11074 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
11077 Here's a more complicated example:
11080 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
11081 (summary 0.25 point)
11082 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
11086 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
11087 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
11088 occupy, not a percentage.
11090 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
11091 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
11092 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
11093 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
11094 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
11097 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
11100 (article (horizontal 1.0
11105 (summary 0.25 point)
11110 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
11111 @code{horizontal} thingie?
11113 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
11114 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
11115 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
11116 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
11117 the screen is to be given to this strip.
11119 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
11120 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
11121 lines from the splits.
11123 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a legal split
11127 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
11128 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
11129 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
11130 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
11131 buffer = "(" buffer-name " " size *[ "point" ] ")"
11132 size = number | frame-params
11133 buffer-name = group | article | summary ...
11136 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
11137 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
11138 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
11139 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
11141 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
11142 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
11143 @cindex window height
11144 @cindex window width
11145 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
11146 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 2) characters high, and all
11147 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
11148 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
11149 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
11150 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
11152 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
11153 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
11154 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
11155 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
11157 @findex gnus-configure-frame
11158 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
11159 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
11160 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
11161 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
11162 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
11163 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
11164 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
11165 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
11166 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
11167 configuration list.
11170 (gnus-configure-frame
11174 (article 0.3 point))
11182 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
11183 @code{frame} split:
11186 (gnus-configure-frame
11189 (summary 0.25 point)
11191 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
11192 (user-position . t)
11193 (left . -1) (top . 1))
11198 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
11199 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
11200 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
11201 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
11202 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
11203 @xref{(elisp)Frame Parameters}.
11205 Here's a list of all possible keys for
11206 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration}:
11208 @code{group}, @code{summary}, @code{article}, @code{server},
11209 @code{browse}, @code{group-mail}, @code{summary-mail},
11210 @code{summary-reply}, @code{info}, @code{summary-faq},
11211 @code{edit-group}, @code{edit-server}, @code{reply}, @code{reply-yank},
11212 @code{followup}, @code{followup-yank}, @code{edit-score}.
11214 @findex gnus-add-configuration
11215 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
11216 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
11217 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
11218 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
11221 (gnus-add-configuration
11222 '(article (vertical 1.0
11224 (summary .25 point)
11228 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
11229 @file{.gnus} file or in some startup hook -- they should be run after
11230 Gnus has been loaded.
11234 @section Compilation
11235 @cindex compilation
11236 @cindex byte-compilation
11238 @findex gnus-compile
11240 Remember all those line format specification variables?
11241 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
11242 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
11243 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
11244 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
11245 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
11248 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
11249 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
11250 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
11251 you'll get top speed again.
11255 @section Mode Lines
11258 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
11259 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
11260 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
11261 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
11262 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
11263 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
11264 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
11267 @cindex display-time
11269 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
11270 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
11271 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
11272 to display (eg. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
11273 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
11274 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
11275 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
11276 additional elements on the mode line (eg. a clock), you should modify
11279 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
11281 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
11282 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
11284 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
11285 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
11286 (length display-time-string)))))
11289 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
11290 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either.
11293 @node Highlighting and Menus
11294 @section Highlighting and Menus
11296 @cindex highlighting
11299 @vindex gnus-visual
11300 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the prettifying Gnus
11301 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
11302 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
11305 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
11306 following elements are legal, and are all included by default:
11309 @item group-highlight
11310 Do highlights in the group buffer.
11311 @item summary-highlight
11312 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
11313 @item article-highlight
11314 Do highlights in the article buffer.
11316 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
11318 Create menus in the group buffer.
11320 Create menus in the summary buffers.
11322 Create menus in the article buffer.
11324 Create menus in the browse buffer.
11326 Create menus in the server buffer.
11328 Create menus in the score buffers.
11330 Create menus in all buffers.
11333 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
11334 buffers, you could say something like:
11337 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
11340 If you want only highlighting and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
11343 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
11346 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
11347 in all Gnus buffers.
11349 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
11352 @item gnus-mouse-face
11353 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
11354 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
11355 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
11357 @item gnus-display-type
11358 @vindex gnus-display-type
11359 This variable is symbol indicating the display type Emacs is running
11360 under. The symbol should be one of @code{color}, @code{grayscale} or
11361 @code{mono}. If Gnus guesses this display attribute wrongly, either set
11362 this variable in your @file{~/.emacs} or set the resource
11363 @code{Emacs.displayType} in your @file{~/.Xdefaults}.
11365 @item gnus-background-mode
11366 @vindex gnus-background-mode
11367 This is a symbol indicating the Emacs background brightness. The symbol
11368 should be one of @code{light} or @code{dark}. If Gnus guesses this
11369 frame attribute wrongly, either set this variable in your @file{~/.emacs} or
11370 set the resource @code{Emacs.backgroundMode} in your @file{~/.Xdefaults}.
11371 `gnus-display-type'.
11374 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
11378 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
11379 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
11380 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
11382 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
11383 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
11384 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
11386 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
11387 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
11388 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
11390 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
11391 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
11392 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
11394 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
11395 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
11396 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
11398 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
11399 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
11400 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
11411 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
11412 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
11413 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
11414 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
11415 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
11419 @vindex gnus-carpal
11420 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
11421 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
11422 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
11427 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
11428 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
11429 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
11431 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
11432 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
11433 Face used on buttons.
11435 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
11436 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
11437 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
11439 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
11440 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
11441 Buttons in the group buffer.
11443 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
11444 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
11445 Buttons in the summary buffer.
11447 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
11448 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
11449 Buttons in the server buffer.
11451 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
11452 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
11453 Buttons in the browse buffer.
11456 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
11457 is either a cons cell where the car contains a text to be displayed and
11458 the cdr contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
11466 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
11467 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
11468 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
11469 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
11470 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
11472 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
11473 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
11474 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
11476 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
11477 been idle for thirty minutes:
11480 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
11483 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
11487 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
11490 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter works together
11491 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
11492 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
11494 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
11495 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
11496 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
11497 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
11499 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
11500 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
11501 @var{idle} minutes.
11503 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
11504 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
11507 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
11508 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
11509 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
11511 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
11512 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
11513 seconds. This is @code{60} by default. If you change that variable,
11514 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
11516 @vindex gnus-use-demon
11517 To set the whole thing in motion, though, you have to set
11518 @code{gnus-use-demon} to @code{t}.
11520 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
11521 your @file{.gnus} file:
11523 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
11525 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
11528 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
11529 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
11530 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
11531 Some ready-made functions to do this has been created:
11532 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection}, and
11533 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
11534 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
11536 @findex gnus-demon-init
11537 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
11538 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
11539 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
11540 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
11541 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
11543 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you overdo it. Adding
11544 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
11545 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
11554 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
11555 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
11557 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
11558 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
11559 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
11560 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
11563 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
11564 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
11565 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
11566 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
11568 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
11569 this will make spam disappear.
11571 There are some variables to customize, of course:
11574 @item gnus-use-nocem
11575 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
11576 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
11579 @item gnus-nocem-groups
11580 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
11581 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
11582 default is @code{("alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
11584 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
11585 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
11586 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
11587 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
11588 "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;" "jem@@xpat.com;" "red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us
11589 (Richard E. Depew)")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
11591 Known despammers that you can put in this list include:
11594 @item clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;
11595 @cindex Chris Lewis
11596 Chris Lewis---Major Canadian despammer who has probably canceled more
11597 usenet abuse than anybody else.
11600 @cindex CancelMoose[tm]
11601 The CancelMoose[tm] on autopilot. The CancelMoose[tm] is reputed to be
11602 Norwegian, and was the person(s) who invented NoCeM.
11604 @item jem@@xpat.com;
11606 Jem---Korean despammer who is getting very busy these days.
11608 @item red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us (Richard E. Depew)
11609 Richard E. Depew---lone American despammer. He mostly cancels binary
11610 postings to non-binary groups and removes spews (regurgitated articles).
11613 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
11614 ones you want to listen to.
11616 @item gnus-nocem-directory
11617 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
11618 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
11619 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
11621 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
11622 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
11623 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
11624 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
11625 might then see old spam.
11633 So... You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
11634 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
11635 over your shoulder as you read news.
11638 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
11639 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
11640 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons -- the easy way.
11641 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
11642 * Picon Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
11647 @subsection Picon Basics
11649 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site
11650 (@samp{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}):
11653 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
11654 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
11655 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
11656 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
11657 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
11658 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
11659 @code{GIF} formats.
11662 Please see the above mentioned web site for instructions on obtaining
11663 and installing the picons databases, or the following ftp site:
11664 @samp{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}.
11666 @vindex gnus-picons-database
11667 Gnus expects picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
11668 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
11671 @node Picon Requirements
11672 @subsection Picon Requirements
11674 To use have Gnus display Picons for you, you must be running XEmacs
11675 19.13 or greater since all other versions of Emacs aren't yet able to
11678 Additionally, you must have @code{xpm} support compiled into XEmacs.
11680 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
11681 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you must have
11682 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
11683 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
11687 @subsection Easy Picons
11689 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
11690 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
11693 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
11694 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
11695 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-prepare-hook 'gnus-group-display-picons t)
11696 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-picons-article-display-x-face)
11701 @subsection Hard Picons
11703 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
11704 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
11705 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
11706 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
11707 feature, you need to first decide where to display them.
11711 @item gnus-picons-display-where
11712 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
11713 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
11714 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
11715 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
11716 @samp{"*scratch*"} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
11717 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration routines --
11718 @xref{Windows Configuration}.
11722 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
11723 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
11725 Now that you've made that decision, you need to add the following
11726 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get
11727 displayed at the right time.
11729 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
11730 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
11732 @item gnus-article-display-picons
11733 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
11734 Looks up and display the picons for the author and the author's domain
11735 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer. Should be added to
11736 the @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
11738 @item gnus-group-display-picons
11739 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
11740 Displays picons representing the current group. This function should
11741 be added to the @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook} or to the
11742 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} if @code{gnus-picons-display-where}
11743 is set to @code{article}.
11745 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
11746 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
11747 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present. This function
11748 should be added to @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
11752 Note: You must append them to the hook, so make sure to specify 't'
11753 to the append flag of @code{add-hook}:
11756 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
11760 @node Picon Configuration
11761 @subsection Picon Configuration
11763 The following variables offer further control over how things are
11764 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
11765 don't need to worry about.
11768 @item gnus-picons-database
11769 @vindex gnus-picons-database
11770 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
11771 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
11772 subdirectories. Defaults to @file{/usr/local/faces}.
11774 @item gnus-picons-news-directory
11775 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directory
11776 Sub-directory of the faces database containing the icons for
11779 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
11780 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
11781 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
11782 faces. Defaults to @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc/MISC")}.
11784 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
11785 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
11786 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
11787 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
11788 want to add @samp{unknown} to this list.
11790 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
11791 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
11792 The command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
11793 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
11794 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
11795 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
11797 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
11798 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
11799 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
11800 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
11802 @item gnus-picons-buffer
11803 @vindex gnus-picons-buffer
11804 The name of the buffer that @code{picons} points to. Defaults to
11805 @samp{*Icon Buffer*}.
11810 @node Various Various
11811 @section Various Various
11818 @vindex gnus-verbose
11819 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
11820 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
11821 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
11822 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
11823 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
11825 @item gnus-verbose-backends
11826 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
11827 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
11828 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
11830 @item nnheader-max-head-length
11831 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
11832 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
11833 as little as possible. This variable (default @code{4096}) specifies
11834 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
11835 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
11836 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
11837 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
11838 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
11841 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
11842 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
11844 @cindex illegal characters in file names
11845 @cindex characters in file names
11846 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
11847 For instance, if @samp{:} is illegal as a file character in file names
11848 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
11851 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
11855 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
11856 Windows (phooey) systems.
11858 @item gnus-hidden-properties
11859 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
11860 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
11861 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
11862 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
11864 @item gnus-parse-header-hook
11865 @vindex gnus-parse-header-hook
11866 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
11867 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
11868 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
11876 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
11877 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
11879 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
11881 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
11886 Not because of victories @*
11889 but for the common sunshine,@*
11891 the largess of the spring.
11894 but for the day's work done@*
11895 as well as I was able;@*
11896 not for a seat upon the dais@*
11897 but at the common table.@*
11902 @chapter Appendices
11905 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
11906 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
11907 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
11908 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
11909 * A Programmers Guide to Gnus:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
11910 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
11911 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
11919 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
11920 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
11922 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage, you
11923 can point your (feh!) web browser to
11924 @file{http://www.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/}. This is also the primary
11925 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is known
11926 as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
11928 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
11929 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)}, is, of course, short for
11930 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
11931 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
11932 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
11933 appropriate name, don't you think?)
11935 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
11936 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
11937 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
11938 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
11940 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
11941 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution.
11943 Incidentally, the next Gnus generation will be called ``September
11944 Gnus'', and won't be released until April 1996. Confused? You will be.
11947 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
11948 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
11949 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
11950 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
11951 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
11952 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
11953 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
11954 * Censorship:: This manual has been censored.
11961 What's the point of Gnus?
11963 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
11964 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
11965 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
11966 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
11967 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
11968 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
11969 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
11970 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
11971 keep track of millions of people who post?
11973 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
11974 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
11975 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
11976 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
11977 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
11978 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
11979 everywhere I could imagine useful. By doing so, I'm inviting every one
11980 of you to explore and invent.
11982 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x hail-emacs}.
11985 @node Compatibility
11986 @subsection Compatibility
11988 @cindex compatibility
11989 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
11990 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
11991 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
11996 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
12000 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
12003 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @pxref{Decoding
12006 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
12007 buffers. All variables that are relevant while reading a group are
12008 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
12009 important variables have their values copied into their global
12010 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
12011 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
12013 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
12014 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
12015 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
12016 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
12017 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
12021 @cindex highlighting
12022 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
12023 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
12024 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
12025 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
12026 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
12027 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
12030 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
12031 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
12032 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
12033 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
12035 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
12036 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
12037 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
12038 to stop doing it the old way.
12040 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
12042 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
12044 @cindex reporting bugs
12046 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
12047 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
12048 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
12052 @subsection Conformity
12054 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
12055 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
12062 There are no known breaches of this standard.
12066 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
12068 @item Usenet Seal of Approval
12069 @cindex Usenet Seal of Approval
12070 Gnus hasn't been formally through the Seal process, but I have read
12071 through the Seal text and I think Gnus would pass.
12073 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
12074 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
12075 We do have some breaches to this one.
12080 Gnus does no MIME handling, and this standard-to-be seems to think that
12081 MIME is the bees' knees, so we have major breakage here.
12084 This is considered to be a ``vanity header'', while I consider it to be
12085 consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted articles
12086 coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use either of
12087 those for posting articles. I would not have known that if it wasn't
12088 for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
12091 Gnus does line breaking on this header. I infer from RFC1036 that being
12092 conservative in what you output is not creating 5000-character lines, so
12093 it seems like a good idea to me. However, this standard-to-be says that
12094 whitespace in the @code{References} header is to be preserved, so... It
12095 doesn't matter one way or the other to Gnus, so if somebody tells me
12096 what The Way is, I'll change it. Or not.
12101 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliantly with regards to the texts
12102 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
12107 @subsection Emacsen
12113 Gnus should work on :
12118 Emacs 19.30 and up.
12121 XEmacs 19.13 and up.
12124 Mule versions based on Emacs 19.30 and up.
12128 Gnus will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than that. Not
12129 reliably, at least.
12131 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various platforms:
12136 The mouse-face on Gnus lines under Emacs and Mule is delimited to
12137 certain parts of the lines while they cover the entire line under
12141 The same with current-article marking---XEmacs puts an underline under
12142 the entire summary line while Emacs and Mule are nicer and kinder.
12145 XEmacs features more graphics---a logo and a toolbar.
12148 Citation highlighting us better under Emacs and Mule than under XEmacs.
12151 Emacs 19.26-19.28 have tangible hidden headers, which can be a bit
12158 @subsection Contributors
12159 @cindex contributors
12161 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
12162 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
12163 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
12164 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
12165 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
12166 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
12167 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
12168 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
12169 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
12170 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
12172 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
12177 @item Masanobu @sc{Umeda}
12178 The writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
12180 @item Per Abrahamsen
12181 Custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as well as numerous
12184 @item Luis Fernandes
12185 Design and graphics.
12188 @file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on @dfn{picons}
12192 @file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section (@pxref{GroupLens}).
12194 @item Sudish Joseph
12195 Innumerable bug fixes.
12198 @file{gnus-topic.el}.
12200 @item Steven L. Baur
12201 Lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
12203 @item Vladimir Alexiev
12204 The refcard and reference booklets.
12206 @item Felix Lee & JWZ
12207 I stole some pieces from the XGnus distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
12210 @file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
12212 @item Peter Mutsaers
12213 Orphan article scoring code.
12218 @item Hallvard B Furuseth
12219 Various bits and pieces, especially dealing with .newsrc files.
12221 @item Brian Edmonds
12222 @file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
12224 @item Ricardo Nassif and Mark Borges
12227 @item Kevin Davidson
12228 Came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
12232 Peter Arius, Stainless Steel Rat, Ulrik Dickow, Jack Vinson, Daniel
12233 Quinlan, Frank D. Cringle, Geoffrey T. Dairiki, Fabrice Popineau and
12234 Andrew Eskilsson have all contributed code and suggestions.
12238 @subsection New Features
12239 @cindex new features
12244 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
12245 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
12248 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
12249 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
12252 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
12255 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
12256 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
12257 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
12260 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
12261 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
12262 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
12263 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
12266 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
12267 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
12270 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
12271 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
12272 (@pxref{The Active File}).
12275 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
12276 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
12279 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
12280 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
12281 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
12284 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
12285 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
12286 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
12289 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
12290 the @file{.emacs} file.
12293 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
12294 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
12297 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
12298 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
12301 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
12302 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
12305 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
12306 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
12309 Gnus can fetch articles asynchronously on a second connection to the
12310 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
12313 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
12316 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
12317 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
12320 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
12321 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
12324 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
12325 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
12328 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
12331 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
12332 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
12335 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
12339 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
12343 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
12344 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
12347 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
12351 Gnus can use NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
12355 This is, of course, just a @emph{short} overview of the @emph{most}
12356 important new features. No, really. There are tons more. Yes, we have
12357 feeping creaturism in full effect, but nothing too gratuitous, I would
12361 @node Newest Features
12362 @subsection Newest Features
12365 Also known as the @dfn{todo list}. Sure to be implemented before the
12368 Be afraid. Be very afraid.
12372 Native @sc{mime} support is something that should be done.
12374 A better and simpler method for specifying mail composing methods.
12376 Allow posting through mail-to-news gateways.
12378 Really do unbinhexing.
12381 And much, much, much more. There is more to come than has already been
12382 implemented. (But that's always true, isn't it?)
12384 @code{<URL:http://www.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/sgnus/todo>} is where the actual
12385 up-to-the-second todo list is located, so if you're really curious, you
12386 could point your Web browser over that-a-way.
12390 @subsection Censorship
12393 This version of the Gnus manual (as well as Gnus itself) has been
12394 censored in accord with the Communications Decency Act. This law was
12395 described by its proponents as a ban on pornography---which was a
12396 deception, since it prohibits far more than that. This manual did not
12397 contain pornography, but part of it was prohibited nonetheless.
12399 For information on US government censorship of the Internet, and
12400 what you can do to bring back freedom of the press, see the web
12401 site @samp{http://www.vtw.org/}.
12405 @section Terminology
12407 @cindex terminology
12412 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
12413 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
12414 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
12415 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
12416 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
12420 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
12421 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
12422 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
12423 not posting, and replying is not following up.
12427 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
12431 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
12436 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
12437 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
12438 is all done by the backends.
12442 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
12443 default, way of getting news.
12447 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
12448 These are groups that use different backends for getting news.
12452 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
12453 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
12457 A nessage that has been posted as news.
12460 @cindex mail message
12461 A message that has been mailed.
12465 A mail message or news article
12469 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
12474 The rest of an article. Everything that is not in the head is in the
12479 A line from the head of an article.
12483 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
12484 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
12488 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
12489 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
12490 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
12491 normal @sc{head} format.
12495 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
12496 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
12497 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
12498 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
12499 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
12500 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
12502 @item killed groups
12503 @cindex killed groups
12504 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
12505 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
12507 @item zombie groups
12508 @cindex zombie groups
12509 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
12512 @cindex active file
12513 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
12514 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
12515 is rather large, as you might surmise.
12518 @cindex bogus groups
12519 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
12520 server (i. e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
12521 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
12525 A machine than one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
12527 @item select method
12528 @cindex select method
12529 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
12532 @item virtual server
12533 @cindex virtual server
12534 A named select method. Since a select methods defines all there is to
12535 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the who things as a
12536 whole is a virtual server.
12541 @node Customization
12542 @section Customization
12543 @cindex general customization
12545 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
12546 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
12547 for some quite common situations.
12550 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
12551 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
12552 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
12553 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
12557 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
12558 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
12560 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
12561 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
12562 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
12566 @item gnus-read-active-file
12567 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
12568 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
12569 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-news} and
12570 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
12571 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
12573 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
12574 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
12575 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
12576 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
12580 @node Slow Terminal Connection
12581 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
12583 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that
12584 runs Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce the
12585 amount of data that is sent over the wires as much as possible.
12589 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
12590 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
12591 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
12592 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
12593 horizontal and vertical recentering.
12595 @item gnus-visible-headers
12596 Cut down on the headers that are included in the articles to the
12597 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
12598 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
12599 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
12601 @item gnus-article-display-hook
12602 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
12604 (setq gnus-article-display-hook
12605 '(gnus-article-hide-headers gnus-article-hide-signature
12606 gnus-article-hide-citation))
12609 @item gnus-use-full-window
12610 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
12611 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
12612 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
12613 want to read them anyway.
12615 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
12616 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
12619 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
12620 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
12621 lines, which might save some time.
12625 @node Little Disk Space
12626 @subsection Little Disk Space
12629 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
12630 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
12634 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
12635 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
12636 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
12637 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
12640 @item gnus-save-killed-list
12641 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
12642 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
12643 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
12644 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
12650 @subsection Slow Machine
12651 @cindex slow machine
12653 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
12654 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
12656 Set@code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
12657 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
12659 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
12660 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
12661 summary buffer faster.
12663 Set @code{gnus-article-display-hook} to @code{nil} to make article
12664 processing a bit faster.
12667 @node Troubleshooting
12668 @section Troubleshooting
12669 @cindex troubleshooting
12671 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
12679 Make sure your computer is switched on.
12682 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
12683 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
12687 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
12688 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
12689 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
12690 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
12693 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
12697 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
12700 @cindex reporting bugs
12702 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
12704 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
12705 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
12706 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
12707 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
12709 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
12710 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
12711 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
12712 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
12715 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
12716 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you send back
12717 just ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
12718 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
12719 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
12720 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
12722 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
12723 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
12725 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
12726 @cindex ding mailing list
12727 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@ifi.uio.no}.
12728 Write to @samp{ding-request@@ifi.uio.no} to subscribe.
12731 @node A Programmers Guide to Gnus
12732 @section A Programmer's Guide to Gnus
12734 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
12735 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
12736 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
12737 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
12740 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
12741 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
12742 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
12743 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
12744 and general method of operations.
12747 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
12748 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
12749 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
12750 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
12751 * Group Info:: The group info format.
12752 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
12756 @node Backend Interface
12757 @subsection Backend Interface
12759 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
12760 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
12761 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
12762 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
12763 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
12764 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
12766 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
12767 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
12768 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
12769 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
12770 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
12771 been opened, the function should fail.
12773 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
12774 name. Take this example:
12778 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
12779 (nntp-port-number 4324))
12782 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
12783 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
12785 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
12786 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
12787 server environments that it pulls down/pushes up when needed.
12789 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
12790 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
12791 always check whether are present before attempting to call.
12793 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
12794 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
12795 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
12796 ``resulting data'', I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
12797 talk about ``return value'', I talk about the function value returned by
12800 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
12801 some might be said to not be. The latter are backends that generally
12802 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
12803 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
12806 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
12809 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
12812 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
12813 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
12814 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
12818 @node Required Backend Functions
12819 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
12823 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
12825 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
12826 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
12827 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
12828 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
12830 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
12831 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
12832 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
12833 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
12835 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try to fetch "extra
12836 headers, in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
12837 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
12838 article number in @code{articles}, and fill in the gaps as well. The
12839 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
12840 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
12841 number, do maximum fetches.
12843 Here's an example HEAD:
12846 221 1056 Article retrieved.
12847 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
12848 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
12849 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
12850 Subject: Re: Something very droll
12851 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
12852 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
12854 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
12855 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
12856 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
12860 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
12861 these in the data buffer.
12863 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
12867 head = error / valid-head
12868 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
12869 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
12870 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
12871 header = <text> eol
12874 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
12875 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
12879 nov-buffer = *nov-line
12880 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
12881 field = <text except TAB>
12884 For a closer explanation what should be in those fields,
12888 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
12890 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
12891 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that defines this virtual server.
12893 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
12894 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
12895 server. In fact, it should do so.
12897 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
12898 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
12901 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
12903 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
12904 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
12907 There should be no data returned.
12910 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
12912 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
12913 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
12914 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
12915 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
12917 There should be no data returned.
12920 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
12922 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
12923 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
12924 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
12925 attempt to reconnect to a server that is has lost connection to.
12927 There should be no data returned.
12930 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
12932 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
12934 There should be no data returned.
12937 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
12939 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
12940 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
12941 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
12942 it would be nice if that were possible.
12944 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
12945 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
12946 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
12947 another, and Gnus mainly request articles to be inserted directly into
12948 its article buffer.
12950 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
12951 the car is the group name the article was fetched from, and the cdr is
12952 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
12953 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
12954 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
12955 on successful article retrievement.
12958 @item (nnchoke-open-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
12960 Make @var{group} the current group.
12962 There should be no data returned by this function.
12965 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
12967 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
12968 making @var{group} the current group.
12970 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
12973 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
12976 The first number is the status, which should be @code{211}. Next is the
12977 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
12978 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
12979 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
12980 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
12981 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
12982 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
12983 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
12986 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
12987 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
12988 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
12992 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
12994 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
12995 a no-op on most backends.
12997 There should be no data returned.
13000 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
13002 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
13005 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
13008 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
13009 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
13012 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
13013 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
13016 active-file = *active-line
13017 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
13019 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
13022 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
13023 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
13024 (@samp{=other-group} or none of the above (@samp{y}).
13027 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
13029 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
13030 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
13031 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
13032 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
13033 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
13034 clear if the posting could not be completed.
13036 There should be no result data from this function.
13041 @node Optional Backend Functions
13042 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
13046 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
13048 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
13049 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
13050 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
13052 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
13053 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
13054 former is in the same format as the data from
13055 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
13056 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
13059 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
13063 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
13065 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
13066 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
13067 information (as is the case with virtual an imap groups). This function
13068 may alter the info in any manner it sees fit, and should return the
13069 (altered) group info. This function may alter the group info
13070 destructively, so no copying is needed before boogeying.
13072 There should be no result data from this function.
13075 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
13077 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
13078 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
13079 user is following up is news or mail. This function should return
13080 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
13081 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
13082 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
13083 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.)
13085 There should be no result data from this function.
13088 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
13090 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
13091 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
13092 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
13093 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
13094 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
13096 The only use for this that I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
13097 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
13098 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
13101 There should be no result data from this function.
13104 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
13106 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
13107 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
13108 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
13109 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
13110 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
13111 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
13112 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
13114 There should be no result data from this function.
13117 @item (nnchoke-request-asynchronous GROUP &optional SERVER ARTICLES)
13119 This is a request to fetch articles asynchronously later.
13120 @var{articles} is an alist of @var{(article-number line-number)}. One
13121 would generally expect that if one later fetches article number 4, for
13122 instance, some sort of asynchronous fetching of the articles after 4
13123 (which might be 5, 6, 7 or 11, 3, 909 depending on the order in that
13124 alist) would be fetched asynchronously, but that is left up to the
13125 backend. Gnus doesn't care.
13127 There should be no result data from this function.
13130 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
13132 The result data from this function should be a description of
13136 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
13138 description = <text>
13141 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
13143 The result data from this function should be the description of all
13144 groups available on the server.
13147 description-buffer = *description-line
13151 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
13153 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
13154 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
13155 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
13158 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
13160 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
13162 There should be no return data.
13165 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
13167 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
13168 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
13169 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
13170 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
13171 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
13174 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
13177 There should be no result data returned.
13180 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
13183 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
13184 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
13186 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
13187 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
13188 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
13189 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
13190 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
13191 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
13193 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
13194 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
13197 The function should return a cons where the car is the group name and
13198 the cdr is the article number that the article was entered as.
13200 There should be no data returned.
13203 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
13205 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
13206 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
13207 this function in short order.
13209 The function should return a cons where the car is the group name and
13210 the cdr is the article number that the article was entered as.
13212 There should be no data returned.
13215 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
13217 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
13218 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
13220 There should be no data returned.
13223 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
13225 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
13226 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
13227 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
13229 There should be no data returned.
13232 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
13234 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
13235 articles that are in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
13237 There should be no data returned.
13242 @node Writing New Backends
13243 @subsubsection Writing New Backends
13245 The various backends share many similarities. @code{nnml} is just like
13246 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
13247 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
13248 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
13249 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
13252 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
13253 backends when writing new backends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
13254 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
13256 All the backends declare their public variables and functions by using a
13257 package called @code{nnoo}.
13259 To inherit functions from other backends (and allow other backends to
13260 inherit functions from the current backend), you should use the
13267 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
13268 parameters. For instance:
13271 (nnoo-declare nndir
13275 @code{nndir} has here declared that it intends to inherit functions from
13276 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
13279 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
13280 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
13281 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
13283 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
13284 variables in the parent backends to map the variable to when executing
13285 a function in those backends.
13288 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
13289 "Where nndir will look for groups."
13290 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
13293 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
13294 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
13295 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
13297 @item nnoo-define-basics
13298 This macro defines some common functions that almost all backends should
13302 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
13306 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
13307 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
13308 function as being public so that other backends can inherit it.
13310 @item nnoo-map-functions
13311 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current backend to
13312 functions from the parent backends.
13315 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
13316 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
13317 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
13320 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
13321 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
13322 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
13323 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
13326 This macro allows importing functions from backends. It should be the
13327 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
13328 haven't already been defined.
13334 nnmh-request-newgroups)
13338 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
13339 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
13340 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
13345 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} backend.
13348 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
13349 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
13353 (require 'nnheader)
13357 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
13359 (nnoo-declare nndir
13362 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
13363 "Where nndir will look for groups."
13364 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
13366 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
13367 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
13372 (defvoo nndir-current-group "" nil nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
13373 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
13374 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
13376 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
13377 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
13381 ;;; Interface functions.
13383 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
13385 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
13386 (setq nndir-directory
13387 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
13389 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
13390 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
13391 (push `(nndir-current-group
13392 ,(file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
13394 (push `(nndir-top-directory
13395 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
13397 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
13399 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
13400 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
13401 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
13402 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
13403 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
13407 nnmh-status-message
13409 nnmh-request-newgroups))
13416 @node Score File Syntax
13417 @subsection Score File Syntax
13419 Score files are meant to be easily parsable, but yet extremely
13420 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
13421 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
13423 Here's a typical score file:
13427 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
13434 BNF definition of a score file:
13437 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
13438 element = rule / atom
13439 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
13440 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
13441 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
13442 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
13444 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
13445 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
13446 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
13447 date-header = "date"
13448 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
13449 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
13450 score = "nil" / <integer>
13451 date = "nil" / <natural number>
13452 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
13453 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
13454 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
13455 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
13456 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
13457 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
13458 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
13459 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
13460 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
13461 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
13462 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
13463 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
13464 exclude-files / read-only / touched
13465 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
13466 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
13467 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
13468 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
13469 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
13470 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
13471 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
13472 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
13473 adapt = "adapt" [ space "nil" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
13474 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
13475 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
13476 eval = "eval" space <form>
13477 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
13480 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
13483 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
13484 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
13485 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
13486 one looong line, then that's ok.
13488 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
13493 @subsection Headers
13495 Gnus uses internally a format for storing article headers that
13496 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
13497 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
13498 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
13500 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
13501 RFC1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (eg.,
13502 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
13503 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
13504 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
13505 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
13506 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
13508 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
13509 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
13510 @code{xref}. There are macros for accessing and setting these slots --
13511 they all have predictable names beginning with @code{mail-header-} and
13512 @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
13514 The @code{xref} slot is really a @code{misc} slot. Any extra info will
13521 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
13522 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
13524 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
13525 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
13526 that you want to callify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
13527 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
13529 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
13533 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
13536 is transformed into
13539 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
13542 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
13543 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
13546 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
13549 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
13550 is slightly tricky:
13553 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
13559 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
13562 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
13568 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
13575 and is equal to the previous range.
13577 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
13578 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
13579 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
13583 range = simple-range / normal-range
13584 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
13585 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
13586 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
13587 number *[ " " contents ]
13590 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
13591 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
13592 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
13593 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
13594 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
13599 @subsection Group Info
13601 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
13602 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
13603 describes the group.
13605 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
13606 second is a more complex one:
13609 ("no.group" 5 (1 . 54324))
13611 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
13612 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
13614 (auto-expire (to-address "ding@@ifi.uio.no")))
13617 The first element is the group name as Gnus knows the group; the second
13618 is the group level; the third is the read articles in range format; the
13619 fourth is a list of article marks lists; the fifth is the select method;
13620 and the sixth contains the group parameters.
13622 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
13625 info = "(" group space level space read
13626 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
13627 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
13628 group = quote <string> quote
13629 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
13631 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
13632 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
13633 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
13634 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
13637 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
13638 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
13642 @node Various File Formats
13643 @subsection Various File Formats
13646 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
13647 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
13651 @node Active File Format
13652 @subsubsection Active File Format
13654 The active file lists all groups that are available on the server in
13655 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
13658 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
13661 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
13662 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
13663 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
13664 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
13665 no.general 1000 900 y
13668 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
13671 active = *group-line
13672 group-line = group space high-number space low-number space flag <NEWLINE>
13673 group = <non-white-space string>
13675 high-number = <non-negative integer>
13676 low-number = <positive integer>
13677 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
13681 @node Newsgroups File Format
13682 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
13684 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
13685 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
13686 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
13689 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
13690 Here's the definition:
13694 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
13695 group = <non-white-space string>
13697 description = <string>
13701 @node Emacs for Heathens
13702 @section Emacs for Heathens
13704 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
13705 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
13706 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
13707 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
13708 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
13709 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
13710 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
13714 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
13715 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
13720 @subsection Keystrokes
13724 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
13727 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
13730 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
13731 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
13732 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
13733 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
13734 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
13735 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
13737 The shift key is normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
13738 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
13739 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
13740 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
13741 keyboards. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
13742 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
13743 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
13745 Now, us Emacs people doesn't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
13746 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
13747 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
13748 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
13749 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
13750 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
13751 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
13753 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
13754 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
13755 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
13756 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
13757 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
13763 @subsection Emacs Lisp
13765 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
13766 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
13767 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
13768 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
13770 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
13771 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
13772 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
13773 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
13774 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
13775 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
13776 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
13779 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
13780 write the following:
13783 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
13786 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
13787 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
13788 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
13791 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
13792 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
13793 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
13794 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
13795 previous ``form'', which here is a simple @code{setq} statement.
13797 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
13798 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
13799 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
13803 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
13807 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
13810 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
13811 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
13814 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
13817 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
13818 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
13821 @include gnus-faq.texi