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10 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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266 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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275 Copyright \copyright{} 1995,96,97,98,99,2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
278 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
279 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
280 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
281 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
282 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
283 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
284 License'' in the Emacs manual.
286 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
287 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
288 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
290 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
291 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
292 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
293 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
301 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
303 Copyright (C) 1995,96,97,98,99,2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
305 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
306 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
307 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
308 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
309 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
310 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
311 License'' in the Emacs manual.
313 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
314 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
315 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
317 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
318 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
319 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
320 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
328 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
331 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
332 Copyright @copyright{} 1995,96,97,98,99,2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
334 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
335 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
336 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
337 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
338 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
339 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
340 License'' in the Emacs manual.
342 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
343 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
344 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
346 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
347 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
348 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
349 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
358 @top The Gnus Newsreader
362 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
363 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
364 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
367 This manual corresponds to Gnus 5.8.7.
378 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
379 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
381 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
382 being accused of plagiarism:
384 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
385 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
386 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
387 can even read news with it!
389 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
390 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
391 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
392 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
393 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
399 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
400 * The Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
401 * The Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
402 * The Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
403 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
404 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
405 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
406 * Various:: General purpose settings.
407 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
408 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
409 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
410 * Key Index:: Key Index.
413 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
417 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
418 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
419 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
420 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
421 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
422 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
423 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
424 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
425 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
426 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
427 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
431 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
432 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
433 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
437 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
438 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
439 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
440 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
441 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
442 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
443 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
444 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
445 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
446 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
447 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
448 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
449 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
450 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
451 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
452 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
453 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
457 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
458 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
459 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
463 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
464 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
465 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
466 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
467 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
471 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
472 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
473 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
474 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
478 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
479 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
480 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
481 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
482 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
483 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
484 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
485 * Threading:: How threads are made.
486 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
487 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
488 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
489 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
490 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
491 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
492 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
493 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
494 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
495 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
496 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
497 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
498 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
499 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
500 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
501 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
502 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
503 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
504 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
505 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
507 Summary Buffer Format
509 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
510 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
511 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
512 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
516 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
517 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
519 Reply, Followup and Post
521 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
522 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
523 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
524 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
528 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
529 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
530 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
531 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
532 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
533 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
537 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
538 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
540 Customizing Threading
542 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
543 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
544 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
545 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
549 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
550 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
551 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
552 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
553 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
554 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
558 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
559 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
560 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
564 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
565 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
566 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
567 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
568 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
569 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
570 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
571 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
573 Alternative Approaches
575 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
576 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
578 Various Summary Stuff
580 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
581 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
582 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
583 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
587 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
588 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
589 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
590 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
591 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
595 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
596 * Post:: Posting and following up.
597 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
598 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
599 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
600 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
601 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
602 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
606 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
607 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
608 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
609 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
610 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
611 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
612 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
616 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
617 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
618 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
619 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
620 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
621 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
622 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
626 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
627 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
631 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
632 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
633 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
634 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
635 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
636 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
637 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
638 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
639 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
640 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
641 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
642 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
643 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
647 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
648 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
649 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
651 Choosing a Mail Backend
653 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
654 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
655 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
656 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
657 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
658 * Comparing Mail Backends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
662 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
663 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
664 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
665 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
669 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
670 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
671 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
672 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
673 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
674 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
678 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
682 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
683 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
684 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
688 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
689 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
690 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
694 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
695 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
699 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
700 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
701 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
702 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
703 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
704 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
705 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
706 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
707 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
708 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
712 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
713 * The Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
714 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
718 * Group Agent Commands::
719 * Summary Agent Commands::
720 * Server Agent Commands::
724 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
725 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
726 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
727 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
728 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
729 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
730 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
731 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
732 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
733 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
734 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
735 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
736 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
737 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
738 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
739 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
743 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
744 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
745 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
746 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
750 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
751 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
752 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
756 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
757 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
758 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
759 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
760 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
761 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
762 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
763 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
764 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
765 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
766 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
767 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
768 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
769 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
770 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
771 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
772 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
773 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
777 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
778 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
779 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
780 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
781 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
785 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
786 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
787 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
788 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
792 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
793 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
794 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
795 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
796 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
800 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
801 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
802 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
803 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
804 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
805 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
806 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
807 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
811 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
812 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
813 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
814 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
815 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
816 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
817 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
818 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
819 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
820 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
824 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
825 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.3/5.3.
826 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
827 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
831 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
832 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
833 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
834 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
838 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
839 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
840 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
841 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
842 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
843 * Group Info:: The group info format.
844 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
845 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
846 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
850 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
851 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
852 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
853 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
854 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
855 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
859 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
860 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
864 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
865 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
871 @chapter Starting Gnus
876 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
877 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
880 @findex gnus-other-frame
881 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
882 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
883 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
885 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
886 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
887 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
889 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
890 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
893 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
894 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
895 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
896 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
897 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
898 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
899 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
900 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
901 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
902 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
903 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
907 @node Finding the News
908 @section Finding the News
911 @vindex gnus-select-method
913 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
914 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
915 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
916 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
919 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
920 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
923 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
926 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
929 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
932 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
933 certainly be much faster.
935 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
937 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
938 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
939 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
940 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
941 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
942 that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
944 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
945 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
946 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
947 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
949 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
950 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
951 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
952 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
953 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
954 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
955 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
956 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
957 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
960 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
962 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
963 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
964 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
965 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
966 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
967 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
969 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
971 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
972 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
973 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
974 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
975 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
976 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
979 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
980 would typically set this variable to
983 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
988 @section The First Time
989 @cindex first time usage
991 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
992 be subscribed by default.
994 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
995 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
996 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
997 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1000 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1001 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1002 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1004 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
1005 help you with most common problems.
1007 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
1008 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1012 @node The Server is Down
1013 @section The Server is Down
1014 @cindex server errors
1016 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
1017 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1018 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
1020 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1021 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1022 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1023 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1024 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1025 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1026 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1028 @findex gnus-no-server
1029 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1031 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1032 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1033 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
1034 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1035 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1036 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1041 @section Slave Gnusae
1044 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
1045 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1046 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
1047 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1049 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1050 @code{.newsrc} file.
1052 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
1053 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1054 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1055 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1056 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1057 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1058 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1060 Anyways, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1061 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
1062 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1063 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1064 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
1065 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1066 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1067 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1069 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1070 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
1073 @node Fetching a Group
1074 @section Fetching a Group
1075 @cindex fetching a group
1077 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1078 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1079 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
1080 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1081 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1082 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1088 @cindex subscription
1090 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1091 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1092 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1093 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1094 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1095 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1096 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1097 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the backends for new groups even
1098 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1101 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1102 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1103 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1107 @node Checking New Groups
1108 @subsection Checking New Groups
1110 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1111 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1112 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1113 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
1114 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1115 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1116 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1117 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1118 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1119 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1121 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1122 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1123 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1124 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1125 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1126 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
1127 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1128 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1129 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1130 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1131 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1133 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
1134 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1135 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1136 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1137 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1138 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1141 @node Subscription Methods
1142 @subsection Subscription Methods
1144 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1145 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1146 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1148 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1149 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1151 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1155 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1156 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1157 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1158 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1159 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1161 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1162 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1163 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1164 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1166 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1167 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1168 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1170 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1171 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1172 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1173 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1174 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1175 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1176 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1177 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1178 up. Or something like that.
1180 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1181 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1182 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
1183 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1184 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1186 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1187 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1188 Kill all new groups.
1190 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1191 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1192 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1193 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1194 topic parameter that looks like
1200 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1203 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1208 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1209 A closely related variable is
1210 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1211 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
1212 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1213 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1216 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1217 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1218 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1219 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1222 @node Filtering New Groups
1223 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1225 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1226 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1227 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1230 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1233 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1234 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1235 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1236 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1237 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1238 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1239 subscribing these groups.
1240 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1241 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1243 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1244 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1245 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1246 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1247 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1248 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1249 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1250 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1252 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1253 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1254 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1255 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
1256 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
1257 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
1258 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
1259 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1260 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
1261 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
1263 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1264 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1267 @node Changing Servers
1268 @section Changing Servers
1269 @cindex changing servers
1271 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
1272 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1273 very flaky and you want to use another.
1275 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1276 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1280 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1281 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1282 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1283 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1286 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1287 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1288 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1289 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1291 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1292 @findex gnus-change-server
1293 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1294 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1295 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1296 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1297 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1299 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1300 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1301 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1302 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1303 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1305 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1306 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1307 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1308 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1309 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1310 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1312 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1313 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1314 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1318 @section Startup Files
1319 @cindex startup files
1324 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1325 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1327 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1328 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1329 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1330 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1331 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1332 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1333 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1335 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1336 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1337 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1338 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1339 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1340 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1342 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1343 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1344 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1345 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1346 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
1347 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1348 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1349 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
1350 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1351 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1353 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1354 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1355 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1356 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1357 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1358 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1359 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1360 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1361 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1362 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1363 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1364 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1366 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1367 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1368 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1369 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1371 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1372 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1373 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1374 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1375 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1376 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1377 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1378 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1379 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1380 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1383 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1384 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1386 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1387 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1390 @vindex gnus-init-file
1391 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1392 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1393 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1394 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1395 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1396 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1397 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1398 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1399 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1405 @cindex dribble file
1408 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
1409 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1410 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1411 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1412 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1415 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1416 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1419 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1420 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
1421 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1423 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1424 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1425 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
1426 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1427 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1428 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
1430 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1431 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1432 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1435 @node The Active File
1436 @section The Active File
1438 @cindex ignored groups
1440 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1441 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1442 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1444 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1445 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
1446 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1447 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
1448 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1449 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1450 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1453 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1454 @c if you set it to anything else.
1456 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1458 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1459 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
1460 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1462 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1463 you actually subscribe to.
1465 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1466 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1467 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1468 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1470 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1471 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1472 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1473 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1474 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1475 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1477 Some news servers (Leafnode and old versions of INN, for instance) do
1478 not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these servers, @code{nil}
1479 is probably the most efficient value for this variable.
1481 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1482 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1483 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1484 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1485 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1486 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1488 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1489 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1491 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1492 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1494 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1495 secondary select methods.
1498 @node Startup Variables
1499 @section Startup Variables
1503 @item gnus-load-hook
1504 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1505 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1506 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1507 times you start Gnus.
1509 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1510 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1511 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1513 @item gnus-startup-hook
1514 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1515 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1517 @item gnus-started-hook
1518 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1519 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1522 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1523 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1524 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1525 generating the group buffer.
1527 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1528 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1529 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1530 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1531 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1532 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1533 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1534 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1536 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1537 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1538 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1539 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1540 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1541 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1543 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1544 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1545 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1547 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1548 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1549 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1551 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1552 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1553 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1554 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1559 @node The Group Buffer
1560 @chapter The Group Buffer
1561 @cindex group buffer
1563 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1564 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1565 long as Gnus is active.
1569 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1570 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group.ps,height=9cm}}
1571 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1572 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1573 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1574 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1575 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1576 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1582 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1583 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1584 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1585 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1586 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1587 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1588 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1589 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1590 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1591 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1592 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1593 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1594 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1595 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1596 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1597 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1598 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1602 @node Group Buffer Format
1603 @section Group Buffer Format
1606 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1607 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1608 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1612 @node Group Line Specification
1613 @subsection Group Line Specification
1614 @cindex group buffer format
1616 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1617 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1619 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1622 25: news.announce.newusers
1623 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1628 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1629 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1630 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1631 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1633 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1634 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1635 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1636 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1637 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1638 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1640 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1642 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1643 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
1644 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
1645 never examined by Gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
1648 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1649 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1650 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1652 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1657 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1660 Whether the group is subscribed.
1663 Level of subscribedness.
1666 Number of unread articles.
1669 Number of dormant articles.
1672 Number of ticked articles.
1675 Number of read articles.
1678 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1679 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1682 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1685 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1694 Newsgroup description.
1697 @samp{m} if moderated.
1700 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1709 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1713 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1716 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1717 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1718 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1719 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1720 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1723 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1725 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1729 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1733 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1734 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1735 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1736 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1737 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1738 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1743 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1744 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1745 group, or a bogus native group.
1748 @node Group Modeline Specification
1749 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1750 @cindex group modeline
1752 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1753 The mode line can be changed by setting
1754 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1755 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1759 The native news server.
1761 The native select method.
1765 @node Group Highlighting
1766 @subsection Group Highlighting
1767 @cindex highlighting
1768 @cindex group highlighting
1770 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1771 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1772 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1773 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1774 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1776 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1780 (cond (window-system
1781 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1782 (defface my-group-face-1
1783 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1784 (defface my-group-face-2
1785 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t))) "Second group face")
1786 (defface my-group-face-3
1787 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1788 (defface my-group-face-4
1789 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1790 (defface my-group-face-5
1791 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1793 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1794 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1795 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1796 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1797 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1798 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1801 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1803 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1810 The number of unread articles in the group.
1814 Whether the group is a mail group.
1816 The level of the group.
1818 The score of the group.
1820 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1822 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1823 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1825 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1826 topic being inserted.
1829 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1830 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1831 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1833 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1834 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1835 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1836 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1837 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1840 @node Group Maneuvering
1841 @section Group Maneuvering
1842 @cindex group movement
1844 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1845 expected, hopefully.
1851 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1852 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1853 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1859 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1860 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1861 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1865 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1866 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1870 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1871 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1875 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1876 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1877 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1881 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1882 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1883 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1886 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1892 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1893 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1894 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1899 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1900 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1901 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1905 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1906 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1907 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1910 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1911 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1912 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1913 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1917 @node Selecting a Group
1918 @section Selecting a Group
1919 @cindex group selection
1924 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1925 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1926 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1927 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1928 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1929 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1930 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
1931 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
1932 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
1933 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{N})} oldest articles.
1937 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1938 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1939 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1940 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1941 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1945 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1946 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1947 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1948 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1949 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1950 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1951 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
1952 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
1953 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
1954 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
1957 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
1958 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1959 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
1960 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1961 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1964 @kindex M-C-RET (Group)
1965 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
1966 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
1967 doing any processing of its contents
1968 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
1969 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
1970 manner will have no permanent effects.
1974 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1975 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
1976 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
1977 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
1978 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
1979 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
1980 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
1981 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
1984 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
1985 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
1986 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
1987 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
1992 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
1993 full summary buffer.
1996 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
1999 Select the highest scored article in the group when entering the
2004 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function will
2005 be called to place point on a subject line, and/or select some article.
2006 Useful functions include:
2009 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-subject
2010 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article, but
2011 don't select the article.
2013 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-article
2014 Select the first unread article.
2016 @item gnus-summary-best-unread-article
2017 Select the highest-scored unread article.
2021 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2022 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
2023 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2027 @node Subscription Commands
2028 @section Subscription Commands
2029 @cindex subscription
2037 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2038 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2039 Toggle subscription to the current group
2040 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2046 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2047 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2048 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2049 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2055 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2056 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2057 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2063 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2064 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2067 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2068 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2069 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2070 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2071 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2077 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2078 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2082 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2083 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2086 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2087 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2088 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2089 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2090 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2091 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2092 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2093 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2094 @file{.newsrc} file.
2098 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2108 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2109 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2110 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2111 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2112 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2113 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2118 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2119 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2120 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2124 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2125 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2126 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2128 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2129 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2130 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2131 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
2132 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2133 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2140 @section Group Levels
2144 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2145 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2146 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2147 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2148 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2150 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2156 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2157 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2158 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2159 prompted for a level.
2162 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2163 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2164 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2165 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2166 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2167 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2168 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2169 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2170 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2171 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2172 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2173 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2174 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2175 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2176 reasons of efficiency.
2178 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2179 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2181 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2182 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2183 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2184 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2185 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2186 groups are hidden, in a way.
2188 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2189 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2190 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2191 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2192 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2193 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2195 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2196 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2197 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2198 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2199 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2200 list of killed groups.)
2202 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2203 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2204 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2206 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2207 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2208 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2209 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2210 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2211 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2212 relevant valid ranges.
2214 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2215 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2216 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2217 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2218 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2219 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2222 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2223 one with the best level.
2225 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2226 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2227 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2230 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2231 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2232 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2233 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2236 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2237 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2238 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2239 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2241 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2242 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2243 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2244 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2245 to 5. The default is 6.
2249 @section Group Score
2254 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2255 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2256 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2259 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2260 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2261 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2262 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2263 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2264 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2265 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2266 least significant part.))
2268 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2269 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2270 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2271 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2272 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2273 action after each summary exit, you can add
2274 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2275 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2276 slow things down somewhat.
2279 @node Marking Groups
2280 @section Marking Groups
2281 @cindex marking groups
2283 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2284 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2285 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2286 bidding on those groups.
2288 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2289 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2290 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2298 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2299 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2305 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2306 Remove the mark from the current group
2307 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2311 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2312 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2316 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2317 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2321 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2322 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2326 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2327 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2328 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2331 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2333 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2334 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2335 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2336 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2337 the command to be executed.
2340 @node Foreign Groups
2341 @section Foreign Groups
2342 @cindex foreign groups
2344 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2345 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2346 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2347 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2354 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2355 @cindex making groups
2356 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2357 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2358 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
2362 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2363 @cindex renaming groups
2364 Rename the current group to something else
2365 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2366 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2372 @findex gnus-group-customize
2373 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2377 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2378 @cindex renaming groups
2379 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2380 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2384 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2385 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2386 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2390 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2391 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2392 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2396 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2398 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2399 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2404 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2405 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2409 @cindex (ding) archive
2410 @cindex archive group
2411 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2412 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2413 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2414 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2415 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2416 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2417 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2421 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2423 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2424 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2425 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2426 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2430 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2432 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2433 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2434 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2438 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2439 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2441 Make a group based on some file or other
2442 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2443 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2444 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
2445 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs},
2446 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{nsmail} and @code{forward}.
2447 If you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2448 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2452 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2453 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2454 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2455 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2459 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2464 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2465 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2466 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2467 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2468 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
2469 @xref{Web Searches}.
2471 If you use the @code{dejanews} search engine, you can limit the search
2472 to a particular group by using a match string like
2473 @samp{~g alt.sysadmin.recovery shaving}.
2476 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2477 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2478 This function will delete the current group
2479 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2480 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2481 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2482 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2483 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
2487 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2488 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2489 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2493 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2494 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2495 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2498 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2501 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2502 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2503 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2504 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2505 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2506 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2510 @node Group Parameters
2511 @section Group Parameters
2512 @cindex group parameters
2514 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2515 Here's an example group parameter list:
2518 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2522 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
2523 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2524 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2525 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2527 The following group parameters can be used:
2532 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2535 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2538 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2539 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2540 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2541 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2542 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2544 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2545 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2546 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2547 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2548 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2549 list address instead.
2553 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2556 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2559 It is totally ignored
2560 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2561 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2563 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2564 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2565 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2566 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2567 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2569 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2570 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2571 sending the message.
2575 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2576 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2577 of whether it has any unread articles.
2579 @item broken-reply-to
2580 @cindex broken-reply-to
2581 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2582 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2583 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2584 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2585 broken behavior. So there!
2589 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2590 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2594 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2595 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2596 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2601 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2602 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2603 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2604 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2605 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2606 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2607 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2611 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2612 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2613 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2616 @cindex total-expire
2617 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2618 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2619 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2620 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2625 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2626 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
2627 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
2628 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
2629 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
2630 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2633 @cindex score file group parameter
2634 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2635 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2636 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2639 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2640 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2641 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2642 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2645 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2646 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2647 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2648 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2651 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2652 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2656 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2659 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2664 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")}
2665 are arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by
2666 Gnus, but provide a place for you to store information on particular
2670 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2671 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2672 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2674 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
2675 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2676 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2677 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2678 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2679 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2680 @code{eval}ed there.
2682 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2683 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2684 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2685 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2686 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2689 You can store additional posting style information for this group only
2690 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2691 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2692 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2693 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2695 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2696 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2697 like this in the group parameters:
2702 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2707 Use the @kbd{G p} command to edit group parameters of a group. You
2708 might also be interested in reading about topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
2712 @node Listing Groups
2713 @section Listing Groups
2714 @cindex group listing
2716 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2724 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2725 List all groups that have unread articles
2726 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2727 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2728 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2729 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2736 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2737 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2738 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
2739 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
2740 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
2741 unsubscribed groups).
2745 @findex gnus-group-list-level
2746 List all unread groups on a specific level
2747 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
2748 with no unread articles.
2752 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
2753 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
2754 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
2755 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
2760 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
2761 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
2765 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
2766 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
2767 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2771 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2772 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2776 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2777 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
2778 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2779 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2780 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2781 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
2782 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
2783 Take the output with some grains of salt.
2787 @findex gnus-group-apropos
2788 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
2789 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
2793 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
2794 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
2795 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
2799 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
2800 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
2804 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
2805 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
2809 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2810 @cindex visible group parameter
2811 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
2812 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
2813 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
2814 get the same effect.
2816 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
2817 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
2818 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
2819 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
2820 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
2823 @node Sorting Groups
2824 @section Sorting Groups
2825 @cindex sorting groups
2827 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
2828 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
2829 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
2830 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
2831 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
2832 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
2837 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2838 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2839 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
2841 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2842 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2843 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
2845 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
2846 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
2847 Sort by group level.
2849 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
2850 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
2851 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
2853 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2854 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2855 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
2856 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
2858 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2859 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2860 Sort by number of unread articles.
2862 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
2863 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
2864 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
2869 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
2870 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
2874 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
2875 some sorting criteria:
2879 @kindex G S a (Group)
2880 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2881 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
2882 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2885 @kindex G S u (Group)
2886 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
2887 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
2888 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2891 @kindex G S l (Group)
2892 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
2893 Sort the group buffer by group level
2894 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
2897 @kindex G S v (Group)
2898 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
2899 Sort the group buffer by group score
2900 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2903 @kindex G S r (Group)
2904 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
2905 Sort the group buffer by group rank
2906 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2909 @kindex G S m (Group)
2910 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
2911 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
2912 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
2916 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
2917 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2919 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
2920 commands will sort in reverse order.
2922 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
2926 @kindex G P a (Group)
2927 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
2928 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
2929 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
2932 @kindex G P u (Group)
2933 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
2934 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
2935 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
2938 @kindex G P l (Group)
2939 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
2940 Sort the groups by group level
2941 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
2944 @kindex G P v (Group)
2945 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
2946 Sort the groups by group score
2947 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2950 @kindex G P r (Group)
2951 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
2952 Sort the groups by group rank
2953 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2956 @kindex G P m (Group)
2957 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
2958 Sort the groups alphabetically by backend name
2959 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
2965 @node Group Maintenance
2966 @section Group Maintenance
2967 @cindex bogus groups
2972 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
2973 Find bogus groups and delete them
2974 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
2978 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
2979 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
2980 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
2981 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
2982 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
2986 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
2987 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
2988 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
2989 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
2992 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
2993 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
2994 Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
2995 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3000 @node Browse Foreign Server
3001 @section Browse Foreign Server
3002 @cindex foreign servers
3003 @cindex browsing servers
3008 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3009 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3010 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3011 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3014 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3015 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3016 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3017 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3019 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3024 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3025 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3029 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3030 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3033 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3034 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3035 Enter the current group and display the first article
3036 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3039 @kindex RET (Browse)
3040 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3041 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3045 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3046 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3047 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3053 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3054 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3058 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3059 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3060 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3065 @section Exiting Gnus
3066 @cindex exiting Gnus
3068 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
3073 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3074 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
3075 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3076 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3080 @findex gnus-group-exit
3081 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3082 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3086 @findex gnus-group-quit
3087 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3088 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3091 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3092 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3093 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
3094 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
3095 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3100 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
3101 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
3102 trying to customize meta-variables.
3107 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3108 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3109 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3115 @section Group Topics
3118 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3119 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3120 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3121 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3122 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3123 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3127 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3128 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group-topic.ps,height=9cm}}
3139 2: alt.religion.emacs
3142 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3144 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3145 13: comp.sources.unix
3148 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3150 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3151 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3152 is a toggling command.)
3154 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3155 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
3156 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
3157 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
3160 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3161 the hook for the group mode:
3164 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3168 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3169 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3170 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3171 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3172 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3176 @node Topic Variables
3177 @subsection Topic Variables
3178 @cindex topic variables
3180 Now, if you select a topic, it will fold/unfold that topic, which is
3181 really neat, I think.
3183 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3184 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3185 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3198 Number of groups in the topic.
3200 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3202 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3205 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3206 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3207 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3210 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3211 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3213 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3214 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3215 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3218 @node Topic Commands
3219 @subsection Topic Commands
3220 @cindex topic commands
3222 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3223 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3224 definitions slightly.
3230 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3231 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3232 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3236 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3237 Move the current group to some other topic
3238 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3239 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3243 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3244 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3248 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3249 Copy the current group to some other topic
3250 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3251 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3255 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3256 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3257 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3261 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3262 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3263 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3267 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3268 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3269 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3270 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3271 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3272 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3273 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3276 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3277 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3281 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3282 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3283 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3287 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3288 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3289 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3293 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3294 Toggle hiding empty topics
3295 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3299 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3300 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3301 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
3304 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3305 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3306 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3307 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
3311 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3313 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3314 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3315 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3316 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3319 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3320 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3321 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3322 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3326 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3328 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3329 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3330 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3331 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3332 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3333 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3336 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3337 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3338 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the expiry
3339 process (if any) (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}).
3343 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3344 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3345 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3349 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3350 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3351 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3356 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3357 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3360 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3361 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3362 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3366 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3367 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3368 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3372 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3373 @cindex group parameters
3374 @cindex topic parameters
3376 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3377 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3383 @subsection Topic Sorting
3384 @cindex topic sorting
3386 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3392 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3393 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3394 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3395 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3398 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3399 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3400 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3401 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3404 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3405 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3406 Sort the current topic by group level
3407 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3410 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3411 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3412 Sort the current topic by group score
3413 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3416 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3417 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3418 Sort the current topic by group rank
3419 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3422 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3423 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3424 Sort the current topic alphabetically by backend name
3425 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3429 @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group sorting.
3432 @node Topic Topology
3433 @subsection Topic Topology
3434 @cindex topic topology
3437 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3443 2: alt.religion.emacs
3446 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3448 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3449 13: comp.sources.unix
3452 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3453 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3454 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3459 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3460 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3464 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3465 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3466 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3467 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3468 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3469 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3471 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3472 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3473 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3476 @node Topic Parameters
3477 @subsection Topic Parameters
3478 @cindex topic parameters
3480 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
3481 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
3482 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
3484 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3489 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3490 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3491 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3496 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3497 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
3498 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
3499 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
3505 2: alt.religion.emacs
3509 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3511 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3512 13: comp.sources.unix
3516 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
3517 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
3518 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
3519 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
3520 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
3521 . "religion.SCORE")}.
3523 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
3524 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
3525 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
3526 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
3527 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
3529 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
3530 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
3531 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
3532 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
3533 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
3534 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
3535 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
3536 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
3539 @node Misc Group Stuff
3540 @section Misc Group Stuff
3543 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
3544 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
3545 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
3546 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
3553 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3554 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3555 @xref{The Server Buffer}.
3559 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3560 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a
3561 prefix, the current group name will be used as the default.
3565 @findex gnus-group-mail
3566 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
3570 Variables for the group buffer:
3574 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
3575 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
3576 is called after the group buffer has been
3579 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
3580 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3581 is called after the group buffer is
3582 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
3585 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
3586 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3587 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
3588 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
3590 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3591 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3592 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
3593 whether they are empty or not.
3595 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3596 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3597 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
3598 non-ASCII group names.
3602 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3603 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
3606 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3607 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3608 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names.
3609 It is used to show non-ASCII group names.
3613 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3614 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
3619 @node Scanning New Messages
3620 @subsection Scanning New Messages
3621 @cindex new messages
3622 @cindex scanning new news
3628 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
3629 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
3630 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
3631 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
3632 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
3633 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
3638 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
3639 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
3640 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
3641 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
3642 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
3643 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
3644 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
3646 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
3647 @cindex activating groups
3649 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
3650 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
3655 @findex gnus-group-restart
3656 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
3657 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
3658 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
3662 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
3663 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
3665 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
3666 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
3670 @node Group Information
3671 @subsection Group Information
3672 @cindex group information
3673 @cindex information on groups
3680 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
3681 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
3684 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
3685 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
3686 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
3687 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
3688 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
3689 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
3690 for fetching the file.
3692 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
3693 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
3697 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
3699 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
3700 @cindex describing groups
3701 @cindex group description
3702 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
3703 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
3704 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
3708 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
3709 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
3710 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
3717 @findex gnus-version
3718 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
3722 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
3723 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
3726 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
3729 @findex gnus-info-find-node
3730 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
3734 @node Group Timestamp
3735 @subsection Group Timestamp
3737 @cindex group timestamps
3739 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
3740 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
3741 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
3744 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
3747 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
3749 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
3750 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
3753 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3754 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
3757 This will result in lines looking like:
3760 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
3761 0: custom 19961002T012713
3764 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
3765 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
3769 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3770 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
3775 @subsection File Commands
3776 @cindex file commands
3782 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
3783 @vindex gnus-init-file
3784 @cindex reading init file
3785 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
3786 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
3790 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
3791 @cindex saving .newsrc
3792 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
3793 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
3794 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
3797 @c @kindex Z (Group)
3798 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
3799 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
3804 @node The Summary Buffer
3805 @chapter The Summary Buffer
3806 @cindex summary buffer
3808 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
3809 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
3811 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
3812 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
3814 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
3817 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
3818 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
3819 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
3820 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
3821 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
3822 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
3823 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
3824 * Threading:: How threads are made.
3825 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
3826 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
3827 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
3828 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
3829 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
3830 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
3831 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
3832 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
3833 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
3834 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
3835 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
3836 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
3837 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
3838 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
3839 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
3840 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
3841 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
3842 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
3843 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
3844 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
3848 @node Summary Buffer Format
3849 @section Summary Buffer Format
3850 @cindex summary buffer format
3854 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
3855 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary.ps,width=7.5cm}}
3856 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-article.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
3862 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
3863 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
3864 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
3865 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
3868 @findex mail-extract-address-components
3869 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
3870 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
3871 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
3872 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
3873 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
3874 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
3875 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
3876 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
3877 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
3878 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
3881 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
3882 'mail-extract-address-components)
3885 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
3886 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
3887 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
3888 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
3891 @node Summary Buffer Lines
3892 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
3894 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3895 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
3896 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
3897 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
3898 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3900 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
3902 The following format specification characters are understood:
3908 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
3909 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
3911 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
3912 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
3913 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
3915 Full @code{From} header.
3917 The name (from the @code{From} header).
3919 The name, code @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header
3920 (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
3922 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
3923 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
3924 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
3925 may be more thorough.
3927 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
3930 Number of lines in the article.
3932 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported in some
3933 methods (like nnfolder).
3935 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3937 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
3938 pushes everything after it off the screen).
3940 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
3941 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3943 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
3944 for adopted articles.
3946 One space for each thread level.
3948 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
3953 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
3954 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
3958 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
3960 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
3961 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
3962 default level. If the difference between
3963 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
3964 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
3972 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
3974 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
3980 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
3981 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
3983 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
3984 article has any children.
3990 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
3991 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
3992 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
3993 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
3994 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
3995 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
3998 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
3999 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
4000 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4001 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4002 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4003 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4005 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4006 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4008 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
4011 @node To From Newsgroups
4012 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4016 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4017 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4018 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4019 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4020 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4024 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4025 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4026 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4030 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4031 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4034 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4035 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4038 @findex gnus-extra-header
4039 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4040 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4041 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4044 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4048 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4049 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4050 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4051 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4052 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4053 headers are used instead.
4057 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4058 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4059 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files. If
4060 you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after changing
4063 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4064 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4065 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4066 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4068 In summary, you'd typically do something like the following:
4071 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4073 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4074 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4075 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20f%]%) %s\n")
4076 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4080 Now, this is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4081 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4088 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4089 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4092 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4093 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4095 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4096 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4097 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4098 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4100 Here are the elements you can play with:
4106 Unprefixed group name.
4108 Current article number.
4110 Current article score.
4114 Number of unread articles in this group.
4116 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4119 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4120 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4121 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4122 and no unselected ones.
4124 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4125 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4127 Subject of the current article.
4129 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4131 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4133 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4135 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4137 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4139 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4143 @node Summary Highlighting
4144 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4148 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4149 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4150 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4151 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4152 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4154 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4155 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4156 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4157 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4159 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4160 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4161 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4162 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4164 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4165 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4166 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4167 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4168 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4169 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4172 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4173 ((> score default) . bold))
4175 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4176 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4180 @node Summary Maneuvering
4181 @section Summary Maneuvering
4182 @cindex summary movement
4184 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4185 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4187 None of these commands select articles.
4192 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4193 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4194 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4195 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4196 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4200 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4201 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4202 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4203 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4204 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4209 @kindex G j (Summary)
4210 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
4211 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
4212 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
4215 @kindex G g (Summary)
4216 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4217 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4218 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4221 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4222 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4223 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4224 to the group buffer.
4226 Variables related to summary movement:
4230 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4231 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4232 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4233 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
4234 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4235 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4236 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
4237 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
4238 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the
4239 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
4240 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
4241 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
4242 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
4243 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
4245 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4246 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4247 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4248 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4249 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4250 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4251 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4253 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4255 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4256 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4257 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4258 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4259 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4261 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4262 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4263 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4264 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4265 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4266 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4267 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4268 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4271 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4272 the given number of lines from the top.
4277 @node Choosing Articles
4278 @section Choosing Articles
4279 @cindex selecting articles
4282 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4283 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
4287 @node Choosing Commands
4288 @subsection Choosing Commands
4290 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
4291 and they all select and display an article.
4295 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4296 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4297 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
4298 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4303 @kindex G n (Summary)
4304 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
4305 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
4306 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
4311 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
4312 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
4313 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
4318 @kindex G N (Summary)
4319 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
4320 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
4325 @kindex G P (Summary)
4326 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
4327 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
4330 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
4331 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
4332 Go to the next article with the same subject
4333 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
4336 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
4337 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
4338 Go to the previous article with the same subject
4339 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
4343 @kindex G f (Summary)
4345 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
4346 Go to the first unread article
4347 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
4351 @kindex G b (Summary)
4353 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
4354 Go to the article with the highest score
4355 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
4360 @kindex G l (Summary)
4361 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
4362 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
4365 @kindex G o (Summary)
4366 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
4368 @cindex article history
4369 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
4370 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
4371 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
4372 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
4373 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
4374 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
4378 @node Choosing Variables
4379 @subsection Choosing Variables
4381 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
4384 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4385 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4386 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
4387 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
4388 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
4389 the server and display it in the article buffer.
4391 @item gnus-select-article-hook
4392 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
4393 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
4394 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
4396 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
4397 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
4398 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
4399 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
4400 @findex gnus-unread-mark
4401 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
4402 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
4403 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
4404 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
4405 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
4406 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
4407 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
4408 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
4409 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
4414 @node Paging the Article
4415 @section Scrolling the Article
4416 @cindex article scrolling
4421 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4422 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4423 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
4424 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
4425 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4428 @kindex DEL (Summary)
4429 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
4430 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
4433 @kindex RET (Summary)
4434 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
4435 Scroll the current article one line forward
4436 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
4439 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
4440 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
4441 Scroll the current article one line backward
4442 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
4446 @kindex A g (Summary)
4448 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
4449 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4450 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
4451 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
4452 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
4453 the way it came from the server.
4455 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
4456 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
4457 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
4460 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4465 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
4470 @kindex A < (Summary)
4471 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
4472 Scroll to the beginning of the article
4473 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
4478 @kindex A > (Summary)
4479 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
4480 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
4484 @kindex A s (Summary)
4486 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
4487 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
4488 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
4492 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
4493 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
4498 @node Reply Followup and Post
4499 @section Reply, Followup and Post
4502 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
4503 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
4504 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
4505 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
4509 @node Summary Mail Commands
4510 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
4512 @cindex composing mail
4514 Commands for composing a mail message:
4520 @kindex S r (Summary)
4522 @findex gnus-summary-reply
4523 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
4524 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
4525 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
4526 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
4531 @kindex S R (Summary)
4532 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
4533 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
4534 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
4535 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
4536 command uses the process/prefix convention.
4539 @kindex S w (Summary)
4540 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
4541 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
4542 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
4543 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
4544 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
4547 @kindex S W (Summary)
4548 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
4549 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
4550 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
4551 the process/prefix convention.
4555 @kindex S o m (Summary)
4556 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
4557 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
4558 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
4559 Forward the current article to some other person
4560 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If no prefix is given, the message
4561 is forwarded according to the value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime})
4562 and (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
4563 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, foward message
4564 as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
4565 forward as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 4, foward message
4566 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
4567 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
4568 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 MIME section.
4573 @kindex S m (Summary)
4574 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
4575 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
4576 Send a mail to some other person
4577 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
4580 @kindex S D b (Summary)
4581 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
4582 @cindex bouncing mail
4583 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
4584 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
4585 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
4586 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
4587 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
4588 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
4589 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
4590 very well fail, though.
4593 @kindex S D r (Summary)
4594 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
4595 Not to be confused with the previous command,
4596 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
4597 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
4598 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
4599 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
4600 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
4601 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
4602 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
4604 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
4605 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
4606 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
4607 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
4608 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muß sein!
4610 This command understands the process/prefix convention
4611 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4614 @kindex S O m (Summary)
4615 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
4616 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
4617 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
4618 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4621 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
4622 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
4623 @cindex crossposting
4624 @cindex excessive crossposting
4625 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
4626 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
4628 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
4629 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
4630 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
4631 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
4632 command understands the process/prefix convention
4633 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
4637 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4640 @node Summary Post Commands
4641 @subsection Summary Post Commands
4643 @cindex composing news
4645 Commands for posting a news article:
4651 @kindex S p (Summary)
4652 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
4653 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
4654 Post an article to the current group
4655 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
4660 @kindex S f (Summary)
4661 @findex gnus-summary-followup
4662 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
4663 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
4667 @kindex S F (Summary)
4669 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
4670 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
4671 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
4672 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
4673 process/prefix convention.
4676 @kindex S n (Summary)
4677 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
4678 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4679 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
4682 @kindex S N (Summary)
4683 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
4684 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4685 message through mail and include the original message
4686 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
4687 the process/prefix convention.
4690 @kindex S o p (Summary)
4691 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
4692 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
4693 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
4694 If no prefix is given, the message is forwarded according to the value
4695 of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}) and
4696 (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
4697 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, foward message
4698 as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
4699 forward as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 4, foward message
4700 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
4701 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
4702 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 MIME section.
4705 @kindex S O p (Summary)
4706 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
4708 @cindex making digests
4709 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
4710 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
4711 process/prefix convention.
4714 @kindex S u (Summary)
4715 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
4716 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
4717 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
4718 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
4721 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4724 @node Summary Message Commands
4725 @subsection Summary Message Commands
4729 @kindex S y (Summary)
4730 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
4731 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
4732 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
4733 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
4734 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4739 @node Canceling and Superseding
4740 @subsection Canceling Articles
4741 @cindex canceling articles
4742 @cindex superseding articles
4744 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
4745 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
4747 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
4749 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
4751 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
4752 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
4753 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
4754 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
4755 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
4756 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4758 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
4759 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
4762 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
4763 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
4764 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
4766 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
4767 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
4768 your original article.
4770 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
4772 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
4773 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
4774 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
4777 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
4778 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
4779 have posted almost the same article twice.
4781 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
4782 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
4783 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
4784 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
4785 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
4786 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
4787 header by substituting one of those words for the word
4788 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
4789 you would do normally. The previous article will be
4790 canceled/superseded.
4792 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
4795 @node Marking Articles
4796 @section Marking Articles
4797 @cindex article marking
4798 @cindex article ticking
4801 There are several marks you can set on an article.
4803 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
4804 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
4805 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
4807 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
4810 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
4811 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
4812 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
4816 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
4820 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
4821 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
4822 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
4826 @node Unread Articles
4827 @subsection Unread Articles
4829 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
4834 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
4835 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
4837 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
4838 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
4839 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
4840 tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an
4841 article forever, you'll have to make it persistent (@pxref{Persistent
4845 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
4846 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
4848 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
4849 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
4850 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
4853 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
4854 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
4856 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
4861 @subsection Read Articles
4862 @cindex expirable mark
4864 All the following marks mark articles as read.
4869 @vindex gnus-del-mark
4870 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
4871 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
4874 @vindex gnus-read-mark
4875 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
4878 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
4879 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
4880 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
4883 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
4884 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
4887 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
4888 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
4891 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
4892 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
4895 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
4896 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
4899 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
4900 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
4903 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
4904 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
4907 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
4908 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
4912 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
4913 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
4914 (@code{gnus-duplicated-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
4918 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
4919 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
4921 One more special mark, though:
4925 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
4926 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
4928 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
4929 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
4930 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
4931 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
4937 @subsection Other Marks
4938 @cindex process mark
4941 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
4947 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
4948 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
4949 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
4950 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
4951 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
4954 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
4955 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
4956 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
4957 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
4960 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
4961 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
4962 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
4965 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
4966 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
4967 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
4968 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
4971 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
4972 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
4973 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
4974 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
4975 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
4978 @vindex gnus-process-mark
4979 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
4980 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
4981 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
4982 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
4983 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
4987 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
4988 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
4989 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
4991 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
4992 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
4993 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
4997 @subsection Setting Marks
4998 @cindex setting marks
5000 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
5005 @kindex M c (Summary)
5006 @kindex M-u (Summary)
5007 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
5008 @cindex mark as unread
5009 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
5010 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
5016 @kindex M t (Summary)
5017 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
5018 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
5019 @xref{Article Caching}.
5024 @kindex M ? (Summary)
5025 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
5026 Mark the current article as dormant
5027 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5031 @kindex M d (Summary)
5033 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
5034 Mark the current article as read
5035 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
5039 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
5040 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
5041 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
5046 @kindex M k (Summary)
5047 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
5048 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
5049 and then select the next unread article
5050 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
5054 @kindex M K (Summary)
5055 @kindex C-k (Summary)
5056 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
5057 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
5058 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
5061 @kindex M C (Summary)
5062 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
5063 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
5064 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
5067 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
5068 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
5069 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
5070 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
5073 @kindex M H (Summary)
5074 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
5075 Catchup the current group to point
5076 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
5079 @kindex C-w (Summary)
5080 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
5081 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
5082 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
5085 @kindex M V k (Summary)
5086 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
5087 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
5088 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
5092 @kindex M e (Summary)
5094 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
5095 Mark the current article as expirable
5096 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
5099 @kindex M b (Summary)
5100 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
5101 Set a bookmark in the current article
5102 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
5105 @kindex M B (Summary)
5106 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
5107 Remove the bookmark from the current article
5108 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
5111 @kindex M V c (Summary)
5112 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
5113 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
5114 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5117 @kindex M V u (Summary)
5118 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
5119 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
5120 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
5123 @kindex M V m (Summary)
5124 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
5125 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
5126 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
5127 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5130 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
5131 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
5132 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
5133 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
5134 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
5135 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
5136 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
5137 The default is @code{t}.
5140 @node Generic Marking Commands
5141 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
5143 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
5144 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
5145 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
5146 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
5147 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
5150 Multiply these five behaviours with five different marking commands, and
5151 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
5154 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
5155 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
5156 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
5157 to list in this manual.
5159 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
5160 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
5161 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
5162 article, you could say something like:
5165 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
5166 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5167 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
5173 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5174 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
5178 @node Setting Process Marks
5179 @subsection Setting Process Marks
5180 @cindex setting process marks
5187 @kindex M P p (Summary)
5188 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
5189 Mark the current article with the process mark
5190 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
5191 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
5195 @kindex M P u (Summary)
5196 @kindex M-# (Summary)
5197 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
5198 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
5201 @kindex M P U (Summary)
5202 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
5203 Remove the process mark from all articles
5204 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
5207 @kindex M P i (Summary)
5208 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
5209 Invert the list of process marked articles
5210 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
5213 @kindex M P R (Summary)
5214 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
5215 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5216 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
5219 @kindex M P G (Summary)
5220 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
5221 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5222 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
5225 @kindex M P r (Summary)
5226 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
5227 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
5230 @kindex M P t (Summary)
5231 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5232 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5233 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5236 @kindex M P T (Summary)
5237 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5238 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5239 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5242 @kindex M P v (Summary)
5243 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
5244 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
5245 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
5248 @kindex M P s (Summary)
5249 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
5250 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5253 @kindex M P S (Summary)
5254 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
5255 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
5256 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
5259 @kindex M P a (Summary)
5260 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
5261 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5264 @kindex M P b (Summary)
5265 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
5266 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
5267 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
5270 @kindex M P k (Summary)
5271 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
5272 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
5273 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
5276 @kindex M P y (Summary)
5277 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
5278 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
5279 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
5282 @kindex M P w (Summary)
5283 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
5284 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
5285 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
5289 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @pxref{Searching for Articles} for how to
5290 set process marks based on article body contents.
5297 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
5298 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
5299 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
5302 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
5303 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
5304 additional articles.
5310 @kindex / / (Summary)
5311 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
5312 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
5313 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
5316 @kindex / a (Summary)
5317 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
5318 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
5319 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
5322 @kindex / x (Summary)
5323 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
5324 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
5325 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
5326 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}).
5330 @kindex / u (Summary)
5332 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
5333 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
5334 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
5335 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
5336 dormant articles will also be excluded.
5339 @kindex / m (Summary)
5340 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
5341 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
5342 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
5345 @kindex / t (Summary)
5346 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
5347 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
5348 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
5349 articles younger than that number of days.
5352 @kindex / n (Summary)
5353 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
5354 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
5355 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
5356 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5359 @kindex / w (Summary)
5360 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
5361 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
5362 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
5366 @kindex / v (Summary)
5367 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
5368 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
5369 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
5373 @kindex M S (Summary)
5374 @kindex / E (Summary)
5375 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
5376 Include all expunged articles in the limit
5377 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
5380 @kindex / D (Summary)
5381 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
5382 Include all dormant articles in the limit
5383 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
5386 @kindex / * (Summary)
5387 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
5388 Include all cached articles in the limit
5389 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
5392 @kindex / d (Summary)
5393 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
5394 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
5395 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
5398 @kindex / M (Summary)
5399 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
5400 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
5403 @kindex / T (Summary)
5404 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
5405 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
5408 @kindex / c (Summary)
5409 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
5410 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
5411 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
5414 @kindex / C (Summary)
5415 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
5416 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
5417 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
5418 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
5426 @cindex article threading
5428 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
5429 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
5430 hierarchical fashion.
5432 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
5433 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
5434 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
5435 or simply missing. Weird news propagation excarcerbates the problem,
5436 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
5437 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
5438 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
5440 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
5444 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
5447 A tree-like article structure.
5450 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
5453 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
5454 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
5455 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
5456 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
5457 called loose threads.
5459 @item thread gathering
5460 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
5462 @item sparse threads
5463 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
5464 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
5470 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
5471 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
5475 @node Customizing Threading
5476 @subsection Customizing Threading
5477 @cindex customizing threading
5480 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
5481 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
5482 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
5483 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
5488 @subsubsection Loose Threads
5491 @cindex loose threads
5494 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
5495 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
5496 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
5497 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
5498 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
5499 read or killed the root in a previous session.
5501 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
5502 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
5503 There are four possible values:
5507 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
5508 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-adopt.ps,width=7.5cm}}
5509 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-empty.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
5510 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-none.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
5511 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-dummy.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
5516 @cindex adopting articles
5521 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
5522 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
5523 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
5524 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
5527 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
5528 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
5529 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
5530 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
5531 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
5532 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
5533 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
5536 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
5537 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
5538 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
5542 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
5543 display them after one another.
5546 Don't gather loose threads.
5549 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
5550 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
5551 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
5552 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
5553 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
5554 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
5555 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
5556 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
5557 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
5558 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
5559 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
5561 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
5562 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
5563 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
5566 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
5567 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
5568 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
5569 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
5570 simplification is used.
5572 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5573 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5574 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
5575 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
5577 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
5579 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5585 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
5586 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
5587 "answer" "reference" "announce"
5588 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
5593 (mapconcat 'identity
5594 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
5596 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
5599 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
5602 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
5603 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
5604 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
5605 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
5606 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
5607 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
5609 Useful functions to put in this list include:
5612 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
5613 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
5614 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
5616 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
5617 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
5620 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
5621 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
5622 Remove excessive whitespace.
5625 You may also write your own functions, of course.
5628 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
5629 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
5630 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
5631 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
5632 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
5633 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
5634 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
5635 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
5637 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5638 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5639 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
5640 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
5641 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
5642 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
5643 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
5644 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
5645 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
5649 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
5650 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
5651 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
5652 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
5654 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
5655 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
5656 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
5659 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
5663 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5664 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
5670 @node Filling In Threads
5671 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
5674 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
5675 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
5676 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
5677 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
5678 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
5679 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
5680 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
5681 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
5682 fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
5683 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
5684 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
5685 expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that.
5687 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
5688 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
5689 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
5691 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
5692 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
5693 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
5694 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
5695 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
5696 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
5697 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
5698 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
5699 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
5700 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
5701 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
5702 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
5703 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
5704 @code{nil} by default.
5709 @node More Threading
5710 @subsubsection More Threading
5713 @item gnus-show-threads
5714 @vindex gnus-show-threads
5715 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
5716 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
5717 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
5718 slower and more awkward.
5720 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5721 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5722 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
5725 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
5726 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
5727 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
5728 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
5729 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
5730 threads are expunged.
5732 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
5733 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
5734 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
5737 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5738 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5739 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
5740 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
5741 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
5744 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
5745 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
5746 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
5749 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
5750 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
5751 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
5752 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
5753 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
5754 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
5755 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
5756 Setting this variable to an alternate value
5757 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
5758 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
5759 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
5764 @node Low-Level Threading
5765 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
5769 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
5770 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
5771 Hook run before parsing any headers.
5773 @item gnus-alter-header-function
5774 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
5775 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
5776 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
5777 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
5778 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
5779 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
5780 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
5781 meaningful. Here's one example:
5784 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
5786 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
5787 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
5789 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
5791 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
5798 @node Thread Commands
5799 @subsection Thread Commands
5800 @cindex thread commands
5806 @kindex T k (Summary)
5807 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
5808 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
5809 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
5810 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
5811 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
5816 @kindex T l (Summary)
5817 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
5818 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
5819 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
5820 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
5823 @kindex T i (Summary)
5824 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
5825 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
5826 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
5829 @kindex T # (Summary)
5830 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5831 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
5832 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5835 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
5836 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5837 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
5838 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5841 @kindex T T (Summary)
5842 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
5843 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
5846 @kindex T s (Summary)
5847 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
5848 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
5849 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
5852 @kindex T h (Summary)
5853 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
5854 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
5857 @kindex T S (Summary)
5858 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
5859 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
5862 @kindex T H (Summary)
5863 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
5864 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
5867 @kindex T t (Summary)
5868 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
5869 Re-thread the current article's thread
5870 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
5871 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
5874 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
5875 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
5876 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
5877 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
5881 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
5882 understand the numeric prefix.
5887 @kindex T n (Summary)
5889 @kindex M-C-n (Summary)
5891 @kindex M-down (Summary)
5892 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
5893 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
5896 @kindex T p (Summary)
5898 @kindex M-C-p (Summary)
5900 @kindex M-up (Summary)
5901 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
5902 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
5905 @kindex T d (Summary)
5906 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
5907 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
5910 @kindex T u (Summary)
5911 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
5912 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
5915 @kindex T o (Summary)
5916 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
5917 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
5920 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
5921 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
5922 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
5923 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
5924 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
5925 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
5926 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
5927 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
5928 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
5929 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
5930 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
5931 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
5938 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
5939 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
5940 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
5941 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5942 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
5943 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5944 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
5945 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
5946 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
5947 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
5948 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
5950 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
5951 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
5952 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
5953 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
5954 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
5956 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
5957 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
5958 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
5960 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
5961 last function in the list. You should probably always include
5962 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
5963 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
5964 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
5965 ascending article order.
5967 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
5968 by number, you could do something like:
5971 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5972 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5973 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5974 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
5977 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
5978 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
5979 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
5980 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
5981 which the articles arrived.
5983 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
5987 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5989 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
5990 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
5993 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
5994 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
5995 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
5996 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
5999 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
6000 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
6001 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
6002 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
6003 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
6004 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
6005 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
6006 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
6007 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
6008 it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
6009 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
6010 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
6011 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
6013 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
6017 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
6018 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
6019 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
6024 @node Asynchronous Fetching
6025 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
6026 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
6027 @cindex article pre-fetch
6030 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
6031 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
6032 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
6033 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
6034 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
6036 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
6037 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
6039 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
6040 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
6041 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
6042 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
6043 connection is blocked.
6045 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
6046 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
6047 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
6048 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
6050 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
6051 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
6052 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
6053 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
6056 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
6059 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
6060 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
6061 happen automatically.
6063 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
6064 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
6065 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
6066 that when you read an article in the group, the backend will pre-fetch
6067 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the backend will
6068 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
6069 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
6071 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
6072 @findex gnus-async-read-p
6073 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
6074 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
6075 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
6076 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
6077 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
6078 data structure as the only parameter.
6080 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
6083 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
6084 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
6085 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
6086 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
6089 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
6092 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
6093 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
6094 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
6096 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
6097 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
6098 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
6099 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
6103 Remove articles when they are read.
6106 Remove articles when exiting the group.
6109 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
6111 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
6112 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
6113 @c from the next group.
6116 @node Article Caching
6117 @section Article Caching
6118 @cindex article caching
6121 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
6122 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
6123 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
6124 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
6125 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
6127 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
6129 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
6130 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
6131 @vindex gnus-use-cache
6132 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
6133 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
6134 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
6135 cache is flat or hierarchal is controlled by the
6136 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
6138 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
6139 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
6140 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
6141 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
6142 as dormant, and don't worry.
6144 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
6146 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
6147 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
6148 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
6149 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
6150 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
6151 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
6152 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
6153 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
6154 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
6155 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
6157 @findex gnus-jog-cache
6158 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
6159 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
6160 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
6161 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
6162 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
6163 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
6164 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
6165 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
6166 not then be downloaded by this command.
6168 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
6169 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
6170 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
6171 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
6172 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
6173 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
6175 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
6176 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
6177 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
6178 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
6179 variables, the group is not cached.
6181 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
6182 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
6183 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
6184 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
6185 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
6186 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
6187 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
6188 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
6189 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
6193 @node Persistent Articles
6194 @section Persistent Articles
6195 @cindex persistent articles
6197 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
6198 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
6199 useful in my opinion.
6201 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
6202 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
6203 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
6204 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
6205 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
6206 the expiry going on at the news server.
6208 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
6209 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
6210 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
6216 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
6217 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
6220 @kindex M-* (Summary)
6221 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
6222 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
6223 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
6227 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
6229 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
6230 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
6231 interested in persistent articles:
6234 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
6238 @node Article Backlog
6239 @section Article Backlog
6241 @cindex article backlog
6243 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
6244 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
6245 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
6246 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
6247 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
6248 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
6249 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
6250 increase memory usage some.
6252 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
6253 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
6254 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
6255 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
6256 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
6257 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
6258 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
6260 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
6263 @node Saving Articles
6264 @section Saving Articles
6265 @cindex saving articles
6267 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
6268 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
6269 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
6270 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
6271 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
6273 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
6274 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
6275 unwanted headers before saving the article.
6277 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
6278 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
6279 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
6280 deleted before saving.
6286 @kindex O o (Summary)
6288 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
6289 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
6290 Save the current article using the default article saver
6291 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
6294 @kindex O m (Summary)
6295 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
6296 Save the current article in mail format
6297 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
6300 @kindex O r (Summary)
6301 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
6302 Save the current article in rmail format
6303 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
6306 @kindex O f (Summary)
6307 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
6308 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
6309 Save the current article in plain file format
6310 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
6313 @kindex O F (Summary)
6314 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
6315 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
6316 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
6319 @kindex O b (Summary)
6320 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
6321 Save the current article body in plain file format
6322 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
6325 @kindex O h (Summary)
6326 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
6327 Save the current article in mh folder format
6328 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
6331 @kindex O v (Summary)
6332 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
6333 Save the current article in a VM folder
6334 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
6337 @kindex O p (Summary)
6338 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
6339 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
6340 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
6343 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
6344 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
6345 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
6346 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
6347 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
6348 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
6349 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
6350 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
6351 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
6352 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
6353 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
6354 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
6358 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
6359 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
6360 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
6361 functions below, or you can create your own.
6365 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
6366 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
6367 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
6368 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
6369 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
6370 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6371 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
6373 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
6374 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
6375 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
6376 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
6377 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6378 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
6380 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
6381 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
6382 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
6383 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
6384 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
6385 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6386 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
6388 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
6389 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
6390 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
6391 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6392 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
6394 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
6395 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
6396 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
6397 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
6398 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
6401 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
6402 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
6403 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
6404 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
6405 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
6407 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
6408 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
6409 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
6410 reader to use this setting.
6413 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
6414 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
6415 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
6416 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
6419 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
6420 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
6421 available functions that generate names:
6425 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
6426 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
6427 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
6429 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
6430 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
6431 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
6433 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
6434 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
6435 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
6437 @item gnus-plain-save-name
6438 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
6439 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
6442 @vindex gnus-split-methods
6443 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
6444 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
6445 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
6446 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
6450 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
6451 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
6452 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
6453 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
6456 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
6457 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
6458 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
6459 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
6460 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
6461 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
6462 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
6463 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
6464 called returns a string or a list of strings.
6466 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
6467 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
6468 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
6469 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
6471 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
6472 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
6473 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
6476 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
6477 lots of mail groups called things like
6478 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
6479 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
6480 following will do just that:
6483 (defun my-save-name (group)
6484 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
6485 (substring group (match-end 0))))
6487 (setq gnus-split-methods
6488 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
6493 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
6494 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
6495 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
6496 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
6497 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
6498 all the files in the top level directory
6499 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
6500 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
6501 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
6502 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
6504 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
6505 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
6506 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
6507 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
6508 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
6511 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
6515 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
6516 (setq gnus-default-article-saver 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
6519 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
6520 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
6521 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
6522 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
6525 @node Decoding Articles
6526 @section Decoding Articles
6527 @cindex decoding articles
6529 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
6530 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
6533 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
6534 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
6535 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
6536 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
6537 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
6538 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
6542 @cindex article series
6543 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
6544 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
6545 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
6546 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
6547 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
6549 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
6550 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
6551 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
6553 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
6554 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
6555 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
6557 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
6558 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
6559 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
6562 @node Uuencoded Articles
6563 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
6565 @cindex uuencoded articles
6570 @kindex X u (Summary)
6571 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
6572 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
6573 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
6576 @kindex X U (Summary)
6577 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
6578 Uudecodes and saves the current series
6579 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
6582 @kindex X v u (Summary)
6583 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
6584 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
6587 @kindex X v U (Summary)
6588 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
6589 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
6590 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
6594 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
6595 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
6596 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
6597 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
6598 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
6600 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
6601 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
6602 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
6603 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
6606 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
6607 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
6608 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
6609 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
6610 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
6611 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
6615 @node Shell Archives
6616 @subsection Shell Archives
6618 @cindex shell archives
6619 @cindex shared articles
6621 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
6622 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
6623 some commands to deal with these:
6628 @kindex X s (Summary)
6629 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
6630 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
6633 @kindex X S (Summary)
6634 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
6635 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
6638 @kindex X v s (Summary)
6639 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
6640 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
6643 @kindex X v S (Summary)
6644 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
6645 Unshars, views and saves the current series
6646 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
6650 @node PostScript Files
6651 @subsection PostScript Files
6657 @kindex X p (Summary)
6658 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
6659 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
6662 @kindex X P (Summary)
6663 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
6664 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
6665 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
6668 @kindex X v p (Summary)
6669 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
6670 View the current PostScript series
6671 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
6674 @kindex X v P (Summary)
6675 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
6676 View and save the current PostScript series
6677 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
6682 @subsection Other Files
6686 @kindex X o (Summary)
6687 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
6688 Save the current series
6689 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
6692 @kindex X b (Summary)
6693 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
6694 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
6695 doesn't really work yet.
6699 @node Decoding Variables
6700 @subsection Decoding Variables
6702 Adjective, not verb.
6705 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
6706 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
6707 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
6711 @node Rule Variables
6712 @subsubsection Rule Variables
6713 @cindex rule variables
6715 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
6716 variables are of the form
6719 (list '(regexp1 command2)
6726 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6727 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6729 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
6730 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
6733 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6734 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
6737 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6738 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6739 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
6740 user and default view rules.
6742 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6743 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6744 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
6749 @node Other Decode Variables
6750 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
6753 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6755 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6756 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
6757 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
6758 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
6759 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
6763 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
6764 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
6767 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
6768 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
6769 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
6772 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6773 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6774 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
6775 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
6776 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
6779 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6780 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6781 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
6783 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6784 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6785 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
6786 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
6787 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
6790 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6791 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6792 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
6794 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6795 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6796 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
6797 looking for files to display.
6799 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
6800 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
6801 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
6804 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6805 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6806 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
6809 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6810 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6811 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
6814 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6815 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6816 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
6819 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6820 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6821 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
6822 decoded articles as unread.
6824 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6825 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6826 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
6827 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
6829 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6830 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6831 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
6833 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6834 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6836 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
6837 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
6838 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
6839 @code{metamail} for viewing.
6841 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6842 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6843 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
6844 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
6845 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
6846 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
6847 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
6848 simply dropped them.
6853 @node Uuencoding and Posting
6854 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
6858 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6859 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6860 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
6861 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
6862 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
6863 for you when you post the article.
6865 @item gnus-uu-post-length
6866 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
6867 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
6868 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
6870 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
6871 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
6872 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
6873 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
6874 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
6875 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
6876 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
6878 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6879 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6880 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
6881 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
6882 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
6883 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
6884 Default is @code{t}.
6890 @subsection Viewing Files
6891 @cindex viewing files
6892 @cindex pseudo-articles
6894 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
6895 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
6896 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
6897 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
6898 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
6899 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
6900 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
6902 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
6903 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
6904 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
6905 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
6907 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
6908 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
6909 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
6911 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
6912 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
6913 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
6914 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
6915 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
6917 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
6918 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
6919 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
6920 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
6921 a list of parameters to that command.
6923 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
6924 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
6925 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
6927 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
6928 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
6929 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
6932 @node Article Treatment
6933 @section Article Treatment
6935 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
6936 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
6937 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
6938 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
6939 these articles easier.
6942 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
6943 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
6944 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
6945 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
6946 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
6947 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
6948 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
6949 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
6953 @node Article Highlighting
6954 @subsection Article Highlighting
6955 @cindex highlighting
6957 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
6958 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
6963 @kindex W H a (Summary)
6964 @findex gnus-article-highlight
6965 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
6966 Do much highlighting of the current article
6967 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
6968 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
6971 @kindex W H h (Summary)
6972 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
6973 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
6974 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
6975 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
6976 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
6977 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
6978 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
6979 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
6980 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
6981 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
6982 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
6985 @kindex W H c (Summary)
6986 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
6987 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
6989 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
6992 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6994 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6995 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
6996 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
6998 @item gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6999 @vindex gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
7000 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
7002 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
7003 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
7004 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
7006 @item gnus-cite-face-list
7007 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
7008 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
7009 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
7010 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
7011 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
7013 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
7014 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
7015 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
7017 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7018 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7019 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
7021 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7022 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7023 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
7024 that it's a citation.
7026 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7027 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7028 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
7030 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7031 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7032 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
7034 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
7035 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
7036 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
7037 cited text belonging to the attribution.
7043 @kindex W H s (Summary)
7044 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7045 @vindex gnus-signature-face
7046 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
7047 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
7048 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
7049 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
7050 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
7055 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
7058 @node Article Fontisizing
7059 @subsection Article Fontisizing
7061 @cindex article emphasis
7063 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
7064 @kindex W e (Summary)
7065 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
7066 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
7067 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
7068 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
7070 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
7071 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
7072 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
7073 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
7074 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
7075 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
7076 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
7077 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
7081 (setq gnus-article-emphasis
7082 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
7083 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
7092 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
7093 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
7094 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
7095 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
7096 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
7097 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
7098 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
7099 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
7100 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
7101 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
7102 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
7103 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
7104 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
7106 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
7107 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
7108 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
7112 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
7115 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
7117 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
7118 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
7119 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
7120 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
7122 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
7125 @node Article Hiding
7126 @subsection Article Hiding
7127 @cindex article hiding
7129 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
7130 too much cruft in most articles.
7135 @kindex W W a (Summary)
7136 @findex gnus-article-hide
7137 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
7138 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
7139 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
7142 @kindex W W h (Summary)
7143 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
7144 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
7148 @kindex W W b (Summary)
7149 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
7150 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
7151 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
7154 @kindex W W s (Summary)
7155 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
7156 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
7160 @kindex W W l (Summary)
7161 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
7162 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7163 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
7164 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
7165 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
7166 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
7167 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
7171 @item gnus-list-identifiers
7172 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7173 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
7174 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
7179 @kindex W W p (Summary)
7180 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
7181 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7182 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
7183 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
7184 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
7185 articles that have signatures in them do:
7187 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
7189 (setq gnus-treat-strip-pgp t)
7191 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
7192 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
7194 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7197 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
7202 @kindex W W P (Summary)
7203 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
7204 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
7205 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
7208 @kindex W W B (Summary)
7209 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
7212 @cindex stripping advertisments
7213 @cindex advertisments
7214 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
7215 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
7216 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
7217 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
7218 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
7219 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
7220 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
7221 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
7222 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
7223 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
7227 @kindex W W c (Summary)
7228 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
7229 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
7230 customizing the hiding:
7234 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
7235 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
7236 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
7237 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
7238 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
7239 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
7240 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
7245 Starting point of the hidden text.
7247 Ending point of the hidden text.
7249 Number of characters in the hidden region.
7251 Number of lines of hidden text.
7254 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
7255 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
7256 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
7257 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
7258 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
7263 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
7264 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
7266 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
7267 following two variables:
7270 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
7271 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
7272 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
7273 50), hide the cited text.
7275 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
7276 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
7277 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
7282 @kindex W W C (Summary)
7283 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
7284 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
7285 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
7286 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
7287 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
7291 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
7292 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
7293 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
7295 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
7296 citation customization.
7298 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
7302 @node Article Washing
7303 @subsection Article Washing
7305 @cindex article washing
7307 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
7308 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
7310 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
7311 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
7317 @kindex W l (Summary)
7318 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
7319 Remove page breaks from the current article
7320 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
7324 @kindex W r (Summary)
7325 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
7326 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
7327 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
7328 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
7329 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
7330 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
7332 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
7333 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
7334 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
7335 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
7339 @kindex W t (Summary)
7341 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
7342 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
7343 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
7346 @kindex W v (Summary)
7347 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
7348 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
7349 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
7352 @kindex W o (Summary)
7353 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
7354 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
7357 @kindex W d (Summary)
7358 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
7359 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
7361 @cindex M******** sm*rtq**t*s
7363 Treat M******** sm*rtq**t*s according to
7364 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
7365 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
7366 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
7370 @kindex W w (Summary)
7371 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
7372 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
7374 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
7378 @kindex W Q (Summary)
7379 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
7380 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
7383 @kindex W C (Summary)
7384 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
7385 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
7386 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
7389 @kindex W c (Summary)
7390 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
7391 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
7392 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
7393 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
7394 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
7397 @kindex W q (Summary)
7398 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
7399 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
7400 Quoted-Printable is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending
7401 non-ASCII (i. e., 8-bit) articles. It typically makes strings like
7402 @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which doesn't look very
7403 readable to me. Note that the this is usually done automatically by
7404 Gnus if the message in question has a @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding}
7405 header that says that this encoding has been done.
7408 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
7409 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
7410 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}).
7411 Base64 is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending non-ASCII
7412 (i. e., 8-bit) articles. Note that the this is usually done
7413 automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
7414 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding has
7418 @kindex W Z (Summary)
7419 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
7420 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
7421 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
7422 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
7425 @kindex W h (Summary)
7426 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
7427 Treat HTML (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}).
7428 Note that the this is usually done automatically by Gnus if the message
7429 in question has a @code{Content-Type} header that says that this type
7433 @kindex W f (Summary)
7435 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
7436 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
7437 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
7438 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
7444 Look for and display any X-Face headers
7445 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
7446 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
7447 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
7448 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
7449 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
7450 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
7451 The default action under Emacs is to fork off the @code{display}
7452 program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For the
7453 @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
7454 like `compface' or `faces-xface' on a GNU/Linux system.}
7455 to view the face. Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image
7456 support, the default action is to display the face before the
7457 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
7458 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
7459 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
7460 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
7461 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
7462 like @code{netpbm} or @code{libgr-progs}.}) If you
7463 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
7467 @kindex W b (Summary)
7468 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
7469 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
7470 @xref{Article Buttons}.
7473 @kindex W B (Summary)
7474 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
7475 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
7476 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
7479 @kindex W W H (Summary)
7480 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body
7481 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
7482 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body}).
7485 @kindex W E l (Summary)
7486 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
7487 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
7488 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
7491 @kindex W E m (Summary)
7492 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
7493 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
7494 lines with a single empty line.
7495 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
7498 @kindex W E t (Summary)
7499 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
7500 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
7501 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
7504 @kindex W E a (Summary)
7505 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
7506 Do all the three commands above
7507 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
7510 @kindex W E A (Summary)
7511 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
7512 Remove all blank lines
7513 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
7516 @kindex W E s (Summary)
7517 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
7518 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
7519 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
7522 @kindex W E e (Summary)
7523 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
7524 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
7525 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
7529 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
7532 @node Article Buttons
7533 @subsection Article Buttons
7536 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
7537 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
7538 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
7539 button on these references.
7541 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
7542 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
7543 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
7548 @item gnus-button-alist
7549 @vindex gnus-button-alist
7550 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
7553 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
7559 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
7560 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
7561 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
7564 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
7565 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
7566 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
7569 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
7570 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
7571 avoid false matches.
7574 This function will be called when you click on this button.
7577 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
7578 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
7582 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
7585 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
7588 @item gnus-header-button-alist
7589 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
7590 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
7591 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
7592 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
7595 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
7598 @var{header} is a regular expression.
7600 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
7601 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
7602 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
7603 default values of the variables above.
7605 @item gnus-article-button-face
7606 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
7607 Face used on buttons.
7609 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
7610 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
7611 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
7615 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
7619 @subsection Article Date
7621 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
7622 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
7623 when the article was sent.
7628 @kindex W T u (Summary)
7629 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
7630 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
7631 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
7634 @kindex W T i (Summary)
7635 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
7637 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
7638 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
7641 @kindex W T l (Summary)
7642 @findex gnus-article-date-local
7643 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
7646 @kindex W T s (Summary)
7647 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
7648 @findex gnus-article-date-user
7649 @findex format-time-string
7650 Display the date using a user-defined format
7651 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
7652 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
7653 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
7654 for a list of possible format specs.
7657 @kindex W T e (Summary)
7658 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
7659 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
7660 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
7661 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
7662 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
7665 X-Sent: 9 years, 6 weeks, 4 days, 9 hours, 3 minutes, 28 seconds ago
7668 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
7669 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
7672 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
7673 into wonderful absurdities.
7675 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
7678 (gnus-start-date-timer)
7681 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
7682 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
7686 @kindex W T o (Summary)
7687 @findex gnus-article-date-original
7688 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
7689 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
7690 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
7691 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
7692 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
7696 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
7697 preferred format automatically.
7700 @node Article Signature
7701 @subsection Article Signature
7703 @cindex article signature
7705 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7706 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
7707 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
7708 that says what is to be considered a signature is
7709 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
7710 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
7711 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
7712 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
7713 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
7716 (setq gnus-signature-separator
7717 '("^-- $" ; The standard
7718 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
7719 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
7720 ; line of dashes. Shame!
7721 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
7722 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
7723 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
7726 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
7729 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
7730 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
7731 signature when displaying articles.
7735 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
7738 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
7741 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
7742 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
7744 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
7745 in question is not a signature.
7748 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
7749 listed above. Here's an example:
7752 (setq gnus-signature-limit
7753 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
7756 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
7757 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
7758 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
7759 signature after all.
7762 @node Article Miscellania
7763 @subsection Article Miscellania
7767 @kindex A t (Summary)
7768 @findex gnus-article-babel
7769 Translate the article from one language to another
7770 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
7776 @section @sc{mime} Commands
7777 @cindex MIME decoding
7779 @cindex viewing attachments
7781 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
7782 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @sc{mime} part''.
7788 @kindex K v (Summary)
7789 View the @sc{mime} part.
7792 @kindex K o (Summary)
7793 Save the @sc{mime} part.
7796 @kindex K c (Summary)
7797 Copy the @sc{mime} part.
7800 @kindex K e (Summary)
7801 View the @sc{mime} part externally.
7804 @kindex K i (Summary)
7805 View the @sc{mime} part internally.
7808 @kindex K | (Summary)
7809 Pipe the @sc{mime} part to an external command.
7812 The rest of these @sc{mime} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
7817 @kindex K b (Summary)
7818 Make all the @sc{mime} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
7819 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
7823 @kindex K m (Summary)
7824 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
7825 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
7826 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
7827 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
7828 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
7831 @kindex X m (Summary)
7832 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
7833 Save all parts matching a @sc{mime} type to a directory
7834 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
7835 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7838 @kindex M-t (Summary)
7839 @findex gnus-summary-display-buttonized
7840 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
7841 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
7844 @kindex W M w (Summary)
7845 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
7846 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
7849 @kindex W M c (Summary)
7850 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
7851 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
7853 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
7854 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
7855 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
7856 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not include
7857 MIME headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic parameter to
7858 the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
7861 @kindex W M v (Summary)
7862 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
7863 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
7870 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
7871 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
7872 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
7873 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
7876 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
7879 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
7883 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
7884 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
7885 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
7886 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
7887 displayed. The default value is @code{(".*/.*")}.
7889 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
7890 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
7891 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
7892 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
7893 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
7894 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
7895 save all jpegs into some directory).
7897 Here's an example function the does the latter:
7900 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
7901 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
7903 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
7904 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
7905 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
7906 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
7907 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
7910 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
7911 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
7912 Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
7921 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
7922 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
7923 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
7924 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
7925 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
7926 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
7927 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
7929 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
7930 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
7931 variable, which is an alist of regexps (to match group names) and
7932 default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
7934 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
7935 aren't. These blitely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1} even
7936 if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
7937 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
7938 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be set
7939 on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
7940 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit)}, which is
7941 something some agents insist on having in there.
7943 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
7944 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
7945 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @sc{mime}
7946 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
7947 quoted-printable header encoding.
7949 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
7950 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
7951 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
7955 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
7958 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
7959 means encode all charsets),
7961 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
7962 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
7963 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
7970 @cindex coding system aliases
7971 @cindex preferred charset
7973 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
7975 If there are several @sc{mime} charsets that encode the same Emacs
7976 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
7979 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
7980 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
7983 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
7984 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @sc{mime} charset.
7986 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
7989 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
7992 This will almost do the right thing.
7994 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
7998 (codepage-setup 1251)
7999 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
8003 @node Article Commands
8004 @section Article Commands
8011 @kindex A P (Summary)
8012 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
8013 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
8014 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
8015 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will be
8016 run just before printing the buffer.
8021 @node Summary Sorting
8022 @section Summary Sorting
8023 @cindex summary sorting
8025 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
8026 can't really see why you'd want that.
8031 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
8032 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
8033 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
8036 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
8037 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
8038 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
8041 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
8042 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
8043 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
8046 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
8047 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
8048 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
8051 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
8052 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
8053 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
8056 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
8057 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
8058 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
8061 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
8062 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
8063 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
8066 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
8067 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
8068 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
8069 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
8070 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
8074 @node Finding the Parent
8075 @section Finding the Parent
8076 @cindex parent articles
8077 @cindex referring articles
8082 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
8083 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
8084 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
8085 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
8086 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
8087 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
8088 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
8089 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
8090 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
8092 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
8093 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
8094 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
8095 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
8096 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
8100 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
8101 @kindex A R (Summary)
8102 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
8103 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
8106 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
8107 @kindex A T (Summary)
8108 Display the full thread where the current article appears
8109 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
8110 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
8111 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
8112 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
8113 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
8114 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
8116 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
8117 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
8118 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
8119 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
8120 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
8121 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
8124 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
8125 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
8127 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
8128 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
8129 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
8130 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
8131 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
8132 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
8133 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
8136 The current select method will be used when fetching by
8137 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
8138 by giving this command a prefix.
8140 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
8141 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
8142 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
8143 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
8144 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
8145 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
8148 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
8149 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
8150 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
8153 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
8154 then ask Deja if that fails:
8157 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
8159 (nnweb "refer" (nnweb-type dejanews))))
8162 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
8163 not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
8164 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
8165 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
8166 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
8167 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
8170 @node Alternative Approaches
8171 @section Alternative Approaches
8173 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
8174 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
8177 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
8178 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
8183 @subsection Pick and Read
8184 @cindex pick and read
8186 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
8187 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
8188 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
8189 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
8191 @findex gnus-pick-mode
8192 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
8193 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
8194 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
8195 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
8196 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
8198 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
8203 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
8204 Pick the article or thread on the current line
8205 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
8206 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
8207 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
8208 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
8209 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
8210 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
8213 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
8214 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
8215 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
8216 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
8220 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
8221 Unpick the thread or article
8222 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
8223 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
8224 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
8225 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
8226 the thread or article at that line.
8230 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
8231 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
8232 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
8233 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
8234 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
8235 will still be visible when you are reading.
8239 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
8240 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
8241 which is mapped to the same function
8242 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
8244 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
8247 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
8250 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
8251 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
8253 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
8254 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
8255 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
8257 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
8258 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
8259 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
8260 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
8261 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
8262 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
8263 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
8267 @subsection Binary Groups
8268 @cindex binary groups
8270 @findex gnus-binary-mode
8271 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
8272 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
8273 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
8274 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
8275 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
8276 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
8279 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
8280 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
8281 command, when you have turned on this mode
8282 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
8284 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
8285 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
8289 @section Tree Display
8292 @vindex gnus-use-trees
8293 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
8294 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
8295 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
8298 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
8301 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
8302 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
8303 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
8305 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
8306 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
8307 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
8308 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
8309 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
8311 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
8312 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
8313 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
8314 default is @code{modeline}.
8316 @item gnus-tree-line-format
8317 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
8318 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
8319 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
8320 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
8321 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
8322 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
8328 The name of the poster.
8330 The @code{From} header.
8332 The number of the article.
8334 The opening bracket.
8336 The closing bracket.
8341 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
8343 Variables related to the display are:
8346 @item gnus-tree-brackets
8347 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
8348 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
8349 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @code{((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
8350 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close}) (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))}, and the
8351 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
8353 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
8354 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
8355 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
8356 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
8360 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
8361 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
8362 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
8363 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
8364 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
8365 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
8366 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
8367 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
8368 other windows displayed next to it.
8370 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
8371 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
8372 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
8373 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
8374 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
8375 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
8376 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
8380 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
8383 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
8393 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
8397 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
8398 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
8400 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
8402 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
8407 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
8408 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
8409 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
8412 (setq gnus-use-trees t
8413 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
8414 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
8415 (gnus-add-configuration
8419 (summary 0.75 point)
8424 @xref{Windows Configuration}.
8427 @node Mail Group Commands
8428 @section Mail Group Commands
8429 @cindex mail group commands
8431 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
8432 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
8434 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
8435 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8440 @kindex B e (Summary)
8441 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
8442 Expire all expirable articles in the group
8443 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
8446 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
8447 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
8448 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
8449 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
8450 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
8451 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
8454 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
8455 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
8456 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
8457 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
8458 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
8459 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
8462 @kindex B m (Summary)
8464 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
8465 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
8466 Move the article from one mail group to another
8467 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
8468 @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
8471 @kindex B c (Summary)
8473 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
8474 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
8475 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
8476 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
8477 @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
8480 @kindex B B (Summary)
8481 @cindex crosspost mail
8482 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
8483 Crosspost the current article to some other group
8484 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
8485 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
8486 be properly updated.
8489 @kindex B i (Summary)
8490 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
8491 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
8492 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
8493 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
8496 @kindex B r (Summary)
8497 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
8498 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
8499 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
8500 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
8501 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
8502 Marks will be preserved if @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
8503 (which is the default).
8507 @kindex B w (Summary)
8509 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
8510 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
8511 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
8512 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
8513 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
8514 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
8517 @kindex B q (Summary)
8518 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
8519 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
8520 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
8521 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
8524 @kindex B t (Summary)
8525 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
8526 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
8527 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
8530 @kindex B p (Summary)
8531 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
8532 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
8533 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
8534 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
8535 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
8536 article from your news server (or rather, from
8537 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
8538 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
8539 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
8540 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
8541 just not have arrived yet.
8545 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
8546 @cindex moving articles
8547 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
8548 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
8549 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
8550 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
8551 suggestions you find reasonable.
8554 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
8555 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
8556 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
8557 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
8561 @node Various Summary Stuff
8562 @section Various Summary Stuff
8565 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
8566 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
8567 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
8568 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
8572 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
8573 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
8574 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
8576 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
8577 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
8578 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
8579 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
8580 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
8581 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
8584 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
8585 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
8586 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
8587 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
8588 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
8590 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
8591 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
8592 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
8595 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
8596 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
8597 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
8598 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
8599 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
8600 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
8601 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
8602 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
8603 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
8604 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
8606 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
8607 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
8608 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
8609 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
8610 list of articles to be selected.
8612 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
8613 the list in one particular group:
8616 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
8617 (if (string= group "some.group")
8618 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
8625 @node Summary Group Information
8626 @subsection Summary Group Information
8631 @kindex H f (Summary)
8632 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
8633 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
8634 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
8635 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
8636 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
8637 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
8638 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
8639 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
8640 be used for fetching the file.
8643 @kindex H d (Summary)
8644 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
8645 Give a brief description of the current group
8646 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
8647 rereading the description from the server.
8650 @kindex H h (Summary)
8651 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
8652 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
8653 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
8656 @kindex H i (Summary)
8657 @findex gnus-info-find-node
8658 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
8662 @node Searching for Articles
8663 @subsection Searching for Articles
8668 @kindex M-s (Summary)
8669 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
8670 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
8671 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
8674 @kindex M-r (Summary)
8675 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
8676 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
8677 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
8681 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
8682 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
8683 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
8684 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
8685 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
8686 search backward instead.
8688 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string #} will put the process mark on
8689 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
8692 @kindex M-& (Summary)
8693 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
8694 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
8695 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
8698 @node Summary Generation Commands
8699 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
8704 @kindex Y g (Summary)
8705 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
8706 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
8709 @kindex Y c (Summary)
8710 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
8711 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
8712 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
8717 @node Really Various Summary Commands
8718 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
8724 @kindex C-d (Summary)
8725 @kindex A D (Summary)
8726 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
8727 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
8728 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
8729 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
8730 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
8731 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
8732 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
8733 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
8737 @kindex M-C-d (Summary)
8738 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
8739 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
8740 several documents into one biiig group
8741 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
8742 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
8743 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
8744 command understands the process/prefix convention
8745 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8748 @kindex C-t (Summary)
8749 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
8750 Toggle truncation of summary lines
8751 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
8752 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
8753 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
8757 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
8758 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
8759 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
8762 @kindex M-C-e (Summary)
8763 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
8764 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
8765 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
8768 @kindex M-C-a (Summary)
8769 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
8770 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
8771 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
8776 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
8777 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
8778 @cindex summary exit
8779 @cindex exiting groups
8781 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
8782 group and return you to the group buffer.
8788 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
8790 @findex gnus-summary-exit
8791 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
8792 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
8793 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
8794 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
8795 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
8796 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
8797 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
8798 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
8799 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
8800 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
8804 @kindex Z E (Summary)
8806 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
8807 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
8808 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
8812 @kindex Z c (Summary)
8814 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
8815 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
8816 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
8817 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
8820 @kindex Z C (Summary)
8821 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
8822 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
8823 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
8826 @kindex Z n (Summary)
8827 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
8828 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
8829 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
8832 @kindex Z R (Summary)
8833 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
8834 Exit this group, and then enter it again
8835 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
8836 all articles, both read and unread.
8840 @kindex Z G (Summary)
8841 @kindex M-g (Summary)
8842 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
8843 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
8844 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
8845 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
8846 articles, both read and unread.
8849 @kindex Z N (Summary)
8850 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
8851 Exit the group and go to the next group
8852 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
8855 @kindex Z P (Summary)
8856 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
8857 Exit the group and go to the previous group
8858 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
8861 @kindex Z s (Summary)
8862 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
8863 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
8864 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
8865 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
8866 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
8869 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
8870 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
8871 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
8872 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
8874 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
8875 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
8876 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
8877 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
8878 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
8879 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
8880 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
8881 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
8882 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
8883 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
8884 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
8885 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
8887 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
8889 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
8890 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
8891 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
8892 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
8893 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
8894 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
8895 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
8896 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
8897 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
8900 @node Crosspost Handling
8901 @section Crosspost Handling
8905 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
8906 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
8907 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
8908 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
8909 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
8910 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
8913 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
8914 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
8915 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
8916 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
8917 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
8919 @cindex cross-posting
8922 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
8923 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
8924 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
8925 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
8926 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
8927 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
8928 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
8929 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
8930 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
8931 the cross reference mechanism.
8933 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
8934 @cindex overview.fmt
8935 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
8936 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
8937 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
8938 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
8939 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
8940 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
8943 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
8944 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
8945 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
8950 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
8953 @node Duplicate Suppression
8954 @section Duplicate Suppression
8956 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
8957 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
8958 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
8959 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
8964 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
8965 is evil and not very common.
8968 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
8969 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
8972 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
8973 different @sc{nntp} servers.
8976 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
8979 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
8980 well, but these four are the most common situations.
8982 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
8983 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
8984 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
8985 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
8986 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
8987 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
8988 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
8991 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
8992 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
8993 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
8994 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
8995 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
8999 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
9000 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
9001 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
9003 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
9004 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
9005 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
9006 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
9007 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
9008 session are suppressed.
9010 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
9011 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
9012 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
9013 suppression list. The default is 10000.
9015 @item gnus-duplicate-file
9016 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
9017 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
9018 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
9021 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
9022 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
9023 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
9024 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
9025 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
9026 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
9027 to you to figure out, I think.
9030 @node The Article Buffer
9031 @chapter The Article Buffer
9032 @cindex article buffer
9034 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
9035 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
9036 tell Gnus otherwise.
9039 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
9040 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
9041 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
9042 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
9043 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
9047 @node Hiding Headers
9048 @section Hiding Headers
9049 @cindex hiding headers
9050 @cindex deleting headers
9052 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
9053 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
9055 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
9056 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
9057 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
9058 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
9059 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
9060 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
9061 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
9062 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
9063 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
9065 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
9069 @item gnus-visible-headers
9070 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
9071 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
9072 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
9073 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
9075 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
9076 the article and the subject, you'd say:
9079 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
9082 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
9085 @item gnus-ignored-headers
9086 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
9087 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
9088 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
9089 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
9090 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
9092 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
9093 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
9096 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
9099 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
9102 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
9103 variable will have no effect.
9107 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
9108 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
9109 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
9110 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
9111 the headers are to be displayed.
9113 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
9114 and then the subject, you might say something like:
9117 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
9120 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
9121 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
9123 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
9124 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
9125 You can hide further boring headers by setting
9126 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-header} to @code{head}. What this function
9127 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
9128 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
9129 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
9132 These conditions are:
9135 Remove all empty headers.
9137 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
9138 @code{Newsgroups} header.
9140 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
9143 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
9146 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
9149 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
9151 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
9154 To include the four three elements, you could say something like;
9157 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
9158 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
9161 This is also the default value for this variable.
9165 @section Using @sc{mime}
9168 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
9169 while people stand around yawning.
9171 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
9172 while all newsreaders die of fear.
9174 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
9175 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
9176 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
9178 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
9179 @findex gnus-display-mime
9180 Gnus pushes @sc{mime} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
9181 to display the @sc{mime} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
9182 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
9183 display, save and manipulate the @sc{mime} objects.
9185 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
9189 @findex gnus-article-press-button
9191 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
9192 Toggle displaying of the @sc{mime} object
9193 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}).
9195 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
9196 @item M-RET (Article)
9198 Prompt for a method, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
9199 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
9201 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
9203 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @sc{mime} object
9204 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
9206 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
9208 Copy the @sc{mime} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
9209 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}).
9211 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
9213 View the @sc{mime} object as if it were a different @sc{mime} media type
9214 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}).
9216 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
9218 Output the @sc{mime} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
9220 @findex gnus-mime-inline-part
9222 Insert the contents of the @sc{mime} object into the buffer
9223 (@code{gnus-mime-inline-part}) as text/plain. If given a prefix, insert
9224 the raw contens without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can
9225 do semi-manual charset stuff (see
9226 @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in @pxref{Paging the
9229 @findex gnus-mime-action-on-part
9231 Interactively run an action on the @sc{mime} object
9232 (@code{gnus-mime-action-on-part}).
9236 Gnus will display some @sc{mime} objects automatically. The way Gnus
9237 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs MIME
9240 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
9241 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
9242 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
9243 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
9244 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
9245 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
9246 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
9247 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
9248 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
9250 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
9252 Also see @pxref{MIME Commands}.
9255 @node Customizing Articles
9256 @section Customizing Articles
9257 @cindex article customization
9259 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
9260 exist. You can call these functions interactively, or you can have them
9261 called automatically when you select the articles.
9263 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
9264 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
9265 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
9266 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
9268 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
9269 for sensible values.
9273 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
9276 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
9279 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
9282 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
9285 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
9289 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
9290 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
9291 regexps in the list.
9294 A list where the first element is not a string:
9296 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
9297 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
9298 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
9302 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
9307 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
9308 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
9309 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
9310 considered to contain just a single part.
9312 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
9313 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
9314 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
9315 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
9316 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
9317 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
9318 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
9320 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
9321 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
9322 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
9323 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
9326 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last)
9327 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
9328 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
9329 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
9330 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
9331 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
9332 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
9333 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
9334 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
9335 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
9336 @item gnus-treat-strip-pgp (t, last, integer)
9337 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
9338 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
9339 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
9340 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
9341 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
9342 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
9343 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
9344 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
9345 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
9346 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
9347 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
9348 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
9349 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
9350 @item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
9351 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
9352 @item gnus-treat-display-picons (head)
9353 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
9354 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
9355 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
9356 @item gnus-treat-translate
9359 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
9360 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
9361 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
9362 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
9363 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
9367 @node Article Keymap
9368 @section Article Keymap
9370 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
9371 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
9372 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
9373 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
9376 A few additional keystrokes are available:
9381 @kindex SPACE (Article)
9382 @findex gnus-article-next-page
9383 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
9386 @kindex DEL (Article)
9387 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
9388 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
9391 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
9392 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
9393 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
9394 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
9395 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
9398 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
9399 @findex gnus-article-mail
9400 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
9401 given a prefix, include the mail.
9405 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
9406 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
9407 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
9411 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
9412 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
9413 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
9416 @kindex TAB (Article)
9417 @findex gnus-article-next-button
9418 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
9419 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
9422 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
9423 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
9424 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
9430 @section Misc Article
9434 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
9435 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
9436 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
9437 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
9440 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
9441 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
9443 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
9444 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
9446 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
9447 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
9448 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
9449 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
9450 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
9451 the contents of the article buffer.
9453 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
9454 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
9455 Hook called in article mode buffers.
9457 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
9458 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
9459 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
9460 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
9462 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
9463 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
9464 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
9465 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
9466 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
9471 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
9472 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
9475 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
9478 @vindex gnus-break-pages
9480 @item gnus-break-pages
9481 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
9482 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
9483 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
9484 paging will not be done.
9486 @item gnus-page-delimiter
9487 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
9488 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
9493 @node Composing Messages
9494 @chapter Composing Messages
9495 @cindex composing messages
9498 @cindex sending mail
9504 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
9505 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
9506 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
9507 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The
9508 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
9509 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
9512 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
9513 * Post:: Posting and following up.
9514 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
9515 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
9516 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
9517 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
9518 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
9519 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
9520 * Using GPG:: How to use GPG and MML to sign and encrypt messages
9523 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
9524 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
9530 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
9533 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
9534 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
9535 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
9536 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
9538 @item gnus-add-to-list
9539 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
9540 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
9541 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
9543 @item message-send-mail-partially-limit
9544 @vindex message-send-mail-partially-limit
9545 The limitation of messages sent as message/partial.
9546 The lower bound of message size in characters, beyond which the message
9547 should be sent in several parts. If it is nil, the size is unlimited.
9555 Variables for composing news articles:
9558 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-file
9559 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-file
9560 Gnus will keep a @code{Message-ID} history file of all the mails it has
9561 sent. If it discovers that it has already sent a mail, it will ask the
9562 user whether to re-send the mail. (This is primarily useful when
9563 dealing with @sc{soup} packets and the like where one is apt to send the
9564 same packet multiple times.) This variable says what the name of this
9565 history file is. It is @file{~/News/Sent-Message-IDs} by default. Set
9566 this variable to @code{nil} if you don't want Gnus to keep a history
9569 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-length
9570 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-length
9571 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the history
9572 file. It is 1000 by default.
9577 @node Posting Server
9578 @section Posting Server
9580 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
9581 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
9583 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
9585 @vindex gnus-post-method
9587 It can be quite complicated. Normally, Gnus will use the same native
9588 server. However. If your native server doesn't allow posting, just
9589 reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
9590 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
9591 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
9594 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
9597 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
9598 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
9599 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
9600 the ``current'' server for posting.
9602 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
9603 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
9605 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
9606 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
9609 Finally, if you want to always post using the same select method as
9610 you're reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
9611 groups from different private servers), you can set this variable to
9616 @section Mail and Post
9618 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
9622 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
9623 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
9624 @cindex mailing lists
9626 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
9627 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
9628 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
9629 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
9630 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
9631 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
9632 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
9633 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
9634 still a pain, though.
9638 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
9639 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
9640 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
9643 @findex ispell-message
9645 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
9648 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
9649 you're in, you could say something like the following:
9652 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
9655 ((string-match "^de\\." gnus-newsgroup-name)
9656 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
9658 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
9661 Modify to suit your needs.
9664 @node Archived Messages
9665 @section Archived Messages
9666 @cindex archived messages
9667 @cindex sent messages
9669 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
9670 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
9671 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
9672 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
9675 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
9676 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
9677 use to store sent messages. The default is:
9681 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
9682 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
9683 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
9684 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
9687 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
9688 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likeable select method
9689 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
9690 directory chosen, you could say something like:
9693 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
9694 '(nnfolder "archive"
9695 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
9696 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
9697 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
9700 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
9702 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
9703 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
9704 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
9706 This variable can be used to do the following:
9710 Messages will be saved in that group.
9712 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
9713 message will not be stored in the select method given by
9714 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
9715 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
9716 has the default value shown above. Then setting
9717 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
9718 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
9719 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
9721 @item a list of strings
9722 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
9723 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
9724 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
9726 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
9731 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
9733 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
9736 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
9738 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
9741 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
9743 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
9744 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
9745 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
9746 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
9751 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
9752 '((if (message-news-p)
9757 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
9758 messages in one file per month:
9761 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
9762 '((if (message-news-p)
9764 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
9767 (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
9768 use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
9770 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
9771 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
9772 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
9773 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
9774 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
9775 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
9776 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
9777 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
9778 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
9779 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
9781 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
9782 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
9783 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
9784 this will disable archiving.
9787 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
9788 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
9789 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
9790 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
9791 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
9794 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
9795 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
9796 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
9799 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
9800 but the latter is the preferred method.
9804 @node Posting Styles
9805 @section Posting Styles
9806 @cindex posting styles
9809 All them variables, they make my head swim.
9811 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
9812 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
9813 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
9816 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
9817 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
9818 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
9819 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
9820 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
9825 (signature "Peace and happiness")
9826 (organization "What me?"))
9828 (signature "Death to everybody"))
9829 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
9830 (organization "Emacs is it")))
9833 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
9834 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
9835 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
9836 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
9837 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
9838 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
9839 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
9840 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
9842 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
9843 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
9844 If it is the symbol @code{header}, then Gnus will look for header that
9845 match the next element in the match, and compare that to the last header
9846 in the match. If it's a function symbol, that function will be called
9847 with no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
9848 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
9849 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
9852 Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
9853 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} . @var{value})} pair. The
9854 attribute name can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
9855 @code{organization}, @code{address}, @code{name} or @code{body}. The
9856 attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
9857 a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
9858 article; if the value is @code{nil}, the header name will be removed.
9859 If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated, and the
9860 result is thrown away.
9862 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
9863 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
9864 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
9865 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
9866 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
9867 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable.
9869 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
9870 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
9871 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
9873 @findex message-mail-p
9874 @findex message-news-p
9876 So here's a new example:
9879 (setq gnus-posting-styles
9881 (signature-file "~/.signature")
9883 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
9884 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
9886 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
9887 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
9888 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
9890 (signature my-news-signature))
9891 (header "From\\|To" "larsi.*org"
9892 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
9893 ((posting-from-work-p)
9894 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
9895 (address "user@@bar.foo")
9896 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
9897 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
9899 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
9907 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
9908 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
9909 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
9910 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
9911 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
9913 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
9914 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
9915 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
9916 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
9917 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
9921 @vindex nndraft-directory
9922 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
9923 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
9924 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
9925 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
9926 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
9927 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
9929 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
9930 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
9933 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
9934 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
9935 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
9936 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
9937 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
9938 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
9939 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
9940 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
9941 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
9942 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
9943 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
9944 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
9945 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
9946 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
9948 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
9949 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
9950 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
9952 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
9954 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
9955 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
9956 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
9958 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
9961 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
9962 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
9963 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
9964 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
9965 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
9966 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
9967 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
9970 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
9971 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
9972 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
9975 @node Rejected Articles
9976 @section Rejected Articles
9977 @cindex rejected articles
9979 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
9980 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
9981 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
9982 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
9984 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
9985 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
9986 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
9987 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
9988 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
9990 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
9991 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
9992 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
9998 Gnus has an ALPHA support to GPG that's provided by @file{gpg.el} and
9999 @file{mml2015.el}. When viewing signed or encrypted messages, Gnus automatically
10000 asks if you want to verify or decrypt them.
10002 To use this correctly with GPG, you'll need the following lisp code in your
10003 @file{~/.emacs} or @file{~/.gnus}:
10006 (setq mml2015-use 'gpg)
10007 (setq gpg-temp-directory "~/.gnupg/tmp")
10010 The @code{gpg-temp-directory} need to point to a directory with permissions set
10011 to 700, for your own safety.
10013 If you want to benefit of PGP2.6 compatibility, you might create a script named
10014 @file{gpg-2comp} with these instructions:
10018 exec gpg --rfc1991 "$@@"
10021 If you don't want to use such compatibility, you can add the following line to
10022 your @file{~/.emacs} or @file{~/.gnus}:
10025 (setq gpg-command-default-alist (quote ((gpg . "gpg") (gpg-2comp . "gpg"))))
10028 To sign or encrypt your message you may choose to use the MML Security menu or
10029 @kbd{M-m s p} to sign your message using PGP/MIME, @kbd{M-m s s} to sign your
10030 message using S/MIME. There's also @kbd{M-m c p} to encrypt your message with
10031 PGP/MIME and @kbd{M-m c s} to encrypt using S/MIME.
10033 Gnus will ask for your passphrase three times and then it will send your
10034 message, if you've typed it correctly.
10037 @node Select Methods
10038 @chapter Select Methods
10039 @cindex foreign groups
10040 @cindex select methods
10042 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
10043 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
10044 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
10045 personal mail group.
10047 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
10048 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
10049 list where the first element says what backend to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
10050 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
10051 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
10052 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
10054 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
10055 we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
10057 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
10060 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
10061 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
10062 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
10063 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
10064 backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
10066 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
10069 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
10070 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
10071 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
10072 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
10073 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
10074 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
10075 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
10079 @node The Server Buffer
10080 @section The Server Buffer
10082 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
10083 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
10084 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
10085 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
10086 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
10087 backend represents a virtual server.
10089 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
10090 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
10091 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
10092 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
10094 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
10095 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
10096 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
10097 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
10098 Anyways, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
10099 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
10100 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
10102 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
10103 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
10106 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
10107 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
10108 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
10109 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
10110 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
10111 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
10112 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
10115 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
10116 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
10119 @node Server Buffer Format
10120 @subsection Server Buffer Format
10121 @cindex server buffer format
10123 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
10124 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
10125 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
10126 variable, with some simple extensions:
10131 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
10134 The name of this server.
10137 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
10140 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
10143 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
10144 The mode line can also be customized by using the
10145 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
10146 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
10156 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
10159 @node Server Commands
10160 @subsection Server Commands
10161 @cindex server commands
10167 @findex gnus-server-add-server
10168 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
10172 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
10173 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
10176 @kindex SPACE (Server)
10177 @findex gnus-server-read-server
10178 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
10182 @findex gnus-server-exit
10183 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
10187 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
10188 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
10192 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
10193 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
10197 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
10198 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
10202 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
10203 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
10207 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
10208 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
10209 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
10214 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
10215 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
10216 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
10217 a mail backend that has gotten out of synch.
10222 @node Example Methods
10223 @subsection Example Methods
10225 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
10228 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
10231 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
10237 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
10238 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
10241 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
10242 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
10244 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
10245 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
10249 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
10252 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
10253 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
10255 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
10256 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
10257 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
10261 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
10264 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
10267 Here's the method for a public spool:
10271 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
10272 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
10278 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
10279 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
10280 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
10281 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
10282 should probably look something like this:
10286 (nntp-address "the.firewall.machine")
10287 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
10288 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
10289 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
10290 ("telnet" "the.real.nntp.host" "nntp")))
10293 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
10294 compressed connection over the modem line, you could create a virtual
10295 server that would look something like this:
10299 (nntp-address "copper.uio.no")
10300 (nntp-rlogin-program "ssh")
10301 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
10302 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
10303 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
10304 ("telnet" "news.uio.no" "nntp")))
10307 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
10308 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
10309 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
10310 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
10313 @node Creating a Virtual Server
10314 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
10316 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
10317 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
10319 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
10320 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
10321 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
10323 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
10325 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
10326 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
10327 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
10328 will contain the following:
10338 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
10339 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
10340 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
10343 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
10344 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
10345 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
10348 @node Server Variables
10349 @subsection Server Variables
10351 One sticky point when defining variables (both on backends and in Emacs
10352 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
10353 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
10354 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
10355 won't change the "derived" variables.
10357 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
10358 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
10359 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
10360 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
10361 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
10362 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
10363 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
10364 variables for each backend, see each backend's section later in this
10365 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
10369 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
10370 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
10371 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
10375 @node Servers and Methods
10376 @subsection Servers and Methods
10378 Wherever you would normally use a select method
10379 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
10380 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
10381 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
10385 @node Unavailable Servers
10386 @subsection Unavailable Servers
10388 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
10389 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
10390 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
10391 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
10392 actually the case or not.
10394 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
10395 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
10396 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
10397 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
10398 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
10399 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
10400 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
10401 it will regard that server as ``down''.
10403 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
10404 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
10406 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke it
10407 with the following commands:
10413 @findex gnus-server-open-server
10414 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
10415 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
10419 @findex gnus-server-close-server
10420 Close the connection (if any) to the server
10421 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
10425 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
10426 Mark the current server as unreachable
10427 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
10430 @kindex M-o (Server)
10431 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
10432 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
10433 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
10436 @kindex M-c (Server)
10437 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
10438 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
10439 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
10443 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
10444 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
10445 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
10451 @section Getting News
10452 @cindex reading news
10453 @cindex news backends
10455 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
10456 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
10457 or it can read from a local spool.
10460 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
10461 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
10466 @subsection @sc{nntp}
10469 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
10470 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
10471 server as the, uhm, address.
10473 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
10474 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
10475 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
10476 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
10478 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
10479 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
10480 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
10482 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
10487 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
10488 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
10489 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
10491 @cindex authentification
10492 @cindex nntp authentification
10493 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
10494 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
10495 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
10496 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
10497 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
10498 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
10499 present in this hook.
10501 @item nntp-authinfo-function
10502 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
10503 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
10504 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
10505 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
10506 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
10507 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
10508 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
10509 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
10510 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
10511 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
10512 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
10516 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
10519 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
10522 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
10523 @samp{default}. Gnus introduce two new tokens, not present in the
10524 original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
10525 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
10526 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
10527 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to, @samp{force}
10528 is explained below.
10530 Here's an example file:
10533 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
10534 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
10537 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
10538 have to be first, for instance.
10540 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
10541 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
10542 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
10543 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
10544 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
10545 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
10546 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
10548 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
10549 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
10555 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
10556 previously mentioned.
10558 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
10560 @item nntp-server-action-alist
10561 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
10562 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
10563 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
10564 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
10567 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
10568 '(("innd" (ding))))
10571 You probably don't want to do that, though.
10573 The default value is
10576 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
10577 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
10580 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
10581 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
10583 @item nntp-maximum-request
10584 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
10585 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
10586 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
10587 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
10588 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
10589 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
10590 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
10592 @item nntp-connection-timeout
10593 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
10594 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
10595 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
10596 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
10597 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
10598 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
10599 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
10600 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
10601 no timeouts are done.
10603 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
10604 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
10605 @c @cindex PPP connections
10606 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
10607 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
10608 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
10609 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
10610 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
10611 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
10612 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
10613 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
10614 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
10615 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
10617 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
10618 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
10619 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
10620 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
10621 @c described above.
10623 @item nntp-server-hook
10624 @vindex nntp-server-hook
10625 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
10628 @findex nntp-open-rlogin
10629 @findex nntp-open-telnet
10630 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
10631 @item nntp-open-connection-function
10632 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
10633 This function is used to connect to the remote system. Four pre-made
10634 functions are supplied:
10637 @item nntp-open-network-stream
10638 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
10641 @item nntp-open-rlogin
10642 Does an @samp{rlogin} on the
10643 remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet} to the @sc{nntp} server
10646 @code{nntp-open-rlogin}-related variables:
10650 @item nntp-rlogin-program
10651 @vindex nntp-rlogin-program
10652 Program used to log in on remote machines. The default is @samp{rsh},
10653 but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
10655 @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
10656 @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
10657 This list will be used as the parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
10659 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
10660 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
10661 User name on the remote system.
10665 @item nntp-open-telnet
10666 Does a @samp{telnet} to the remote system and then another @samp{telnet}
10667 to get to the @sc{nntp} server.
10669 @code{nntp-open-telnet}-related variables:
10672 @item nntp-telnet-command
10673 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
10674 Command used to start @code{telnet}.
10676 @item nntp-telnet-switches
10677 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
10678 List of strings to be used as the switches to the @code{telnet} command.
10680 @item nntp-telnet-user-name
10681 @vindex nntp-telnet-user-name
10682 User name for log in on the remote system.
10684 @item nntp-telnet-passwd
10685 @vindex nntp-telnet-passwd
10686 Password to use when logging in.
10688 @item nntp-telnet-parameters
10689 @vindex nntp-telnet-parameters
10690 A list of strings executed as a command after logging in
10693 @item nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
10694 @vindex nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
10695 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the remote machine. The default is
10696 @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
10698 @item nntp-open-telnet-envuser
10699 @vindex nntp-open-telnet-envuser
10700 If non-@code{nil}, the @code{telnet} session (client and server both)
10701 will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for login name.
10702 This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
10706 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
10707 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
10708 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use this
10709 you must have SSLay installed
10710 (@file{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also need
10711 @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distributeion, for instance). You then
10712 define a server as follows:
10715 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
10717 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
10719 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
10720 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
10721 (nntp-port-number "snews")
10722 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
10727 @item nntp-end-of-line
10728 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
10729 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
10730 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
10731 using @code{rlogin} to talk to the server.
10733 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
10734 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
10735 User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
10739 @vindex nntp-address
10740 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
10742 @item nntp-port-number
10743 @vindex nntp-port-number
10744 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
10747 @item nntp-buggy-select
10748 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
10749 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
10751 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
10752 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
10753 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
10754 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
10757 @item nntp-xover-commands
10758 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
10761 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
10762 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
10766 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
10767 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
10768 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
10769 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
10770 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
10771 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
10772 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
10773 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
10774 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
10775 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
10776 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
10778 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
10779 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
10780 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
10782 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
10783 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
10784 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
10785 server closes connection.
10787 @item nntp-record-commands
10788 @vindex nntp-record-commands
10789 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
10790 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestep) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
10791 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
10792 that doesn't seem to work.
10798 @subsection News Spool
10802 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
10803 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
10804 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
10807 Anyways, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
10808 anything else) as the address.
10810 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
10811 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
10812 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
10813 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
10817 @item nnspool-inews-program
10818 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
10819 Program used to post an article.
10821 @item nnspool-inews-switches
10822 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
10823 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
10825 @item nnspool-spool-directory
10826 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
10827 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
10828 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
10830 @item nnspool-nov-directory
10831 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
10832 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
10833 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
10835 @item nnspool-lib-dir
10836 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
10837 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
10839 @item nnspool-active-file
10840 @vindex nnspool-active-file
10841 The path to the active file.
10843 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
10844 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
10845 The path to the group descriptions file.
10847 @item nnspool-history-file
10848 @vindex nnspool-history-file
10849 The path to the news history file.
10851 @item nnspool-active-times-file
10852 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
10853 The path to the active date file.
10855 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
10856 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
10857 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
10860 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
10861 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
10863 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
10864 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
10865 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
10871 @section Getting Mail
10872 @cindex reading mail
10875 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
10879 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
10880 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
10881 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
10882 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
10883 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
10884 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
10885 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
10886 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
10887 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
10888 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
10889 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
10890 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
10891 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
10895 @node Mail in a Newsreader
10896 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
10898 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
10899 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
10900 of a culture shock.
10902 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
10903 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
10905 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
10906 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
10907 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
10908 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
10910 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
10912 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
10913 deleted? How awful!
10915 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
10916 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
10917 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
10918 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
10921 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
10922 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
10923 they want to treat a message.
10925 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
10926 via SMTP, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
10927 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
10928 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
10929 archived somewhere else.
10931 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
10932 These are transported via @sc{nntp}, and are therefore news. But we may need
10933 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
10934 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
10935 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
10937 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
10938 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
10939 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
10941 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
10942 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
10945 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
10946 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
10947 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
10948 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
10949 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
10951 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
10952 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
10953 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
10954 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
10955 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
10956 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
10960 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
10961 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
10963 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
10964 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
10965 and things will happen automatically.
10967 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
10968 mail" backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
10971 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
10972 '((nnml "private")))
10975 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
10976 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
10977 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
10978 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
10979 like any other group.
10981 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
10984 (setq nnmail-split-methods
10985 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
10986 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
10990 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
10991 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
10992 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
10995 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
10996 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
10997 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
11000 @node Splitting Mail
11001 @subsection Splitting Mail
11002 @cindex splitting mail
11003 @cindex mail splitting
11005 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
11006 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
11007 to be split into groups.
11010 (setq nnmail-split-methods
11011 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
11012 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
11013 ("mail.other" "")))
11016 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
11017 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
11018 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
11019 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
11020 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
11021 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
11022 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
11025 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
11028 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
11029 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
11030 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
11031 mail belongs in that group.
11033 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
11034 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
11035 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
11036 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
11037 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
11038 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
11040 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
11041 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
11042 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
11043 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
11044 thinks should carry this mail message.
11046 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
11047 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
11048 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
11049 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
11051 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
11052 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
11053 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
11054 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
11055 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
11057 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
11060 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
11061 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
11062 links. If that's the case for you, set
11063 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
11064 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
11066 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
11067 @kindex nnmail-split-history
11068 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
11069 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
11070 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
11071 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
11074 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
11075 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
11076 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
11077 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
11078 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
11079 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
11080 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
11081 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
11082 month's rent money.
11086 @subsection Mail Sources
11088 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
11089 POP mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a maildir, for
11093 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
11094 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
11095 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
11099 @node Mail Source Specifiers
11100 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
11102 @cindex mail server
11105 @cindex mail source
11107 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
11108 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
11113 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
11116 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
11117 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
11118 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
11121 The following mail source types are available:
11125 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
11131 The path of the file. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
11132 environment variable or @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}.
11135 An example file mail source:
11138 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
11141 Or using the default path:
11147 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best to
11148 use POP or @sc{imap} or the like to fetch the mail. You can not use ange-ftp
11149 file names here---it has no way to lock the mail spool while moving the
11152 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
11156 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
11159 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
11163 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
11166 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
11168 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
11171 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
11175 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used when
11176 you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files. Setting
11177 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-nil force Gnus to
11178 scan the mail source only once.
11184 The path of the directory where the files are. There is no default
11188 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
11192 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
11193 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
11194 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
11195 predicate are considered.
11199 Script run before/after fetching mail.
11203 An example directory mail source:
11206 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
11211 Get mail from a POP server.
11217 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
11218 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
11221 The port number of the POP server. This can be a number (eg,
11222 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
11223 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
11224 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}.
11227 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
11231 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
11235 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This is should be
11236 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
11239 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
11242 The valid format specifier characters are:
11246 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
11247 included in this string.
11250 The name of the server.
11253 The port number of the server.
11256 The user name to use.
11259 The password to use.
11262 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
11263 corresponding keywords.
11266 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
11267 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
11270 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
11271 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
11274 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
11275 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
11278 @item :authentication
11279 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
11280 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
11285 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
11286 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
11288 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
11289 default user name, and default fetcher:
11295 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
11298 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
11299 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
11302 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
11305 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
11309 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
11310 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
11311 contains exactly one mail.
11317 The path of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
11318 taken from the @code{MAILDIR} environment variable or
11321 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
11322 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
11324 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
11325 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
11326 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
11329 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
11330 from locking problems).
11334 Two example maildir mail sources:
11337 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/" :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
11341 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/" :subdirs ("new"))
11345 Get mail from a @sc{imap} server. If you don't want to use @sc{imap} as
11346 intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie with nnimap), for some
11347 reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar to a POP server and
11348 fetches articles from a given @sc{imap} mailbox.
11354 The name of the @sc{imap} server. The default is taken from the
11355 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
11358 The port number of the @sc{imap} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
11359 @samp{993} for SSL connections.
11362 The user name to give to the @sc{imap} server. The default is the login
11366 The password to give to the @sc{imap} server. If not specified, the user is
11370 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
11371 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
11372 @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{ssl} or the default @samp{network}.
11374 @item :authentication
11375 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is one
11376 of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now, this
11377 means @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default
11381 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
11382 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
11385 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
11386 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
11387 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @sc{imap} client and mark some
11388 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{nil}.
11389 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
11390 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 §6.4.4.
11393 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
11394 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
11395 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
11396 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 §2.3.2.
11399 If non-nil, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the mailbox
11400 after finishing the fetch.
11404 An example @sc{imap} mail source:
11407 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com" :stream kerberos4 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
11411 Get mail from a webmail server, such as www.hotmail.com,
11412 webmail.netscape.com, www.netaddress.com, www.my-deja.com.
11414 NOTE: Now mail.yahoo.com provides POP3 service, so @sc{pop} mail source
11417 NOTE: Webmail largely depends cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
11418 required for url "4.0pre.46".
11420 WARNING: Mails may lost. NO WARRANTY.
11426 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
11427 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
11430 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
11434 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
11438 If non-nil, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to trash
11439 folder after finishing the fetch.
11443 An example webmail source:
11446 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail :user "user-name" :password "secret")
11451 @item Common Keywords
11452 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
11458 If non-nil, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you use
11459 directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this example:
11463 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
11468 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
11469 useful when you use local mail and news.
11474 @subsubheading Function Interface
11476 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
11477 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
11478 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
11479 consider the following mail-source setting:
11482 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
11483 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
11486 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
11487 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
11488 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
11489 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
11490 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
11492 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
11495 @node Mail Source Customization
11496 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
11498 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
11499 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
11503 @item mail-source-crash-box
11504 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
11505 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
11506 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
11508 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
11509 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
11510 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them.
11512 @item mail-source-directory
11513 @vindex mail-source-directory
11514 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
11515 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
11516 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
11519 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
11520 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
11521 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
11522 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
11523 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
11524 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil}.
11526 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
11527 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
11528 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
11533 @node Fetching Mail
11534 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
11536 @vindex mail-sources
11537 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
11538 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
11539 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
11540 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
11542 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
11543 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
11546 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
11547 mail server, you'd say something like:
11552 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
11553 :password "secret")))
11556 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
11560 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
11561 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
11564 :password "secret")))
11568 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
11569 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
11570 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
11571 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
11572 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
11573 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
11577 @node Mail Backend Variables
11578 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
11580 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
11584 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
11585 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
11586 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
11587 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
11589 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
11590 @item nnmail-split-hook
11591 @findex article-decode-encoded-words
11592 @findex RFC 1522 decoding
11593 @findex RFC 2047 decoding
11594 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
11595 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
11596 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
11597 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
11598 in the buffer will show up in any files.
11599 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
11602 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
11603 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
11604 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
11605 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
11606 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
11607 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
11608 starting to handle the new mail) and
11609 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
11610 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
11611 default file modes the new mail files get:
11614 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
11615 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
11617 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
11618 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
11621 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
11622 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
11623 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
11624 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
11625 (assuming use of @code{nnml} backend) or files (assuming use of
11626 @code{nnfolder} backend) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
11627 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
11629 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
11630 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
11631 @findex delete-file
11632 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
11634 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
11635 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
11636 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
11637 the backend (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
11638 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
11643 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
11644 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
11645 @cindex mail splitting
11646 @cindex fancy mail splitting
11648 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
11649 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
11650 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
11651 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
11652 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
11653 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
11655 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
11658 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
11659 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
11660 ;; from real errors.
11661 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
11663 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
11664 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
11665 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
11666 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
11667 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
11668 ;; Other mailing lists...
11669 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
11670 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
11671 ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
11672 ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
11673 ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
11674 ;; message was really cross-posted.
11675 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
11676 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
11678 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
11679 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
11683 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
11684 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
11685 the five possible split syntaxes:
11690 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
11691 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
11695 @code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict}
11696 @code{[@dots{}]}@code{]} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the
11697 first element of which is a string, then store the message as
11698 specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field} (a regexp) contains
11699 @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp)
11700 matches some string after @var{field} and before the end of the
11701 matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If none of the
11702 @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
11705 @code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
11706 element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
11707 one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
11708 the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
11711 @code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
11712 element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
11715 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
11716 this message. Use with extreme caution.
11719 @code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
11720 a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
11721 be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
11722 function should return a @var{split}.
11724 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
11725 body of the messages:
11728 (defun split-on-body ()
11730 (set-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
11731 (goto-char (point-min))
11732 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
11737 @code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the first
11738 element is @code{!}, then SPLIT will be processed, and FUNC will be
11739 called as a function with the result of SPLIT as argument. FUNC should
11743 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
11747 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
11748 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
11749 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
11750 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
11751 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
11753 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
11754 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
11755 are expanded as specified by the variable
11756 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
11757 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
11760 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
11761 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
11762 when all this splitting is performed.
11764 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
11765 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
11766 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
11769 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
11772 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
11773 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
11775 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
11776 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
11777 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
11778 groupings 1 through 9.
11780 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
11781 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
11782 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
11783 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
11784 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
11785 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
11786 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
11787 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
11788 it once per thread.
11790 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to a
11791 non-nil value. And then you can include
11792 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} using the colon feature, like so:
11794 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
11795 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
11796 ;; other splits go here
11800 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
11801 non-nil, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees in the
11802 file specified by the variable @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file},
11803 together with the group it is in (the group is omitted for non-mail
11804 messages). When mail splitting is invoked, the function
11805 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks at the References (and
11806 In-Reply-To) header of each message to split and searches the file
11807 specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file} for the message ids.
11808 When it has found a parent, it returns the corresponding group name. It
11809 is recommended that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a
11810 somewhat higher number than the default so that the message ids are
11811 still in the cache. (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some
11812 300 kBytes in size.)
11815 @node Group Mail Splitting
11816 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
11817 @cindex mail splitting
11818 @cindex group mail splitting
11820 @findex gnus-group-split
11821 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
11822 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
11823 You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
11824 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
11825 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
11826 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
11827 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
11828 @var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
11830 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
11831 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
11832 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
11833 rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
11835 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
11836 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
11837 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
11838 @var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
11839 matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
11840 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
11841 @var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
11843 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
11844 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
11845 parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
11846 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
11847 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
11848 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
11849 @code{gnus-group-split}.
11851 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
11852 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
11853 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
11854 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
11855 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
11856 some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
11857 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
11858 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
11859 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
11860 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
11861 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
11862 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
11863 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
11865 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
11870 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
11871 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
11873 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
11874 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
11875 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
11876 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
11878 ((split-spec . catch-all))
11881 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
11882 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
11883 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
11886 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
11887 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
11888 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
11892 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
11893 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
11894 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
11898 (: gnus-mlsplt-fancy GROUPS NO-CROSSPOST CATCH-ALL)
11901 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
11902 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
11903 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
11904 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fallback
11905 fancy split, used like @var{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
11906 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @var{split-regexp} matches the
11907 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
11908 Otherwise, if some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
11909 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
11911 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
11912 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
11913 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
11914 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
11915 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
11916 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
11917 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
11918 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
11919 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
11921 @findex gnus-group-split-update
11922 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
11923 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
11924 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
11925 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
11926 you. For example, add to your @file{.gnus}:
11929 (gnus-group-split-setup AUTO-UPDATE CATCH-ALL)
11932 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
11933 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
11934 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
11935 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional; same as nil),
11936 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
11939 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
11940 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
11941 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
11942 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
11944 @node Incorporating Old Mail
11945 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
11947 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
11948 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
11949 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
11952 Doing so can be quite easy.
11954 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
11955 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
11956 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
11957 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
11958 your @code{nnml} groups.
11964 Go to the group buffer.
11967 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
11968 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
11971 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
11974 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
11975 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
11978 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
11979 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
11982 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
11983 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
11984 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
11985 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
11986 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
11988 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
11989 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
11990 using the new mail backend.
11993 @node Expiring Mail
11994 @subsection Expiring Mail
11995 @cindex article expiry
11997 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
11998 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
11999 different approach to mail reading.
12001 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
12002 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
12003 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
12004 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
12005 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
12006 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
12009 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
12010 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
12011 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
12012 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
12013 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
12014 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
12015 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
12016 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
12018 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
12019 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
12020 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
12021 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
12022 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
12023 column in the summary buffer.
12025 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
12026 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
12027 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
12028 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
12031 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
12033 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
12034 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
12035 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
12038 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
12039 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
12040 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
12041 groups expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
12042 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
12044 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
12045 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
12048 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
12049 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
12052 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
12053 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
12055 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
12056 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
12057 don't really mix very well.
12059 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
12060 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
12061 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
12062 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
12065 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
12066 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
12067 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
12068 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
12071 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
12073 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
12075 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
12077 ((string= group "mail.junk")
12079 ((string= group "important")
12085 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
12086 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
12088 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
12089 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
12090 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
12093 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
12094 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
12096 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
12097 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
12098 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them to
12099 other groups instead of deleting them. The variable @code{nnmail-expiry-target}
12100 (and the @code{expiry-target} group parameter) controls this. The
12101 variable supplies a default value for all groups, which can be
12102 overridden for specific groups by the group parameter.
12103 default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a string (which
12104 should be the name of the group the message should be moved to), or a
12105 function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to the message in
12106 question, and with the name of the group being moved from as its
12107 parameter) which should return a target -- either a group name or
12110 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
12112 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
12116 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
12117 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
12118 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
12119 easier for procmail users.
12121 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
12122 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
12123 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
12124 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
12125 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
12126 caution. Even more dangerous is the
12127 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
12128 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
12129 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
12130 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
12131 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
12132 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
12133 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
12136 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
12138 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
12139 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
12140 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
12141 auto-expire turned on.
12145 @subsection Washing Mail
12146 @cindex mail washing
12147 @cindex list server brain damage
12148 @cindex incoming mail treatment
12150 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
12151 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
12152 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
12153 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
12154 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
12155 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
12157 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
12158 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
12159 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
12162 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
12163 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
12164 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
12165 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
12168 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
12169 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
12170 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
12171 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
12172 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
12175 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
12176 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
12177 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
12178 Emacs running on MS machines.
12182 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
12183 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
12184 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
12185 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
12188 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
12189 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
12190 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
12191 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
12193 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
12194 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
12195 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
12196 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
12197 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
12198 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
12199 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
12202 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
12203 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
12206 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
12207 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
12210 This can also be done non-destructively with
12211 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
12213 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
12214 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
12215 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
12217 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
12218 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
12220 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
12221 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
12222 @code{References} headers.
12226 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
12227 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
12228 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
12232 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
12233 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
12234 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
12241 @subsection Duplicates
12243 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
12244 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
12245 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
12246 @cindex duplicate mails
12247 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
12248 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
12249 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
12250 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
12251 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
12252 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
12253 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
12254 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
12255 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
12256 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
12257 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
12258 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
12259 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
12261 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
12262 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
12263 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
12264 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
12266 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
12269 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
12270 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
12274 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
12275 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
12276 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
12277 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
12278 (any mail "mail.misc")
12285 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12286 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
12291 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
12292 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
12293 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
12294 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
12295 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
12298 @node Not Reading Mail
12299 @subsection Not Reading Mail
12301 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
12302 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
12303 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
12305 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
12306 @code{nil}, none of the backends will ever attempt to read incoming
12307 mail, which should help.
12309 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
12310 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
12311 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
12312 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
12313 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
12314 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
12315 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
12316 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
12317 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable