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4 @settitle Pterodactyl Gnus Manual
9 @c * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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265 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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274 Copyright \copyright{} 1995,96,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
276 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
277 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
278 are preserved on all copies.
280 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
281 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
282 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
283 permission notice identical to this one.
285 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
286 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
295 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
297 Copyright (C) 1995,96,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
299 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
300 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
301 are preserved on all copies.
304 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
305 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
306 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
307 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
310 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
311 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
312 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
313 permission notice identical to this one.
315 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
316 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
322 @title Pterodactyl Gnus Manual
324 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
327 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
328 Copyright @copyright{} 1995,96,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
330 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
331 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
332 are preserved on all copies.
334 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
335 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
336 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
337 permission notice identical to this one.
339 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
340 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
349 @top The Gnus Newsreader
353 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
354 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
355 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
358 This manual corresponds to Pterodactyl Gnus .
369 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
370 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
372 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
373 being accused of plagiarism:
375 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
376 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
377 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you can
378 even read news with it!
380 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
381 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
382 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
383 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
384 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
391 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
392 * The Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
393 * The Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
394 * The Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
395 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
396 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
397 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
398 * Various:: General purpose settings.
399 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
400 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
401 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
402 * Key Index:: Key Index.
406 @chapter Starting Gnus
411 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
412 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
415 @findex gnus-other-frame
416 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
417 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
418 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
420 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
421 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
422 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
424 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
425 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
428 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
429 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
430 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
431 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
432 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
433 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
434 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
435 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
436 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
437 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
438 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
442 @node Finding the News
443 @section Finding the News
446 @vindex gnus-select-method
448 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
449 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
450 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
451 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
454 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
455 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
458 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
461 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
464 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
467 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
468 certainly be much faster.
470 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
472 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
473 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
474 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
475 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
476 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
477 that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
479 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
480 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
481 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
482 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
484 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
485 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
486 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
487 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
488 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
489 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
490 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
491 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
492 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
495 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
497 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
498 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
499 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
500 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
501 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
502 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
504 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
506 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
507 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
508 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
509 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
510 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
511 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
514 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
515 would typically set this variable to
518 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
523 @section The First Time
524 @cindex first time usage
526 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
527 be subscribed by default.
529 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
530 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
531 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
532 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
535 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
536 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
537 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
539 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
540 help you with most common problems.
542 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
543 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
547 @node The Server is Down
548 @section The Server is Down
549 @cindex server errors
551 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
552 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
553 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
555 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
556 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
557 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
558 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
559 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
560 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
561 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
563 @findex gnus-no-server
564 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
566 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
567 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
568 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
569 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
570 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
571 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
576 @section Slave Gnusae
579 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
580 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
581 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
582 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
584 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
587 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
588 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
589 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
590 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
591 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
592 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
593 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
595 Anyways, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
596 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
597 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
598 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
599 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
600 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
601 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
602 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
604 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
605 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
608 @node Fetching a Group
609 @section Fetching a Group
610 @cindex fetching a group
612 @findex gnus-fetch-group
613 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
614 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
615 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
616 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
617 It takes the group name as a parameter.
625 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
626 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
627 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
628 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
629 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
630 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
631 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
632 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the backends for new groups even
633 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
636 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
637 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
638 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
642 @node Checking New Groups
643 @subsection Checking New Groups
645 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
646 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
647 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
648 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
649 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
650 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
651 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
652 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
653 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
654 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
656 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
657 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
658 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
659 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
660 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
661 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
662 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
663 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
664 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
665 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
666 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
668 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
669 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
670 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
671 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
672 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
673 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
676 @node Subscription Methods
677 @subsection Subscription Methods
679 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
680 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
681 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
683 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
684 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
686 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
690 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
691 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
692 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
693 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
694 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
696 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
697 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
698 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
699 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
701 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
702 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
703 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
705 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
706 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
707 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
708 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
709 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
710 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
711 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
712 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
713 up. Or something like that.
715 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
716 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
717 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
718 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
719 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
721 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
722 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
725 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
726 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
727 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
728 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
729 topic parameter that looks like
735 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
740 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
741 A closely related variable is
742 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
743 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
744 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
745 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
748 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
749 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
750 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
751 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
754 @node Filtering New Groups
755 @subsection Filtering New Groups
757 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
758 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
759 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
762 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
765 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
766 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
767 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
768 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
769 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
770 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
771 subscribing these groups.
772 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
773 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
775 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
776 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
777 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
778 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
779 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
780 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
781 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
782 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
784 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
785 Yet another variable that meddles here is
786 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
787 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
788 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
789 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
790 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
791 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
792 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
793 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
795 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
796 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
799 @node Changing Servers
800 @section Changing Servers
801 @cindex changing servers
803 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
804 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
805 very flaky and you want to use another.
807 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
808 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
812 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
813 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
814 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
815 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
818 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
819 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
820 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
821 functions more than absolutely necessary.
823 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
824 @findex gnus-change-server
825 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
826 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
827 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
828 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
829 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
831 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
832 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
833 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
834 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
835 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
837 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
838 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
839 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
840 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
841 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
842 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
844 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
845 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
846 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
850 @section Startup Files
851 @cindex startup files
856 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
857 information is traditionally stored in this file.
859 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
860 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
861 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
862 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
863 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
864 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
865 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
867 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
868 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
869 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
870 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
871 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
872 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
874 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
875 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
876 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
877 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
878 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
879 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
880 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
881 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
882 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
883 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
885 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
886 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
887 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
888 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
889 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
890 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
891 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
892 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
893 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
894 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
895 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
896 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
898 @vindex gnus-startup-file
899 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
900 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
901 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
903 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
904 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
905 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
906 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
907 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
908 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
909 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
910 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
911 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
912 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
915 (defun turn-off-backup ()
916 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
918 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
919 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
922 @vindex gnus-init-file
923 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
924 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
925 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
926 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
927 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
928 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
929 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
930 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
931 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
940 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
941 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
942 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
943 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
944 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
947 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
948 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
951 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
952 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
953 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
955 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
956 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
957 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
958 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
959 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
960 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
962 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
963 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
964 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
967 @node The Active File
968 @section The Active File
970 @cindex ignored groups
972 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
973 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
974 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
976 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
977 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
978 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
979 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
980 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
981 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
982 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
985 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
986 @c if you set it to anything else.
988 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
990 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
991 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
992 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
994 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
995 you actually subscribe to.
997 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
998 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
999 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1000 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1002 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1003 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1004 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1005 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1006 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1007 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1009 Some news servers (Leafnode and old versions of INN, for instance) do
1010 not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these servers, @code{nil}
1011 is probably the most efficient value for this variable.
1013 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1014 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1015 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1016 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1017 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1018 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1020 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1021 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1023 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1024 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1026 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1027 secondary select methods.
1030 @node Startup Variables
1031 @section Startup Variables
1035 @item gnus-load-hook
1036 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1037 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1038 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1039 times you start Gnus.
1041 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1042 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1043 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1045 @item gnus-startup-hook
1046 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1047 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1049 @item gnus-started-hook
1050 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1051 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1054 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1055 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1056 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1057 generating the group buffer.
1059 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1060 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1061 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1062 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1063 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1064 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1065 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1066 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1068 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1069 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1070 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1071 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1072 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1073 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1075 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1076 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1077 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1079 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1080 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1081 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1083 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1084 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1085 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1086 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1091 @node The Group Buffer
1092 @chapter The Group Buffer
1093 @cindex group buffer
1095 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1096 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1097 long as Gnus is active.
1101 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1102 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group.ps,height=9cm}}
1103 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1104 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1105 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1106 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1107 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1108 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1114 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1115 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1116 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1117 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1118 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1119 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1120 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1121 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1122 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1123 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1124 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1125 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1126 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1127 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1128 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1129 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1130 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1134 @node Group Buffer Format
1135 @section Group Buffer Format
1138 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1139 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1140 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1144 @node Group Line Specification
1145 @subsection Group Line Specification
1146 @cindex group buffer format
1148 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1149 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1151 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1154 25: news.announce.newusers
1155 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1160 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1161 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1162 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1163 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1165 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1166 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1167 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1168 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1169 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1170 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1172 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1174 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1175 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
1176 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
1177 never examined by Gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
1180 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1181 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1182 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1184 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1189 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1192 Whether the group is subscribed.
1195 Level of subscribedness.
1198 Number of unread articles.
1201 Number of dormant articles.
1204 Number of ticked articles.
1207 Number of read articles.
1210 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1211 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1214 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1217 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1226 Newsgroup description.
1229 @samp{m} if moderated.
1232 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1241 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1245 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1248 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1249 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1250 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1251 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1252 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1255 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1257 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1261 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1265 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1266 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1267 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1268 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1269 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1270 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1275 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1276 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1277 group, or a bogus native group.
1280 @node Group Modeline Specification
1281 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1282 @cindex group modeline
1284 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1285 The mode line can be changed by setting
1286 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1287 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1291 The native news server.
1293 The native select method.
1297 @node Group Highlighting
1298 @subsection Group Highlighting
1299 @cindex highlighting
1300 @cindex group highlighting
1302 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1303 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1304 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1305 that look like @var{(form . face)}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1306 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1308 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1312 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-1
1313 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))))
1314 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-2
1315 '((t (:foreground "SeaGreen" :bold t))))
1316 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-3
1317 '((t (:foreground "SpringGreen" :bold t))))
1318 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-4
1319 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))))
1320 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-5
1321 '((t (:foreground "SkyBlue" :bold t))))
1323 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1324 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1325 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1326 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1327 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1328 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1331 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1333 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1340 The number of unread articles in the group.
1344 Whether the group is a mail group.
1346 The level of the group.
1348 The score of the group.
1350 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1352 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1353 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1355 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1356 topic being inserted.
1359 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1360 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1361 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1363 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1364 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1365 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1366 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1367 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1370 @node Group Maneuvering
1371 @section Group Maneuvering
1372 @cindex group movement
1374 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1375 expected, hopefully.
1381 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1382 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1383 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1389 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1390 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1391 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1395 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1396 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1400 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1401 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1405 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1406 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1407 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1411 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1412 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1413 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1416 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1422 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1423 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1424 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1429 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1430 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1431 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1435 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1436 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1437 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1440 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1441 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1442 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1443 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1447 @node Selecting a Group
1448 @section Selecting a Group
1449 @cindex group selection
1454 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1455 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1456 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1457 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1458 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1459 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1460 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
1461 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
1462 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
1463 negative, Gnus fetches the @var{abs(N)} oldest articles.
1467 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1468 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1469 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1470 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1471 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1475 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1476 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1477 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1478 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1479 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1480 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1481 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
1482 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
1483 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
1484 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
1487 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
1488 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1489 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
1490 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1491 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1494 @kindex M-C-RET (Group)
1495 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
1496 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
1497 doing any processing of its contents
1498 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
1499 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
1500 manner will have no permanent effects.
1504 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1505 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
1506 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
1507 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
1508 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
1509 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
1510 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
1511 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
1514 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
1515 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
1516 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
1517 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
1522 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
1523 full summary buffer.
1526 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
1529 Select the highest scored article in the group when entering the
1534 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function will
1535 be called to place point on a subject line, and/or select some article.
1536 Useful functions include:
1539 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-subject
1540 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article, but
1541 don't select the article.
1543 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-article
1544 Select the first unread article.
1546 @item gnus-summary-best-unread-article
1547 Select the highest-scored unread article.
1551 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
1552 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
1553 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
1557 @node Subscription Commands
1558 @section Subscription Commands
1559 @cindex subscription
1567 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
1568 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
1569 Toggle subscription to the current group
1570 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
1576 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
1577 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
1578 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
1579 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
1585 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
1586 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
1587 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
1593 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
1594 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
1597 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
1598 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
1599 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
1600 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
1601 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
1607 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
1608 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
1612 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
1613 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
1616 @kindex S C-k (Group)
1617 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
1618 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
1619 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
1620 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
1621 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
1622 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
1623 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
1624 @file{.newsrc} file.
1628 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1638 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
1639 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
1640 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
1641 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
1642 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
1643 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
1648 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
1649 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
1650 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
1654 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1655 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
1656 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1658 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1659 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1660 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1661 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
1662 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
1663 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
1670 @section Group Levels
1674 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
1675 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
1676 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
1677 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
1678 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1680 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
1686 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
1687 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
1688 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
1689 prompted for a level.
1692 @vindex gnus-level-killed
1693 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
1694 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
1695 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
1696 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
1697 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
1698 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
1699 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
1700 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
1701 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
1702 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
1703 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
1704 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
1705 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
1706 reasons of efficiency.
1708 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
1709 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
1711 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
1712 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
1713 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
1715 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
1716 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
1717 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
1718 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
1719 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
1720 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
1721 relevant valid ranges.
1723 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
1724 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
1725 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
1726 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
1727 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
1728 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
1731 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
1732 All groups with a level less than or equal to
1733 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
1736 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
1737 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
1738 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
1739 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
1742 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
1743 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
1744 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
1745 use this level as the ``work'' level.
1747 @vindex gnus-activate-level
1748 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
1749 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
1750 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
1751 to 5. The default is 6.
1755 @section Group Score
1760 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
1761 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
1762 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
1765 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
1766 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
1767 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
1768 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
1769 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
1770 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
1771 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
1772 least significant part.))
1774 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
1775 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
1776 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
1777 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
1778 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
1779 action after each summary exit, you can add
1780 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
1781 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
1782 slow things down somewhat.
1785 @node Marking Groups
1786 @section Marking Groups
1787 @cindex marking groups
1789 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
1790 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
1791 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
1792 bidding on those groups.
1794 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
1795 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
1796 with the process mark and then execute the command.
1804 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
1805 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
1811 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
1812 Remove the mark from the current group
1813 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
1817 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
1818 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
1822 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
1823 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
1827 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
1828 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
1832 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
1833 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
1834 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
1837 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
1839 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
1840 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
1841 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
1842 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
1843 the command to be executed.
1846 @node Foreign Groups
1847 @section Foreign Groups
1848 @cindex foreign groups
1850 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
1851 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
1852 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
1853 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
1860 @findex gnus-group-make-group
1861 @cindex making groups
1862 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
1863 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
1864 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
1868 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
1869 @cindex renaming groups
1870 Rename the current group to something else
1871 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
1872 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
1878 @findex gnus-group-customize
1879 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
1883 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
1884 @cindex renaming groups
1885 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
1886 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
1890 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
1891 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
1892 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
1896 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
1897 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
1898 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
1902 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
1904 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
1905 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
1910 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
1911 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
1915 @cindex (ding) archive
1916 @cindex archive group
1917 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
1918 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
1919 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
1920 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
1921 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
1922 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
1923 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
1927 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
1929 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
1930 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
1931 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
1932 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
1936 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
1938 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
1939 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
1940 @xref{Anything Groups}.
1944 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
1945 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
1947 Make a group based on some file or other
1948 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1949 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
1950 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
1951 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs},
1952 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{nsmail} and @code{forward}.
1953 If you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
1954 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
1958 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
1959 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
1960 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
1961 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
1965 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
1970 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
1971 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1972 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
1973 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
1974 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
1975 @xref{Web Searches}.
1977 If you use the @code{dejanews} search engine, you can limit the search
1978 to a particular group by using a match string like
1979 @samp{~g alt.sysadmin.recovery shaving}.
1982 @kindex G DEL (Group)
1983 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
1984 This function will delete the current group
1985 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
1986 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
1987 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
1988 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
1989 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
1993 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
1994 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
1995 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
1999 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2000 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2001 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2004 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2007 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2008 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2009 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2010 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2011 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2012 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2016 @node Group Parameters
2017 @section Group Parameters
2018 @cindex group parameters
2020 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2021 Here's an example group parameter list:
2024 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2028 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
2029 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2030 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2031 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2033 The following group parameters can be used:
2038 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2041 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2044 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2045 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2046 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2047 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2048 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2050 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2051 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2052 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2053 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2054 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2055 list address instead.
2059 Address used when doing a @kbd{a} in that group.
2062 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2065 It is totally ignored
2066 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2067 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2069 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2070 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2071 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2072 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2073 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2075 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2076 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2077 sending the message.
2081 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2082 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2083 of whether it has any unread articles.
2085 @item broken-reply-to
2086 @cindex broken-reply-to
2087 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2088 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2089 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2090 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2091 broken behavior. So there!
2095 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2096 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2100 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2101 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2102 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2107 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2108 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2109 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2110 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2111 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2112 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2113 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2117 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2118 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2119 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2122 @cindex total-expire
2123 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2124 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2125 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2126 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2131 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2132 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
2133 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
2134 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
2135 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
2136 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2139 @cindex score file group parameter
2140 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2141 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2142 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2145 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2146 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2147 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2148 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2151 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2152 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2153 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2154 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2157 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2158 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2162 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2165 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2170 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")}
2171 are arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by
2172 Gnus, but provide a place for you to store information on particular
2176 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2177 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2178 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2180 @item @var{(variable form)}
2181 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2182 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2183 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2184 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2185 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2186 @code{eval}ed there.
2188 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2189 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2190 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2191 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2192 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2195 You can store additional posting style information for this group only
2196 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2197 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2198 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2199 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2201 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2202 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2203 like this in the group parameters:
2208 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2213 Use the @kbd{G p} command to edit group parameters of a group. You
2214 might also be interested in reading about topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
2218 @node Listing Groups
2219 @section Listing Groups
2220 @cindex group listing
2222 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2230 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2231 List all groups that have unread articles
2232 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2233 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2234 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2235 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2242 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2243 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2244 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
2245 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
2246 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
2247 unsubscribed groups).
2251 @findex gnus-group-list-level
2252 List all unread groups on a specific level
2253 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
2254 with no unread articles.
2258 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
2259 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
2260 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
2261 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
2266 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
2267 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
2271 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
2272 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
2273 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2277 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2278 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2282 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2283 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
2284 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2285 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2286 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2287 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
2288 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
2289 Take the output with some grains of salt.
2293 @findex gnus-group-apropos
2294 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
2295 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
2299 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
2300 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
2301 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
2305 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2306 @cindex visible group parameter
2307 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
2308 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
2309 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
2310 get the same effect.
2312 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
2313 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
2314 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
2315 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
2316 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
2319 @node Sorting Groups
2320 @section Sorting Groups
2321 @cindex sorting groups
2323 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
2324 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
2325 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
2326 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
2327 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
2328 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
2333 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2334 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2335 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
2337 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2338 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2339 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
2341 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
2342 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
2343 Sort by group level.
2345 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
2346 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
2347 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
2349 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2350 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2351 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
2352 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
2354 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2355 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2356 Sort by number of unread articles.
2358 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
2359 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
2360 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
2365 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
2366 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
2370 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
2371 some sorting criteria:
2375 @kindex G S a (Group)
2376 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2377 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
2378 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2381 @kindex G S u (Group)
2382 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
2383 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
2384 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2387 @kindex G S l (Group)
2388 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
2389 Sort the group buffer by group level
2390 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
2393 @kindex G S v (Group)
2394 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
2395 Sort the group buffer by group score
2396 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2399 @kindex G S r (Group)
2400 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
2401 Sort the group buffer by group rank
2402 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2405 @kindex G S m (Group)
2406 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
2407 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
2408 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
2412 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
2413 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2415 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
2416 commands will sort in reverse order.
2418 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
2422 @kindex G P a (Group)
2423 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
2424 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
2425 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
2428 @kindex G P u (Group)
2429 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
2430 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
2431 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
2434 @kindex G P l (Group)
2435 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
2436 Sort the groups by group level
2437 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
2440 @kindex G P v (Group)
2441 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
2442 Sort the groups by group score
2443 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2446 @kindex G P r (Group)
2447 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
2448 Sort the groups by group rank
2449 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2452 @kindex G P m (Group)
2453 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
2454 Sort the groups alphabetically by backend name
2455 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
2461 @node Group Maintenance
2462 @section Group Maintenance
2463 @cindex bogus groups
2468 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
2469 Find bogus groups and delete them
2470 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
2474 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
2475 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
2476 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
2477 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
2478 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
2482 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
2483 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
2484 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
2485 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
2488 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
2489 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
2490 Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
2491 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
2496 @node Browse Foreign Server
2497 @section Browse Foreign Server
2498 @cindex foreign servers
2499 @cindex browsing servers
2504 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
2505 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
2506 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
2507 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
2510 @findex gnus-browse-mode
2511 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
2512 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
2513 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
2515 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
2520 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2521 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2525 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2526 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2529 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
2530 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
2531 Enter the current group and display the first article
2532 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
2535 @kindex RET (Browse)
2536 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
2537 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
2541 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
2542 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
2543 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2549 @findex gnus-browse-exit
2550 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
2554 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
2555 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
2556 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
2561 @section Exiting Gnus
2562 @cindex exiting Gnus
2564 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
2569 @findex gnus-group-suspend
2570 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
2571 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
2572 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
2576 @findex gnus-group-exit
2577 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
2578 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
2582 @findex gnus-group-quit
2583 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
2584 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
2587 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
2588 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
2589 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
2590 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
2591 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
2596 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
2597 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
2598 trying to customize meta-variables.
2603 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
2604 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
2605 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
2611 @section Group Topics
2614 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
2615 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
2616 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
2617 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
2618 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
2619 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
2623 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
2624 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group-topic.ps,height=9cm}}
2635 2: alt.religion.emacs
2638 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2640 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2641 13: comp.sources.unix
2644 @findex gnus-topic-mode
2646 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
2647 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
2648 is a toggling command.)
2650 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
2651 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
2652 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
2653 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
2656 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
2657 the hook for the group mode:
2660 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
2664 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
2665 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
2666 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
2667 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
2668 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
2672 @node Topic Variables
2673 @subsection Topic Variables
2674 @cindex topic variables
2676 Now, if you select a topic, it will fold/unfold that topic, which is
2677 really neat, I think.
2679 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
2680 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
2681 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
2694 Number of groups in the topic.
2696 Number of unread articles in the topic.
2698 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
2701 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
2702 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
2703 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
2706 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
2707 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
2709 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
2710 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
2711 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
2714 @node Topic Commands
2715 @subsection Topic Commands
2716 @cindex topic commands
2718 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
2719 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
2720 definitions slightly.
2726 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
2727 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
2728 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
2732 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
2733 Move the current group to some other topic
2734 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2735 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2739 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
2740 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
2744 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
2745 Copy the current group to some other topic
2746 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2747 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2751 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
2752 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
2753 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
2754 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
2755 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
2756 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
2757 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
2760 This command uses the process/prefix convention
2761 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2765 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
2766 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2767 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
2771 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
2772 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2773 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
2777 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
2778 Toggle hiding empty topics
2779 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
2783 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
2784 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
2785 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
2788 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
2789 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
2790 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
2791 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
2795 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
2797 @findex gnus-topic-indent
2798 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2799 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
2800 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
2803 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
2804 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
2805 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2806 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
2810 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
2812 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
2813 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
2814 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
2815 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
2816 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
2817 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
2820 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
2821 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
2822 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the expiry
2823 process (if any) (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}).
2827 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
2828 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
2829 topic will be removed along with the topic.
2833 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
2834 Yank the previously killed group or topic
2835 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
2840 @findex gnus-topic-rename
2841 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
2844 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
2845 @findex gnus-topic-delete
2846 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
2850 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
2851 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
2852 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
2856 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
2857 @cindex group parameters
2858 @cindex topic parameters
2860 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
2861 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
2867 @subsection Topic Sorting
2868 @cindex topic sorting
2870 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
2876 @kindex T S a (Topic)
2877 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2878 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
2879 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2882 @kindex T S u (Topic)
2883 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
2884 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
2885 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2888 @kindex T S l (Topic)
2889 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
2890 Sort the current topic by group level
2891 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
2894 @kindex T S v (Topic)
2895 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
2896 Sort the current topic by group score
2897 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2900 @kindex T S r (Topic)
2901 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
2902 Sort the current topic by group rank
2903 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2906 @kindex T S m (Topic)
2907 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
2908 Sort the current topic alphabetically by backend name
2909 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
2913 @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group sorting.
2916 @node Topic Topology
2917 @subsection Topic Topology
2918 @cindex topic topology
2921 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
2927 2: alt.religion.emacs
2930 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2932 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2933 13: comp.sources.unix
2936 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
2937 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
2938 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
2943 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
2944 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
2948 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
2949 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
2950 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
2951 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
2952 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
2953 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
2955 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
2956 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
2957 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
2960 @node Topic Parameters
2961 @subsection Topic Parameters
2962 @cindex topic parameters
2964 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
2965 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
2966 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
2968 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
2969 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
2970 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
2971 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
2977 2: alt.religion.emacs
2981 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2983 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2984 13: comp.sources.unix
2988 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
2989 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
2990 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
2991 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
2992 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
2993 . "religion.SCORE")}.
2995 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
2996 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
2997 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
2998 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
2999 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
3001 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
3002 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
3003 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
3004 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
3005 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
3006 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
3007 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
3008 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
3011 @node Misc Group Stuff
3012 @section Misc Group Stuff
3015 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
3016 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
3017 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
3018 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
3025 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3026 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3027 @xref{The Server Buffer}.
3031 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3032 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a
3033 prefix, the current group name will be used as the default.
3037 @findex gnus-group-mail
3038 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
3042 Variables for the group buffer:
3046 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
3047 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
3048 is called after the group buffer has been
3051 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
3052 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3053 is called after the group buffer is
3054 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
3057 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
3058 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3059 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
3060 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
3062 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3063 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3064 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
3065 whether they are empty or not.
3070 @node Scanning New Messages
3071 @subsection Scanning New Messages
3072 @cindex new messages
3073 @cindex scanning new news
3079 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
3080 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
3081 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
3082 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
3083 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
3084 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
3089 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
3090 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
3091 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
3092 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
3093 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
3094 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
3095 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
3097 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
3098 @cindex activating groups
3100 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
3101 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
3106 @findex gnus-group-restart
3107 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
3108 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
3109 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
3113 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
3114 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
3116 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
3117 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
3121 @node Group Information
3122 @subsection Group Information
3123 @cindex group information
3124 @cindex information on groups
3131 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
3132 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
3135 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
3136 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
3137 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
3138 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
3139 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
3140 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
3141 for fetching the file.
3143 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
3144 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
3148 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
3150 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
3151 @cindex describing groups
3152 @cindex group description
3153 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
3154 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
3155 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
3159 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
3160 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
3161 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
3168 @findex gnus-version
3169 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
3173 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
3174 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
3177 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
3180 @findex gnus-info-find-node
3181 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
3185 @node Group Timestamp
3186 @subsection Group Timestamp
3188 @cindex group timestamps
3190 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
3191 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
3192 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
3195 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
3198 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
3200 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
3201 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
3204 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3205 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
3208 This will result in lines looking like:
3211 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
3212 0: custom 19961002T012713
3215 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
3216 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
3220 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3221 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
3226 @subsection File Commands
3227 @cindex file commands
3233 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
3234 @vindex gnus-init-file
3235 @cindex reading init file
3236 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
3237 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
3241 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
3242 @cindex saving .newsrc
3243 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
3244 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
3245 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
3248 @c @kindex Z (Group)
3249 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
3250 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
3255 @node The Summary Buffer
3256 @chapter The Summary Buffer
3257 @cindex summary buffer
3259 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
3260 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
3262 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
3263 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
3265 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
3268 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
3269 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
3270 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
3271 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
3272 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
3273 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
3274 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
3275 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
3276 * Threading:: How threads are made.
3277 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
3278 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
3279 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
3280 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
3281 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
3282 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
3283 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
3284 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
3285 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
3286 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
3287 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
3288 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
3289 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
3290 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
3291 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
3292 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
3293 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
3294 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
3295 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
3296 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
3300 @node Summary Buffer Format
3301 @section Summary Buffer Format
3302 @cindex summary buffer format
3306 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
3307 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary.ps,width=7.5cm}}
3308 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-article.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
3314 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
3315 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
3316 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
3317 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
3320 @findex mail-extract-address-components
3321 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
3322 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
3323 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
3324 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
3325 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
3326 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
3327 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
3328 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
3329 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
3330 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
3333 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
3334 'mail-extract-address-components)
3337 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
3338 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
3339 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
3340 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
3343 @node Summary Buffer Lines
3344 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
3346 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3347 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
3348 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
3349 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
3350 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3352 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
3354 The following format specification characters are understood:
3360 Subject string. List identifiers stripped, @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
3362 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
3363 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
3364 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
3366 Full @code{From} header.
3368 The name (from the @code{From} header).
3370 The name, code @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header
3371 (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
3373 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
3374 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
3375 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
3376 may be more thorough.
3378 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
3381 Number of lines in the article.
3383 Number of characters in the article.
3385 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3387 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
3388 pushes everything after it off the screen).
3390 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
3391 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3393 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
3394 for adopted articles.
3396 One space for each thread level.
3398 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
3403 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
3404 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
3408 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
3410 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
3411 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
3412 default level. If the difference between
3413 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
3414 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
3422 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
3424 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
3430 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
3431 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
3433 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
3434 article has any children.
3440 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
3441 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
3442 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
3443 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
3444 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
3445 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
3448 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
3449 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
3450 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
3451 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
3452 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
3453 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
3455 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
3456 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
3458 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
3461 @node To From Newsgroups
3462 @subsection To From Newsgroups
3466 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
3467 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
3468 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
3469 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
3470 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
3474 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
3475 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
3476 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
3480 (setq gnus-extra-headers
3481 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
3484 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
3485 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
3488 @findex gnus-extra-header
3489 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
3490 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
3491 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
3494 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
3498 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
3499 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
3500 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
3501 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
3502 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
3503 headers are used instead.
3507 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
3508 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
3509 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files. If
3510 you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after changing
3513 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3514 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
3515 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
3516 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
3518 In summary, you'd typically do something like the following:
3521 (setq gnus-extra-headers
3523 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
3524 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
3525 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20f%]%) %s\n")
3526 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
3530 Now, this is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
3531 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
3538 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
3539 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
3542 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
3543 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
3545 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
3546 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
3547 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
3548 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
3550 Here are the elements you can play with:
3556 Unprefixed group name.
3558 Current article number.
3560 Current article score.
3564 Number of unread articles in this group.
3566 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
3569 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
3570 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
3571 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
3572 and no unselected ones.
3574 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
3575 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
3577 Subject of the current article.
3579 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
3581 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
3583 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3585 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3587 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
3589 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
3593 @node Summary Highlighting
3594 @subsection Summary Highlighting
3598 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3599 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3600 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
3601 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
3602 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3604 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
3605 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
3606 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
3607 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3609 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
3610 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
3611 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
3612 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
3614 @item gnus-summary-highlight
3615 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
3616 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
3617 list where the elements are of the format @var{(FORM . FACE)}. If you
3618 would, for instance, like ticked articles to be italic and high-scored
3619 articles to be bold, you could set this variable to something like
3621 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
3622 ((> score default) . bold))
3624 As you may have guessed, if @var{FORM} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
3625 @var{FACE} will be applied to the line.
3629 @node Summary Maneuvering
3630 @section Summary Maneuvering
3631 @cindex summary movement
3633 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
3634 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
3636 None of these commands select articles.
3641 @kindex M-n (Summary)
3642 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
3643 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
3644 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
3645 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
3649 @kindex M-p (Summary)
3650 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
3651 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
3652 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
3653 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
3658 @kindex G j (Summary)
3659 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
3660 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
3661 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
3664 @kindex G g (Summary)
3665 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
3666 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
3667 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
3670 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
3671 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
3672 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
3673 to the group buffer.
3675 Variables related to summary movement:
3679 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
3680 @item gnus-auto-select-next
3681 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
3682 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
3683 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
3684 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
3685 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
3686 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
3687 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the
3688 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
3689 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
3690 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
3691 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
3692 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
3694 @item gnus-auto-select-same
3695 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
3696 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
3697 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
3698 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
3699 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
3700 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
3702 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
3704 @item gnus-summary-check-current
3705 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
3706 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
3707 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
3708 Instead, they will choose the current article.
3710 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
3711 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
3712 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
3713 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
3714 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
3715 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
3716 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
3717 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
3720 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
3721 the given number of lines from the top.
3726 @node Choosing Articles
3727 @section Choosing Articles
3728 @cindex selecting articles
3731 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
3732 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
3736 @node Choosing Commands
3737 @subsection Choosing Commands
3739 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
3740 and they all select and display an article.
3744 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3745 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3746 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
3747 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3752 @kindex G n (Summary)
3753 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
3754 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
3755 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
3760 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
3761 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
3762 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
3767 @kindex G N (Summary)
3768 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
3769 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
3774 @kindex G P (Summary)
3775 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
3776 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
3779 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
3780 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
3781 Go to the next article with the same subject
3782 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
3785 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
3786 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
3787 Go to the previous article with the same subject
3788 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
3792 @kindex G f (Summary)
3794 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
3795 Go to the first unread article
3796 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
3800 @kindex G b (Summary)
3802 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
3803 Go to the article with the highest score
3804 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
3809 @kindex G l (Summary)
3810 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
3811 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
3814 @kindex G o (Summary)
3815 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
3817 @cindex article history
3818 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
3819 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
3820 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
3821 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
3822 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
3823 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
3827 @node Choosing Variables
3828 @subsection Choosing Variables
3830 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
3833 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3834 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3835 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
3836 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
3837 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
3838 the server and display it in the article buffer.
3840 @item gnus-select-article-hook
3841 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
3842 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
3843 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
3845 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
3846 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
3847 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
3848 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
3849 @findex gnus-unread-mark
3850 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
3851 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
3852 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
3853 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
3854 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
3855 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
3856 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
3857 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
3858 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
3863 @node Paging the Article
3864 @section Scrolling the Article
3865 @cindex article scrolling
3870 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3871 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3872 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
3873 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
3874 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3877 @kindex DEL (Summary)
3878 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
3879 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
3882 @kindex RET (Summary)
3883 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
3884 Scroll the current article one line forward
3885 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
3888 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
3889 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
3890 Scroll the current article one line backward
3891 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
3895 @kindex A g (Summary)
3897 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
3898 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
3899 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
3900 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
3901 the way it came from the server.
3906 @kindex A < (Summary)
3907 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
3908 Scroll to the beginning of the article
3909 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
3914 @kindex A > (Summary)
3915 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
3916 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
3920 @kindex A s (Summary)
3922 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
3923 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
3924 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
3928 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
3929 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
3934 @node Reply Followup and Post
3935 @section Reply, Followup and Post
3938 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
3939 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
3943 @node Summary Mail Commands
3944 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
3946 @cindex composing mail
3948 Commands for composing a mail message:
3954 @kindex S r (Summary)
3956 @findex gnus-summary-reply
3957 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
3958 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
3959 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
3960 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
3965 @kindex S R (Summary)
3966 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
3967 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
3968 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
3969 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
3970 command uses the process/prefix convention.
3973 @kindex S w (Summary)
3974 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
3975 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
3976 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
3977 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
3978 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
3981 @kindex S W (Summary)
3982 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
3983 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
3984 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
3985 the process/prefix convention.
3988 @kindex S o m (Summary)
3989 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
3990 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
3991 Forward the current article to some other person
3992 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
3993 headers of the forwarded article.
3998 @kindex S m (Summary)
3999 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
4000 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
4001 Send a mail to some other person
4002 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
4005 @kindex S D b (Summary)
4006 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
4007 @cindex bouncing mail
4008 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
4009 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
4010 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
4011 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
4012 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
4013 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
4014 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
4015 very well fail, though.
4018 @kindex S D r (Summary)
4019 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
4020 Not to be confused with the previous command,
4021 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
4022 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
4023 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
4024 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
4025 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
4026 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
4027 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
4029 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
4030 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
4031 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
4032 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
4033 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muß sein!
4035 This command understands the process/prefix convention
4036 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4039 @kindex S O m (Summary)
4040 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
4041 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
4042 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
4043 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4046 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
4047 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
4048 @cindex crossposting
4049 @cindex excessive crossposting
4050 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
4051 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
4053 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
4054 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
4055 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
4056 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
4057 command understands the process/prefix convention
4058 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
4062 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4065 @node Summary Post Commands
4066 @subsection Summary Post Commands
4068 @cindex composing news
4070 Commands for posting a news article:
4076 @kindex S p (Summary)
4077 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
4078 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
4079 Post an article to the current group
4080 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
4085 @kindex S f (Summary)
4086 @findex gnus-summary-followup
4087 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
4088 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
4092 @kindex S F (Summary)
4094 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
4095 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
4096 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
4097 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
4098 process/prefix convention.
4101 @kindex S n (Summary)
4102 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
4103 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4104 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
4107 @kindex S N (Summary)
4108 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
4109 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4110 message through mail and include the original message
4111 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
4112 the process/prefix convention.
4115 @kindex S o p (Summary)
4116 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
4117 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
4118 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
4119 headers of the forwarded article.
4122 @kindex S O p (Summary)
4123 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
4125 @cindex making digests
4126 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
4127 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
4128 process/prefix convention.
4131 @kindex S u (Summary)
4132 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
4133 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
4134 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
4135 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
4138 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4141 @node Canceling and Superseding
4142 @section Canceling Articles
4143 @cindex canceling articles
4144 @cindex superseding articles
4146 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
4147 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
4149 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
4151 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
4153 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
4154 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
4155 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
4156 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
4157 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
4158 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4160 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
4161 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
4164 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
4165 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
4166 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
4168 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
4169 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
4170 your original article.
4172 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
4174 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
4175 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
4176 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
4179 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
4180 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
4181 have posted almost the same article twice.
4183 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
4184 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
4185 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
4186 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
4187 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
4188 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
4189 header by substituting one of those words for the word
4190 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
4191 you would do normally. The previous article will be
4192 canceled/superseded.
4194 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
4197 @node Marking Articles
4198 @section Marking Articles
4199 @cindex article marking
4200 @cindex article ticking
4203 There are several marks you can set on an article.
4205 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
4206 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
4207 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
4209 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
4212 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
4213 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
4214 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
4218 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
4222 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
4223 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
4224 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
4228 @node Unread Articles
4229 @subsection Unread Articles
4231 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
4236 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
4237 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
4239 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
4240 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
4241 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
4242 tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an
4243 article forever, you'll have to make it persistent (@pxref{Persistent
4247 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
4248 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
4250 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
4251 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
4252 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
4255 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
4256 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
4258 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
4263 @subsection Read Articles
4264 @cindex expirable mark
4266 All the following marks mark articles as read.
4271 @vindex gnus-del-mark
4272 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
4273 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
4276 @vindex gnus-read-mark
4277 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
4280 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
4281 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
4282 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
4285 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
4286 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
4289 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
4290 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
4293 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
4294 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
4297 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
4298 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
4301 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
4302 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
4305 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
4306 @sc{SOUP}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
4309 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
4310 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
4314 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
4315 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
4316 (@code{gnus-duplicated-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
4320 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
4321 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
4323 One more special mark, though:
4327 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
4328 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
4330 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
4331 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
4332 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
4333 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
4339 @subsection Other Marks
4340 @cindex process mark
4343 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
4349 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
4350 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
4351 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
4352 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
4353 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
4356 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
4357 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
4358 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
4359 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
4362 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
4363 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
4364 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
4367 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
4368 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
4369 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
4370 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
4373 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
4374 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
4375 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
4376 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
4377 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
4380 @vindex gnus-process-mark
4381 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
4382 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
4383 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
4384 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
4385 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
4389 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
4390 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
4391 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
4393 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
4394 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
4395 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
4399 @subsection Setting Marks
4400 @cindex setting marks
4402 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
4407 @kindex M c (Summary)
4408 @kindex M-u (Summary)
4409 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
4410 @cindex mark as unread
4411 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
4412 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
4418 @kindex M t (Summary)
4419 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
4420 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
4421 @xref{Article Caching}.
4426 @kindex M ? (Summary)
4427 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
4428 Mark the current article as dormant
4429 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
4433 @kindex M d (Summary)
4435 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
4436 Mark the current article as read
4437 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
4441 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
4442 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
4443 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
4448 @kindex M k (Summary)
4449 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
4450 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
4451 and then select the next unread article
4452 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
4456 @kindex M K (Summary)
4457 @kindex C-k (Summary)
4458 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
4459 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
4460 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
4463 @kindex M C (Summary)
4464 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
4465 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
4466 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
4469 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
4470 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
4471 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
4472 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
4475 @kindex M H (Summary)
4476 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
4477 Catchup the current group to point
4478 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
4481 @kindex C-w (Summary)
4482 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
4483 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
4484 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
4487 @kindex M V k (Summary)
4488 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
4489 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
4490 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
4494 @kindex M e (Summary)
4496 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
4497 Mark the current article as expirable
4498 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
4501 @kindex M b (Summary)
4502 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
4503 Set a bookmark in the current article
4504 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
4507 @kindex M B (Summary)
4508 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
4509 Remove the bookmark from the current article
4510 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
4513 @kindex M V c (Summary)
4514 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
4515 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
4516 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4519 @kindex M V u (Summary)
4520 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
4521 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
4522 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
4525 @kindex M V m (Summary)
4526 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
4527 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
4528 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
4529 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4532 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
4533 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
4534 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
4535 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
4536 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
4537 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
4538 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
4539 The default is @code{t}.
4542 @node Generic Marking Commands
4543 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
4545 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
4546 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
4547 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
4548 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
4549 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
4552 Multiply these five behaviours with five different marking commands, and
4553 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
4556 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
4557 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
4558 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
4559 to list in this manual.
4561 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
4562 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
4563 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
4564 article, you could say something like:
4567 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
4568 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
4569 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
4575 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
4576 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
4580 @node Setting Process Marks
4581 @subsection Setting Process Marks
4582 @cindex setting process marks
4589 @kindex M P p (Summary)
4590 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
4591 Mark the current article with the process mark
4592 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
4593 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
4597 @kindex M P u (Summary)
4598 @kindex M-# (Summary)
4599 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
4600 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
4603 @kindex M P U (Summary)
4604 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
4605 Remove the process mark from all articles
4606 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
4609 @kindex M P i (Summary)
4610 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
4611 Invert the list of process marked articles
4612 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
4615 @kindex M P R (Summary)
4616 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
4617 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
4618 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
4621 @kindex M P r (Summary)
4622 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
4623 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
4626 @kindex M P t (Summary)
4627 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
4628 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4629 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
4632 @kindex M P T (Summary)
4633 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
4634 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4635 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
4638 @kindex M P v (Summary)
4639 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
4640 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
4641 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
4644 @kindex M P s (Summary)
4645 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
4646 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4649 @kindex M P S (Summary)
4650 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
4651 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
4652 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
4655 @kindex M P a (Summary)
4656 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
4657 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4660 @kindex M P b (Summary)
4661 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
4662 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
4663 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
4666 @kindex M P k (Summary)
4667 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
4668 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
4669 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
4672 @kindex M P y (Summary)
4673 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
4674 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
4675 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
4678 @kindex M P w (Summary)
4679 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
4680 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
4681 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
4690 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
4691 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
4692 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
4695 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
4696 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
4697 additional articles.
4703 @kindex / / (Summary)
4704 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
4705 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
4706 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
4709 @kindex / a (Summary)
4710 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
4711 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
4712 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
4715 @kindex / x (Summary)
4716 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
4717 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
4718 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
4719 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
4723 @kindex / u (Summary)
4725 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
4726 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
4727 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
4728 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
4729 dormant articles will also be excluded.
4732 @kindex / m (Summary)
4733 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
4734 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
4735 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
4738 @kindex / t (Summary)
4739 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
4740 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
4741 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}). If given a prefix, limit to
4742 articles younger than that number of days.
4745 @kindex / n (Summary)
4746 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
4747 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
4748 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
4749 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4752 @kindex / w (Summary)
4753 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
4754 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
4755 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
4759 @kindex / v (Summary)
4760 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
4761 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
4762 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
4766 @kindex M S (Summary)
4767 @kindex / E (Summary)
4768 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
4769 Include all expunged articles in the limit
4770 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
4773 @kindex / D (Summary)
4774 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
4775 Include all dormant articles in the limit
4776 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
4779 @kindex / * (Summary)
4780 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
4781 Include all cached articles in the limit
4782 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
4785 @kindex / d (Summary)
4786 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
4787 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
4788 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
4791 @kindex / M (Summary)
4792 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
4793 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
4796 @kindex / T (Summary)
4797 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
4798 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
4801 @kindex / c (Summary)
4802 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
4803 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
4804 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
4807 @kindex / C (Summary)
4808 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
4809 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
4810 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
4811 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
4819 @cindex article threading
4821 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
4822 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
4823 hierarchical fashion.
4825 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
4826 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
4827 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
4828 or simply missing. Weird news propagation excarcerbates the problem,
4829 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
4830 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
4831 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
4833 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
4837 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
4840 A tree-like article structure.
4843 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
4846 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
4847 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
4848 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
4849 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
4850 called loose threads.
4852 @item thread gathering
4853 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
4855 @item sparse threads
4856 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
4857 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
4863 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
4864 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
4868 @node Customizing Threading
4869 @subsection Customizing Threading
4870 @cindex customizing threading
4873 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
4874 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
4875 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
4876 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
4881 @subsubsection Loose Threads
4884 @cindex loose threads
4887 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
4888 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
4889 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
4890 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
4891 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
4892 read or killed the root in a previous session.
4894 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
4895 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
4896 There are four possible values:
4900 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
4901 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-adopt.ps,width=7.5cm}}
4902 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-empty.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4903 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-none.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4904 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-dummy.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4909 @cindex adopting articles
4914 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
4915 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
4916 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
4917 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
4920 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
4921 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
4922 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
4923 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
4924 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
4925 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
4926 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
4929 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
4930 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
4931 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
4935 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
4936 display them after one another.
4939 Don't gather loose threads.
4942 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4943 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4944 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
4945 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
4946 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
4947 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
4948 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
4949 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
4950 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
4951 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
4952 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
4954 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
4955 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
4956 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
4959 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4960 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4961 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
4962 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
4963 simplification is used.
4965 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4966 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4967 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
4968 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
4970 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
4972 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4978 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
4979 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
4980 "answer" "reference" "announce"
4981 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
4986 (mapconcat 'identity
4987 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
4989 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
4992 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
4995 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
4996 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
4997 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
4998 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
4999 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
5000 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
5002 Useful functions to put in this list include:
5005 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
5006 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
5007 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
5009 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
5010 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
5013 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
5014 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
5015 Remove excessive whitespace.
5018 You may also write your own functions, of course.
5021 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
5022 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
5023 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
5024 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
5025 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
5026 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
5027 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
5028 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
5030 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5031 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5032 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
5033 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
5034 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
5035 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
5036 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
5037 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
5038 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
5042 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
5043 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
5044 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
5045 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
5047 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
5048 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
5049 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
5052 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
5056 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5057 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
5063 @node Filling In Threads
5064 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
5067 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
5068 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
5069 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
5070 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
5071 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
5072 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
5073 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
5074 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
5075 fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
5076 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
5077 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
5078 expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that.
5080 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
5081 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
5082 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
5084 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
5085 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
5086 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
5087 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
5088 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
5089 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
5090 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
5091 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
5092 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
5093 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
5094 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
5095 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
5096 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
5097 @code{nil} by default.
5102 @node More Threading
5103 @subsubsection More Threading
5106 @item gnus-show-threads
5107 @vindex gnus-show-threads
5108 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
5109 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
5110 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
5111 slower and more awkward.
5113 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5114 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5115 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
5118 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
5119 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
5120 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
5121 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
5122 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
5123 threads are expunged.
5125 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
5126 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
5127 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
5130 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5131 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5132 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
5133 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
5134 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
5137 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
5138 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
5139 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
5142 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
5143 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
5144 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
5145 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
5146 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
5147 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
5148 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to. Setting
5149 this variable to an alternate value
5150 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
5151 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
5152 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
5157 @node Low-Level Threading
5158 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
5162 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
5163 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
5164 Hook run before parsing any headers.
5166 @item gnus-alter-header-function
5167 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
5168 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
5169 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
5170 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
5171 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
5172 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
5173 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
5174 meaningful. Here's one example:
5177 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
5179 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
5180 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
5182 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
5184 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
5191 @node Thread Commands
5192 @subsection Thread Commands
5193 @cindex thread commands
5199 @kindex T k (Summary)
5200 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
5201 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
5202 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
5203 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
5204 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
5209 @kindex T l (Summary)
5210 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
5211 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
5212 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
5213 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
5216 @kindex T i (Summary)
5217 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
5218 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
5219 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
5222 @kindex T # (Summary)
5223 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5224 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
5225 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5228 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
5229 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5230 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
5231 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5234 @kindex T T (Summary)
5235 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
5236 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
5239 @kindex T s (Summary)
5240 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
5241 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
5242 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
5245 @kindex T h (Summary)
5246 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
5247 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
5250 @kindex T S (Summary)
5251 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
5252 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
5255 @kindex T H (Summary)
5256 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
5257 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
5260 @kindex T t (Summary)
5261 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
5262 Re-thread the current article's thread
5263 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
5264 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
5267 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
5268 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
5269 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
5270 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
5274 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
5275 understand the numeric prefix.
5280 @kindex T n (Summary)
5281 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
5282 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
5285 @kindex T p (Summary)
5286 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
5287 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
5290 @kindex T d (Summary)
5291 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
5292 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
5295 @kindex T u (Summary)
5296 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
5297 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
5300 @kindex T o (Summary)
5301 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
5302 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
5305 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
5306 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
5307 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
5308 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
5309 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
5310 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
5311 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
5312 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
5313 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
5314 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
5315 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
5316 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
5323 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
5324 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
5325 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
5326 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5327 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
5328 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5329 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
5330 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
5331 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
5332 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
5333 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
5335 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
5336 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
5337 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
5338 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
5339 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
5341 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
5342 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
5343 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
5345 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
5346 last function in the list. You should probably always include
5347 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
5348 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
5349 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
5350 ascending article order.
5352 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
5353 by number, you could do something like:
5356 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5357 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5358 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5359 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
5362 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
5363 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
5364 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
5365 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
5366 which the articles arrived.
5368 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
5372 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5374 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
5375 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
5378 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
5379 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
5380 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
5381 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
5384 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
5385 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
5386 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
5387 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
5388 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
5389 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
5390 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
5391 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
5392 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
5393 it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
5394 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
5395 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
5396 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
5398 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
5402 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
5403 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
5404 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
5409 @node Asynchronous Fetching
5410 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
5411 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
5412 @cindex article pre-fetch
5415 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
5416 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
5417 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
5418 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
5419 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
5421 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
5422 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
5424 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
5425 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
5426 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
5427 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
5428 connection is blocked.
5430 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
5431 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
5432 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
5433 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
5435 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
5436 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
5437 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
5438 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
5441 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
5444 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
5445 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
5446 happen automatically.
5448 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
5449 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
5450 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
5451 that when you read an article in the group, the backend will pre-fetch
5452 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the backend will
5453 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
5454 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
5456 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
5457 @findex gnus-async-read-p
5458 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
5459 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
5460 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
5461 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
5462 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
5463 data structure as the only parameter.
5465 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
5468 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
5469 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
5470 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
5471 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
5474 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
5477 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
5478 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
5479 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
5481 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
5482 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
5483 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
5484 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
5488 Remove articles when they are read.
5491 Remove articles when exiting the group.
5494 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
5496 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
5497 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
5498 @c from the next group.
5501 @node Article Caching
5502 @section Article Caching
5503 @cindex article caching
5506 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
5507 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
5508 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
5509 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
5510 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
5512 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
5514 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5515 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
5516 @vindex gnus-use-cache
5517 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
5518 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
5519 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
5520 cache is flat or hierarchal is controlled by the
5521 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
5523 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
5524 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
5525 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
5526 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
5527 as dormant, and don't worry.
5529 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
5531 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
5532 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
5533 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
5534 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
5535 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
5536 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
5537 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
5538 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
5539 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
5540 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
5542 @findex gnus-jog-cache
5543 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
5544 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
5545 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
5546 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
5547 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
5548 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
5549 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
5550 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
5551 not then be downloaded by this command.
5553 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
5554 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
5555 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
5556 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
5557 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
5558 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
5560 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
5561 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
5562 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
5563 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
5564 variables, the group is not cached.
5566 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
5567 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
5568 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
5569 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
5570 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
5571 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
5572 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
5573 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
5574 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
5578 @node Persistent Articles
5579 @section Persistent Articles
5580 @cindex persistent articles
5582 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
5583 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
5584 useful in my opinion.
5586 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
5587 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
5588 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
5589 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
5590 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
5591 the expiry going on at the news server.
5593 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
5594 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
5595 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
5601 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
5602 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
5605 @kindex M-* (Summary)
5606 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
5607 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
5608 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
5612 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
5614 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
5615 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
5616 interested in persistent articles:
5619 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
5623 @node Article Backlog
5624 @section Article Backlog
5626 @cindex article backlog
5628 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
5629 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
5630 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
5631 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
5632 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
5633 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
5634 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
5635 increase memory usage some.
5637 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
5638 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
5639 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
5640 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
5641 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
5642 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
5643 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
5645 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
5648 @node Saving Articles
5649 @section Saving Articles
5650 @cindex saving articles
5652 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
5653 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
5654 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
5655 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
5656 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
5658 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
5659 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
5660 unwanted headers before saving the article.
5662 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
5663 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
5664 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
5665 deleted before saving.
5671 @kindex O o (Summary)
5673 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
5674 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
5675 Save the current article using the default article saver
5676 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
5679 @kindex O m (Summary)
5680 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
5681 Save the current article in mail format
5682 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
5685 @kindex O r (Summary)
5686 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
5687 Save the current article in rmail format
5688 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
5691 @kindex O f (Summary)
5692 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
5693 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
5694 Save the current article in plain file format
5695 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
5698 @kindex O F (Summary)
5699 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
5700 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
5701 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
5704 @kindex O b (Summary)
5705 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
5706 Save the current article body in plain file format
5707 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
5710 @kindex O h (Summary)
5711 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
5712 Save the current article in mh folder format
5713 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
5716 @kindex O v (Summary)
5717 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
5718 Save the current article in a VM folder
5719 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
5722 @kindex O p (Summary)
5723 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
5724 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
5725 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
5728 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
5729 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
5730 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
5731 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
5732 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
5733 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
5734 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
5735 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
5736 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
5737 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
5738 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
5739 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
5743 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
5744 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
5745 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
5746 functions below, or you can create your own.
5750 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5751 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5752 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
5753 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5754 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
5755 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5756 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5758 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5759 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5760 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
5761 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
5762 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5763 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5765 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
5766 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
5767 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
5768 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5769 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
5770 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5771 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5773 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5774 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5775 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
5776 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5777 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5779 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5780 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5781 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
5782 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
5783 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
5786 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
5787 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
5788 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
5789 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
5790 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
5792 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5793 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5794 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
5795 reader to use this setting.
5798 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
5799 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
5800 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
5801 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
5804 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
5805 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
5806 available functions that generate names:
5810 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
5811 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
5812 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5814 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
5815 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5816 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5818 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
5819 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
5820 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5822 @item gnus-plain-save-name
5823 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5824 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5827 @vindex gnus-split-methods
5828 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
5829 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
5830 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
5831 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
5835 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
5836 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
5837 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
5838 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
5841 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
5842 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
5843 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
5844 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
5845 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
5846 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
5847 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
5848 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
5849 called returns a string or a list of strings.
5851 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
5852 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
5853 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
5854 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
5856 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
5857 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
5858 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
5861 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
5862 lots of mail groups called things like
5863 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
5864 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
5865 following will do just that:
5868 (defun my-save-name (group)
5869 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
5870 (substring group (match-end 0))))
5872 (setq gnus-split-methods
5873 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
5878 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5879 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
5880 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
5881 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
5882 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
5883 all the files in the top level directory
5884 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
5885 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
5886 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
5887 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
5889 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
5890 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
5891 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
5892 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
5893 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
5896 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
5900 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
5901 (setq gnus-default-article-saver 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
5904 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
5905 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
5906 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
5907 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
5910 @node Decoding Articles
5911 @section Decoding Articles
5912 @cindex decoding articles
5914 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
5915 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
5918 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
5919 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
5920 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
5921 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
5922 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
5923 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
5927 @cindex article series
5928 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
5929 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
5930 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
5931 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
5932 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
5934 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
5935 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
5936 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
5938 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
5939 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
5940 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
5942 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
5943 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
5944 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
5947 @node Uuencoded Articles
5948 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
5950 @cindex uuencoded articles
5955 @kindex X u (Summary)
5956 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
5957 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
5958 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
5961 @kindex X U (Summary)
5962 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
5963 Uudecodes and saves the current series
5964 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5967 @kindex X v u (Summary)
5968 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
5969 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
5972 @kindex X v U (Summary)
5973 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
5974 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
5975 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
5979 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
5980 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
5981 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
5982 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
5983 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5985 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
5986 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
5987 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
5988 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
5991 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
5992 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
5993 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
5994 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
5995 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
5996 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
6000 @node Shell Archives
6001 @subsection Shell Archives
6003 @cindex shell archives
6004 @cindex shared articles
6006 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
6007 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
6008 some commands to deal with these:
6013 @kindex X s (Summary)
6014 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
6015 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
6018 @kindex X S (Summary)
6019 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
6020 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
6023 @kindex X v s (Summary)
6024 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
6025 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
6028 @kindex X v S (Summary)
6029 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
6030 Unshars, views and saves the current series
6031 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
6035 @node PostScript Files
6036 @subsection PostScript Files
6042 @kindex X p (Summary)
6043 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
6044 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
6047 @kindex X P (Summary)
6048 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
6049 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
6050 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
6053 @kindex X v p (Summary)
6054 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
6055 View the current PostScript series
6056 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
6059 @kindex X v P (Summary)
6060 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
6061 View and save the current PostScript series
6062 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
6067 @subsection Other Files
6071 @kindex X o (Summary)
6072 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
6073 Save the current series
6074 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
6077 @kindex X b (Summary)
6078 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
6079 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
6080 doesn't really work yet.
6084 @node Decoding Variables
6085 @subsection Decoding Variables
6087 Adjective, not verb.
6090 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
6091 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
6092 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
6096 @node Rule Variables
6097 @subsubsection Rule Variables
6098 @cindex rule variables
6100 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
6101 variables are of the form
6104 (list '(regexp1 command2)
6111 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6112 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6114 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
6115 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
6118 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6119 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
6122 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6123 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6124 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
6125 user and default view rules.
6127 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6128 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6129 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
6134 @node Other Decode Variables
6135 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
6138 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6140 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6141 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
6142 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
6143 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
6144 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
6148 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
6149 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
6152 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
6153 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
6154 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
6157 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6158 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6159 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
6160 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
6161 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
6164 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6165 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6166 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
6168 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6169 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6170 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
6171 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
6172 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
6175 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6176 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6177 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
6179 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6180 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6181 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
6182 looking for files to display.
6184 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
6185 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
6186 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
6189 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6190 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6191 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
6194 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6195 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6196 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
6199 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6200 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6201 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
6204 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6205 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6206 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
6207 decoded articles as unread.
6209 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6210 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6211 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
6212 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
6214 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6215 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6216 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
6218 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6219 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6221 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
6222 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
6223 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
6224 @code{metamail} for viewing.
6226 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6227 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6228 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
6229 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
6230 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
6231 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC1153---no easy way
6232 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
6233 simply dropped them.
6238 @node Uuencoding and Posting
6239 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
6243 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6244 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6245 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
6246 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
6247 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
6248 for you when you post the article.
6250 @item gnus-uu-post-length
6251 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
6252 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
6253 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
6255 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
6256 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
6257 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
6258 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
6259 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
6260 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
6261 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
6263 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6264 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6265 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
6266 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
6267 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
6268 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
6269 Default is @code{t}.
6275 @subsection Viewing Files
6276 @cindex viewing files
6277 @cindex pseudo-articles
6279 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
6280 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
6281 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
6282 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
6283 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
6284 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
6285 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
6287 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
6288 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
6289 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
6290 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
6292 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
6293 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
6294 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
6296 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
6297 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
6298 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
6299 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
6300 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
6302 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
6303 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
6304 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
6305 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
6306 a list of parameters to that command.
6308 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
6309 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
6310 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
6312 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
6313 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
6314 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
6317 @node Article Treatment
6318 @section Article Treatment
6320 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
6321 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
6322 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
6323 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
6324 these articles easier.
6327 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
6328 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
6329 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
6330 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
6331 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
6332 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
6333 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
6334 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
6338 @node Article Highlighting
6339 @subsection Article Highlighting
6340 @cindex highlighting
6342 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
6343 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
6348 @kindex W H a (Summary)
6349 @findex gnus-article-highlight
6350 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
6351 Do much highlighting of the current article
6352 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
6353 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
6356 @kindex W H h (Summary)
6357 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
6358 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
6359 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
6360 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
6361 variable, which is a list where each element has the form @var{(regexp
6362 name content)}. @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
6363 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
6364 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
6365 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
6366 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
6369 @kindex W H c (Summary)
6370 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
6371 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
6373 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
6376 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6378 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6379 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
6380 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
6382 @item gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6383 @vindex gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6384 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
6386 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
6387 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
6388 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
6390 @item gnus-cite-face-list
6391 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
6392 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
6393 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
6394 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
6395 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
6397 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
6398 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
6399 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
6401 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6402 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6403 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
6405 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6406 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6407 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
6408 that it's a citation.
6410 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6411 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6412 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
6414 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6415 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6416 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
6418 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
6419 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
6420 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
6421 cited text belonging to the attribution.
6427 @kindex W H s (Summary)
6428 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6429 @vindex gnus-signature-face
6430 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
6431 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
6432 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
6433 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
6434 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
6439 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
6442 @node Article Fontisizing
6443 @subsection Article Fontisizing
6445 @cindex article emphasis
6447 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
6448 @kindex W e (Summary)
6449 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
6450 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
6451 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
6452 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
6454 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
6455 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
6456 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
6457 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
6458 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
6459 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
6460 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
6461 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
6465 (setq gnus-article-emphasis
6466 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
6467 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
6476 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
6477 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
6478 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
6479 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
6480 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
6481 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
6482 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
6483 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
6484 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
6485 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
6486 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
6487 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
6488 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
6490 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
6491 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
6492 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
6496 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
6499 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
6501 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
6502 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
6503 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
6504 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
6506 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
6509 @node Article Hiding
6510 @subsection Article Hiding
6511 @cindex article hiding
6513 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
6514 too much cruft in most articles.
6519 @kindex W W a (Summary)
6520 @findex gnus-article-hide
6521 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
6522 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
6523 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
6526 @kindex W W h (Summary)
6527 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
6528 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
6532 @kindex W W b (Summary)
6533 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
6534 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
6535 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
6538 @kindex W W s (Summary)
6539 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
6540 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
6544 @kindex W W l (Summary)
6545 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
6546 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
6547 Hide list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. Theese
6548 are strings some list servers add to the beginning of all @code{Subject}
6549 headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}.
6553 @item gnus-list-identifiers
6554 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
6555 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
6556 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
6561 @kindex W W p (Summary)
6562 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
6563 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
6564 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
6565 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
6566 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
6567 articles that have signatures in them do:
6569 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
6571 (setq gnus-treat-strip-pgp t)
6573 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
6574 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
6576 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
6579 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
6584 @kindex W W P (Summary)
6585 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
6586 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
6587 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
6590 @kindex W W B (Summary)
6591 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
6594 @cindex stripping advertisments
6595 @cindex advertisments
6596 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
6597 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
6598 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
6599 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
6600 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
6601 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
6602 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
6603 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
6604 signature should be removed.
6607 @kindex W W c (Summary)
6608 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
6609 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
6610 customizing the hiding:
6614 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
6615 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
6616 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
6617 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
6618 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
6619 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
6620 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
6625 Starting point of the hidden text.
6627 Ending point of the hidden text.
6629 Number of characters in the hidden region.
6631 Number of lines of hidden text.
6634 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
6635 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
6636 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave shown.
6641 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
6642 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
6644 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
6645 following two variables:
6648 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6649 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6650 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
6651 50), hide the cited text.
6653 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6654 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6655 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
6660 @kindex W W C (Summary)
6661 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
6662 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
6663 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
6664 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
6665 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
6669 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
6670 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
6671 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
6673 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
6674 citation customization.
6676 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
6680 @node Article Washing
6681 @subsection Article Washing
6683 @cindex article washing
6685 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
6686 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
6688 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
6689 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
6695 @kindex W l (Summary)
6696 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
6697 Remove page breaks from the current article
6698 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
6702 @kindex W r (Summary)
6703 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
6704 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
6705 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
6706 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
6707 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
6708 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
6710 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
6711 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
6712 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
6713 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
6716 @kindex W t (Summary)
6717 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
6718 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
6719 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
6722 @kindex W v (Summary)
6723 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
6724 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
6725 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
6728 @kindex W o (Summary)
6729 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
6730 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
6733 @kindex W d (Summary)
6734 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
6735 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
6737 @cindex M******** sm*rtq**t*s
6739 Treat M******** sm*rtq**t*s according to
6740 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
6741 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
6742 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
6746 @kindex W w (Summary)
6747 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
6748 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
6750 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
6754 @kindex W Q (Summary)
6755 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
6756 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
6759 @kindex W C (Summary)
6760 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
6761 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
6762 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
6765 @kindex W c (Summary)
6766 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
6767 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
6768 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
6769 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
6770 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
6773 @kindex W q (Summary)
6774 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
6775 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
6776 Quoted-Printable is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending
6777 non-ASCII (i. e., 8-bit) articles. It typically makes strings like
6778 @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which doesn't look very
6779 readable to me. Note that the this is usually done automatically by
6780 Gnus if the message in question has a @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding}
6781 header that says that this encoding has been done.
6784 @kindex W f (Summary)
6786 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
6787 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
6788 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
6789 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
6795 Look for and display any X-Face headers
6796 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
6797 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
6798 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
6799 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
6800 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
6801 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
6802 The default action under Emacs is to fork off an @code{xv} to view the
6803 face; under XEmacs the default action is to display the face before the
6804 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
6805 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
6806 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
6807 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends.) If you
6808 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
6812 @kindex W b (Summary)
6813 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
6814 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
6815 @xref{Article Buttons}.
6818 @kindex W B (Summary)
6819 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
6820 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
6821 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
6824 @kindex W W H (Summary)
6825 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body
6826 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
6827 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body}).
6830 @kindex W E l (Summary)
6831 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
6832 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
6833 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
6836 @kindex W E m (Summary)
6837 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
6838 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
6839 lines with a single empty line.
6840 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
6843 @kindex W E t (Summary)
6844 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
6845 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
6846 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
6849 @kindex W E a (Summary)
6850 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
6851 Do all the three commands above
6852 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
6855 @kindex W E A (Summary)
6856 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
6857 Remove all blank lines
6858 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
6861 @kindex W E s (Summary)
6862 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
6863 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
6864 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
6867 @kindex W E e (Summary)
6868 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
6869 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
6870 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
6874 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
6877 @node Article Buttons
6878 @subsection Article Buttons
6881 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
6882 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
6883 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
6884 button on these references.
6886 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
6887 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
6888 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
6893 @item gnus-button-alist
6894 @vindex gnus-button-alist
6895 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
6898 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6904 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
6905 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
6906 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
6909 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
6910 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
6911 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
6914 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
6915 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
6916 avoid false matches.
6919 This function will be called when you click on this button.
6922 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
6923 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
6927 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
6930 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
6933 @item gnus-header-button-alist
6934 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
6935 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
6936 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
6937 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
6940 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6943 @var{HEADER} is a regular expression.
6945 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
6946 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
6947 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
6948 default values of the variables above.
6950 @item gnus-article-button-face
6951 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
6952 Face used on buttons.
6954 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
6955 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
6956 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
6960 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
6964 @subsection Article Date
6966 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
6967 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
6968 when the article was sent.
6973 @kindex W T u (Summary)
6974 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
6975 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
6976 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
6979 @kindex W T i (Summary)
6980 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
6982 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
6983 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
6986 @kindex W T l (Summary)
6987 @findex gnus-article-date-local
6988 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
6991 @kindex W T s (Summary)
6992 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
6993 @findex gnus-article-date-user
6994 @findex format-time-string
6995 Display the date using a user-defined format
6996 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
6997 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
6998 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
6999 for a list of possible format specs.
7002 @kindex W T e (Summary)
7003 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
7004 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
7005 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
7006 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
7007 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
7010 X-Sent: 9 years, 6 weeks, 4 days, 9 hours, 3 minutes, 28 seconds ago
7013 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
7014 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
7017 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
7018 into wonderful absurdities.
7020 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
7023 (gnus-start-date-timer)
7026 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
7027 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
7031 @kindex W T o (Summary)
7032 @findex gnus-article-date-original
7033 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
7034 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
7035 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
7036 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
7037 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
7041 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
7042 preferred format automatically.
7045 @node Article Signature
7046 @subsection Article Signature
7048 @cindex article signature
7050 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7051 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
7052 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
7053 that says what is to be considered a signature is
7054 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
7055 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
7056 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
7057 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
7058 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
7061 (setq gnus-signature-separator
7062 '("^-- $" ; The standard
7063 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
7064 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
7065 ; line of dashes. Shame!
7066 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
7067 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
7068 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
7071 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
7074 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
7075 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
7076 signature when displaying articles.
7080 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
7083 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
7086 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
7087 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
7089 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
7090 in question is not a signature.
7093 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
7094 listed above. Here's an example:
7097 (setq gnus-signature-limit
7098 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
7101 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
7102 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
7103 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
7104 signature after all.
7107 @node Article Miscellania
7108 @subsection Article Miscellania
7112 @kindex A t (Summary)
7113 @findex gnus-article-babel
7114 Translate the article from one language to another
7115 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
7121 @section @sc{mime} Commands
7122 @cindex MIME decoding
7124 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
7125 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @sc{mime} part''.
7131 @kindex K b (Summary)
7132 View the @sc{mime} part.
7135 @kindex K o (Summary)
7136 Save the @sc{mime} part.
7139 @kindex K c (Summary)
7140 Copy the @sc{mime} part.
7143 @kindex K e (Summary)
7144 View the @sc{mime} part externally.
7147 @kindex K i (Summary)
7148 View the @sc{mime} part internally.
7151 @kindex K | (Summary)
7152 Pipe the @sc{mime} part to an external command.
7155 The rest of these @sc{mime} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
7160 @kindex K b (Summary)
7161 Make all the @sc{mime} parts have buttons in from of them.
7164 @kindex K m (Summary)
7165 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
7166 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
7167 be viewed in a more pleasant manner.
7170 @kindex X m (Summary)
7171 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
7172 Save all parts matching a @sc{mime} type to a directory
7173 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
7174 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7177 @kindex M-t (Summary)
7178 @findex gnus-summary-display-buttonized
7179 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
7180 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
7183 @kindex W M w (Summary)
7184 Decode RFC2047-encoded words in the article headers
7185 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
7188 @kindex W M c (Summary)
7189 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
7190 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
7192 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
7193 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
7194 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
7195 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not include
7196 MIME headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic parameter to
7197 the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
7200 @kindex W M v (Summary)
7201 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
7202 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
7209 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
7210 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
7211 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
7212 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
7215 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
7218 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
7222 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
7223 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
7224 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
7225 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
7226 displayed. The default value is @code{(".*/.*")}.
7228 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
7229 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
7230 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
7231 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
7232 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
7233 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
7234 save all jpegs into some directory).
7236 Here's an example function the does the latter:
7239 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
7240 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
7242 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
7243 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
7244 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
7245 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
7246 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
7249 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
7250 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
7251 Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
7260 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
7261 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
7262 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
7263 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
7264 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
7265 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
7266 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
7268 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
7269 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
7270 variable, which is an alist of regexps (to match group names) and
7271 default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
7273 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
7274 aren't. These blitely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1} even
7275 if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
7276 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
7277 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be set
7278 on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
7279 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit)}, which is
7280 something some agents insist on having in there.
7283 @node Article Commands
7284 @section Article Commands
7291 @kindex A P (Summary)
7292 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
7293 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
7294 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
7295 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will be
7296 run just before printing the buffer.
7301 @node Summary Sorting
7302 @section Summary Sorting
7303 @cindex summary sorting
7305 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
7306 can't really see why you'd want that.
7311 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
7312 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
7313 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
7316 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
7317 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
7318 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
7321 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
7322 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
7323 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
7326 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
7327 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
7328 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
7331 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
7332 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
7333 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
7336 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
7337 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
7338 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
7341 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
7342 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
7343 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
7346 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
7347 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
7348 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
7349 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
7350 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
7354 @node Finding the Parent
7355 @section Finding the Parent
7356 @cindex parent articles
7357 @cindex referring articles
7362 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
7363 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
7364 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
7365 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
7366 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
7367 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
7368 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
7369 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
7370 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
7372 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
7373 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
7374 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
7375 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
7376 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
7380 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
7381 @kindex A R (Summary)
7382 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
7383 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
7386 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
7387 @kindex A T (Summary)
7388 Display the full thread where the current article appears
7389 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
7390 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
7391 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
7392 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
7393 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
7394 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
7396 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
7397 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
7398 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
7399 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
7400 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
7401 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
7404 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
7405 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
7407 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
7408 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
7409 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
7410 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
7411 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
7412 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
7413 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
7416 The current select method will be used when fetching by
7417 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
7418 by giving this command a prefix.
7420 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
7421 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
7422 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
7423 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
7424 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
7425 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
7428 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
7429 not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
7430 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
7431 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
7432 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
7433 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
7436 @node Alternative Approaches
7437 @section Alternative Approaches
7439 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
7440 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
7443 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
7444 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
7449 @subsection Pick and Read
7450 @cindex pick and read
7452 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
7453 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
7454 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
7455 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
7457 @findex gnus-pick-mode
7458 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
7459 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
7460 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
7461 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
7462 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
7464 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
7469 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
7470 Pick the article or thread on the current line
7471 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
7472 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
7473 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
7474 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
7475 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
7476 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
7479 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
7480 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
7481 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
7482 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
7486 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
7487 Unpick the thread or article
7488 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
7489 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
7490 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
7491 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
7492 the thread or article at that line.
7496 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
7497 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
7498 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
7499 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
7500 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
7501 will still be visible when you are reading.
7505 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
7506 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
7507 which is mapped to the same function
7508 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
7510 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
7513 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
7516 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
7517 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
7519 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
7520 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
7521 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
7523 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
7524 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
7525 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
7526 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
7527 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
7528 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
7529 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
7533 @subsection Binary Groups
7534 @cindex binary groups
7536 @findex gnus-binary-mode
7537 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
7538 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
7539 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
7540 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
7541 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
7542 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
7545 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
7546 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
7547 command, when you have turned on this mode
7548 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
7550 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
7551 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
7555 @section Tree Display
7558 @vindex gnus-use-trees
7559 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
7560 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
7561 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
7564 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
7567 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
7568 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
7569 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
7571 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
7572 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
7573 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
7574 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
7575 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
7577 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
7578 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
7579 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
7580 default is @code{modeline}.
7582 @item gnus-tree-line-format
7583 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
7584 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
7585 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
7586 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
7587 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
7588 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
7594 The name of the poster.
7596 The @code{From} header.
7598 The number of the article.
7600 The opening bracket.
7602 The closing bracket.
7607 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
7609 Variables related to the display are:
7612 @item gnus-tree-brackets
7613 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
7614 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
7615 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @var{((real-open . real-close)
7616 (sparse-open . sparse-close) (dummy-open . dummy-close))}, and the
7617 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
7619 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
7620 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
7621 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
7622 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
7626 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
7627 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
7628 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
7629 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
7630 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
7631 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
7632 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
7633 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
7634 other windows displayed next to it.
7636 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
7637 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
7638 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
7639 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
7640 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
7641 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
7642 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
7646 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
7649 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
7659 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
7663 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
7664 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
7666 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
7668 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
7673 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
7674 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
7675 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
7678 (setq gnus-use-trees t
7679 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
7680 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
7681 (gnus-add-configuration
7685 (summary 0.75 point)
7690 @xref{Windows Configuration}.
7693 @node Mail Group Commands
7694 @section Mail Group Commands
7695 @cindex mail group commands
7697 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
7698 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
7700 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
7701 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7706 @kindex B e (Summary)
7707 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
7708 Expire all expirable articles in the group
7709 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
7712 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
7713 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
7714 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
7715 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
7716 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
7717 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
7720 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
7721 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
7722 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
7723 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
7724 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
7725 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
7728 @kindex B m (Summary)
7730 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
7731 Move the article from one mail group to another
7732 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
7735 @kindex B c (Summary)
7737 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
7738 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
7739 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
7740 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}).
7743 @kindex B B (Summary)
7744 @cindex crosspost mail
7745 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
7746 Crosspost the current article to some other group
7747 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
7748 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
7749 be properly updated.
7752 @kindex B i (Summary)
7753 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
7754 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
7755 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
7756 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
7759 @kindex B r (Summary)
7760 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
7761 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
7762 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
7763 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
7764 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
7768 @kindex B w (Summary)
7770 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
7771 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
7772 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
7773 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
7774 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
7775 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
7778 @kindex B q (Summary)
7779 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
7780 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
7781 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
7782 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
7785 @kindex B t (Summary)
7786 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
7787 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
7788 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
7791 @kindex B p (Summary)
7792 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
7793 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
7794 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
7795 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
7796 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
7797 article from your news server (or rather, from
7798 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
7799 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
7800 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
7801 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
7802 just not have arrived yet.
7806 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
7807 @cindex moving articles
7808 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
7809 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
7810 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
7811 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
7812 suggestions you find reasonable.
7815 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
7816 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
7817 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
7818 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
7822 @node Various Summary Stuff
7823 @section Various Summary Stuff
7826 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
7827 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
7828 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
7829 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
7833 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
7834 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
7835 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
7837 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
7838 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
7839 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
7840 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
7841 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
7842 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
7845 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7846 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7847 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
7848 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
7849 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
7851 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
7852 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
7853 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
7856 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7857 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7858 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
7859 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
7860 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
7861 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
7862 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
7863 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
7864 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
7865 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
7870 @node Summary Group Information
7871 @subsection Summary Group Information
7876 @kindex H f (Summary)
7877 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
7878 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
7879 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
7880 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
7881 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
7882 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
7883 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
7884 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
7885 be used for fetching the file.
7888 @kindex H d (Summary)
7889 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
7890 Give a brief description of the current group
7891 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
7892 rereading the description from the server.
7895 @kindex H h (Summary)
7896 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
7897 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
7898 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
7901 @kindex H i (Summary)
7902 @findex gnus-info-find-node
7903 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
7907 @node Searching for Articles
7908 @subsection Searching for Articles
7913 @kindex M-s (Summary)
7914 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
7915 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
7916 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
7919 @kindex M-r (Summary)
7920 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
7921 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
7922 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
7926 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
7927 This command will prompt you for a header field, a regular expression to
7928 match on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
7929 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If given a prefix, search
7933 @kindex M-& (Summary)
7934 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
7935 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
7936 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
7939 @node Summary Generation Commands
7940 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
7945 @kindex Y g (Summary)
7946 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
7947 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
7950 @kindex Y c (Summary)
7951 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
7952 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
7953 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
7958 @node Really Various Summary Commands
7959 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
7965 @kindex C-d (Summary)
7966 @kindex A D (Summary)
7967 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
7968 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
7969 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
7970 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
7971 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
7972 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
7973 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
7974 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
7978 @kindex M-C-d (Summary)
7979 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
7980 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
7981 several documents into one biiig group
7982 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
7983 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
7984 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
7985 command understands the process/prefix convention
7986 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7989 @kindex C-t (Summary)
7990 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
7991 Toggle truncation of summary lines
7992 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
7993 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
7994 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
7998 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
7999 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
8000 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
8003 @kindex M-C-e (Summary)
8004 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
8005 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
8006 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
8009 @kindex M-C-g (Summary)
8010 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
8011 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
8012 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
8017 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
8018 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
8019 @cindex summary exit
8020 @cindex exiting groups
8022 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
8023 group and return you to the group buffer.
8029 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
8031 @findex gnus-summary-exit
8032 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
8033 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
8034 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
8035 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
8036 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
8037 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
8038 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
8039 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
8040 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
8041 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
8045 @kindex Z E (Summary)
8047 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
8048 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
8049 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
8053 @kindex Z c (Summary)
8055 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
8056 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
8057 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
8058 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
8061 @kindex Z C (Summary)
8062 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
8063 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
8064 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
8067 @kindex Z n (Summary)
8068 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
8069 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
8070 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
8073 @kindex Z R (Summary)
8074 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
8075 Exit this group, and then enter it again
8076 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
8077 all articles, both read and unread.
8081 @kindex Z G (Summary)
8082 @kindex M-g (Summary)
8083 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
8084 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
8085 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
8086 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
8087 articles, both read and unread.
8090 @kindex Z N (Summary)
8091 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
8092 Exit the group and go to the next group
8093 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
8096 @kindex Z P (Summary)
8097 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
8098 Exit the group and go to the previous group
8099 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
8102 @kindex Z s (Summary)
8103 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
8104 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
8105 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
8106 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
8107 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
8110 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
8111 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current
8114 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
8115 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
8116 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
8117 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
8118 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
8119 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
8120 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
8121 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
8122 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
8123 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
8124 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
8125 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
8127 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
8129 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
8130 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
8131 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
8132 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
8133 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
8134 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
8135 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
8136 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
8137 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
8140 @node Crosspost Handling
8141 @section Crosspost Handling
8145 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
8146 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
8147 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
8148 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
8149 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
8150 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
8153 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
8154 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
8155 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
8156 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
8157 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
8159 @cindex cross-posting
8162 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
8163 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
8164 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
8165 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
8166 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
8167 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
8168 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
8169 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
8170 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
8171 the cross reference mechanism.
8173 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
8174 @cindex overview.fmt
8175 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
8176 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
8177 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
8178 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
8179 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
8180 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
8183 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
8184 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
8185 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
8190 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
8193 @node Duplicate Suppression
8194 @section Duplicate Suppression
8196 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
8197 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
8198 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
8199 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
8204 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
8205 is evil and not very common.
8208 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
8209 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
8212 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
8213 different @sc{nntp} servers.
8216 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
8219 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
8220 well, but these four are the most common situations.
8222 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
8223 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
8224 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
8225 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
8226 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
8227 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
8228 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
8231 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
8232 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
8233 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
8234 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
8235 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
8239 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
8240 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
8241 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
8243 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
8244 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
8245 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
8246 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
8247 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
8248 session are suppressed.
8250 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
8251 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
8252 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
8253 suppression list. The default is 10000.
8255 @item gnus-duplicate-file
8256 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
8257 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
8258 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
8261 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
8262 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
8263 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
8264 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
8265 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
8266 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
8267 to you to figure out, I think.
8270 @node The Article Buffer
8271 @chapter The Article Buffer
8272 @cindex article buffer
8274 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
8275 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
8276 tell Gnus otherwise.
8279 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
8280 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
8281 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
8282 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
8283 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
8287 @node Hiding Headers
8288 @section Hiding Headers
8289 @cindex hiding headers
8290 @cindex deleting headers
8292 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
8293 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
8295 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
8296 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
8297 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
8298 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
8299 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
8300 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
8301 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
8302 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
8303 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
8305 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
8309 @item gnus-visible-headers
8310 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
8311 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
8312 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
8313 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
8315 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
8316 the article and the subject, you'd say:
8319 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
8322 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
8325 @item gnus-ignored-headers
8326 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
8327 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
8328 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
8329 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
8330 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
8332 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
8333 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
8336 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
8339 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
8342 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
8343 variable will have no effect.
8347 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
8348 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
8349 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
8350 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
8351 the headers are to be displayed.
8353 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
8354 and then the subject, you might say something like:
8357 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
8360 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
8361 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
8363 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8364 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
8365 You can hide further boring headers by setting
8366 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-header} to @code{head}. What this function
8367 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
8368 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
8369 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
8372 These conditions are:
8375 Remove all empty headers.
8377 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
8378 @code{Newsgroups} header.
8380 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
8383 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
8386 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
8389 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
8391 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
8394 To include the four three elements, you could say something like;
8397 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
8398 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
8401 This is also the default value for this variable.
8405 @section Using @sc{mime}
8408 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
8409 while people stand around yawning.
8411 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
8412 while all newsreaders die of fear.
8414 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
8415 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
8416 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
8418 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
8419 @findex gnus-display-mime
8420 Gnus pushes @sc{mime} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
8421 to display the @sc{mime} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
8422 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
8423 display, save and manipulate the @sc{mime} objects.
8425 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
8429 @findex gnus-article-press-button
8431 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
8432 Toggle displaying of the @sc{mime} object
8433 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}).
8435 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
8436 @item M-RET (Article)
8438 Prompt for a method, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
8439 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
8441 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
8443 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @sc{mime} object
8444 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
8446 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
8448 Copy the @sc{mime} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
8449 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}).
8451 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
8453 View the @sc{mime} object as if it were a different @sc{mime} media type
8454 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}.
8456 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
8458 Output the @sc{mime} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
8461 Gnus will display some @sc{mime} objects automatically. The way Gnus
8462 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs MIME
8465 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
8466 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
8467 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
8468 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
8469 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
8470 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
8471 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
8472 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
8473 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
8475 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
8477 Also see @pxref{MIME Commands}.
8480 @node Customizing Articles
8481 @section Customizing Articles
8482 @cindex article customization
8484 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
8485 exist. You can call these functions interactively, or you can have them
8486 called automatically when you select the articles.
8488 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
8489 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
8490 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
8491 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
8493 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
8494 for sensible values.
8498 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
8501 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
8504 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
8507 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
8510 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
8514 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
8515 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
8516 regexps in the list.
8519 A list where the first element is not a string:
8521 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
8522 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
8523 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
8527 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
8532 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
8533 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
8534 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
8535 considered to contain just a single part.
8537 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
8538 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
8539 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
8540 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
8541 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
8542 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
8543 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
8545 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
8546 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
8547 group. Values in brackets are suggested sensible values. Others are possible
8548 but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
8551 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last)
8552 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
8553 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
8554 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
8555 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
8556 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
8557 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
8558 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
8559 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
8560 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
8561 @item gnus-treat-strip-pgp (t, last, integer)
8562 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
8563 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
8564 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
8565 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
8566 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
8567 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
8568 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
8569 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
8570 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
8571 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
8572 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
8573 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
8574 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
8575 @item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
8576 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
8577 @item gnus-treat-display-picons (head)
8578 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
8579 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
8580 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
8581 @item gnus-treat-translate
8584 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
8585 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
8586 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
8587 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
8588 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
8592 @node Article Keymap
8593 @section Article Keymap
8595 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
8596 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
8597 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
8598 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
8601 A few additional keystrokes are available:
8606 @kindex SPACE (Article)
8607 @findex gnus-article-next-page
8608 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
8611 @kindex DEL (Article)
8612 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
8613 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
8616 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
8617 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
8618 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
8619 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
8620 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
8623 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
8624 @findex gnus-article-mail
8625 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
8626 given a prefix, include the mail.
8630 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
8631 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
8632 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
8636 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
8637 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
8638 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
8641 @kindex TAB (Article)
8642 @findex gnus-article-next-button
8643 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
8644 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
8647 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
8648 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
8649 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
8655 @section Misc Article
8659 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
8660 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
8661 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
8662 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
8665 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
8666 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
8668 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
8669 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
8671 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
8672 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
8673 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
8674 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
8675 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
8676 the contents of the article buffer.
8678 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
8679 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
8680 Hook called in article mode buffers.
8682 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
8683 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
8684 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
8685 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
8687 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
8688 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
8689 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
8690 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
8691 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with one
8696 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
8697 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
8700 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
8703 @vindex gnus-break-pages
8705 @item gnus-break-pages
8706 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
8707 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
8708 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
8709 paging will not be done.
8711 @item gnus-page-delimiter
8712 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
8713 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
8718 @node Composing Messages
8719 @chapter Composing Messages
8720 @cindex composing messages
8723 @cindex sending mail
8728 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
8729 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
8730 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the article
8731 by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The Message
8732 Manual}. If you are in a foreign news group, and you wish to post the
8733 article using the foreign server, you can give a prefix to @kbd{C-c C-c}
8734 to make Gnus try to post using the foreign server.
8737 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
8738 * Post:: Posting and following up.
8739 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
8740 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
8741 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
8742 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
8743 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
8744 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
8747 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
8748 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
8754 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
8757 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
8758 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
8759 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
8760 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
8762 @item gnus-add-to-list
8763 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
8764 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
8765 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
8773 Variables for composing news articles:
8776 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-file
8777 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-file
8778 Gnus will keep a @code{Message-ID} history file of all the mails it has
8779 sent. If it discovers that it has already sent a mail, it will ask the
8780 user whether to re-send the mail. (This is primarily useful when
8781 dealing with @sc{soup} packets and the like where one is apt to send the
8782 same packet multiple times.) This variable says what the name of this
8783 history file is. It is @file{~/News/Sent-Message-IDs} by default. Set
8784 this variable to @code{nil} if you don't want Gnus to keep a history
8787 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-length
8788 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-length
8789 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the history
8790 file. It is 1000 by default.
8795 @node Posting Server
8796 @section Posting Server
8798 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
8799 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
8801 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
8803 @vindex gnus-post-method
8805 It can be quite complicated. Normally, Gnus will use the same native
8806 server. However. If your native server doesn't allow posting, just
8807 reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
8808 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
8809 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
8812 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
8815 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
8816 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
8817 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
8818 the ``current'' server for posting.
8820 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
8821 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
8823 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
8824 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
8827 Finally, if you want to always post using the same select method as
8828 you're reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
8829 groups from different private servers), you can set this variable to
8834 @section Mail and Post
8836 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
8840 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
8841 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
8842 @cindex mailing lists
8844 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
8845 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
8846 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
8847 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
8848 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
8849 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
8850 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
8851 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
8852 still a pain, though.
8856 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
8857 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
8858 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
8861 @findex ispell-message
8863 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
8867 @node Archived Messages
8868 @section Archived Messages
8869 @cindex archived messages
8870 @cindex sent messages
8872 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
8873 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
8874 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
8875 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
8878 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
8879 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
8880 use to store sent messages. The default is:
8884 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
8885 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
8886 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
8887 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
8890 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
8891 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likeable select method
8892 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
8893 directory chosen, you could say something like:
8896 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
8897 '(nnfolder "archive"
8898 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
8899 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
8900 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
8903 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
8905 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
8906 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
8907 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
8909 This variable can be used to do the following:
8913 Messages will be saved in that group.
8914 @item a list of strings
8915 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
8916 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
8917 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
8919 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
8924 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
8926 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
8929 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
8931 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
8934 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
8936 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8937 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
8938 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
8939 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
8944 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8945 '((if (message-news-p)
8950 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
8951 messages in one file per month:
8954 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8955 '((if (message-news-p)
8957 (concat "mail." (format-time-string
8958 "%Y-%m" (current-time))))))
8961 (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
8962 use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
8964 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
8965 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
8966 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
8967 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
8968 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
8969 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
8970 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
8971 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
8972 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
8973 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
8975 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
8976 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
8977 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
8978 this will disable archiving.
8981 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
8982 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
8983 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
8984 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
8985 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
8988 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
8989 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
8990 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
8993 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
8994 but the latter is the preferred method.
8998 @node Posting Styles
8999 @section Posting Styles
9000 @cindex posting styles
9003 All them variables, they make my head swim.
9005 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
9006 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
9007 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
9010 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
9011 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
9012 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
9013 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
9014 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
9019 (signature "Peace and happiness")
9020 (organization "What me?"))
9022 (signature "Death to everybody"))
9023 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
9024 (organization "Emacs is it")))
9027 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
9028 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
9029 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
9030 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
9031 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
9032 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
9033 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
9034 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
9036 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
9037 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
9038 If it is the symbol @code{header}, then Gnus will look for header that
9039 match the next element in the match, and compare that to the last header
9040 in the match. If it's a function symbol, that function will be called
9041 with no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
9042 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
9043 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
9046 Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
9047 attribute consists of a @var{(name value)} pair. The attribute name
9048 can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
9049 @code{organization}, @code{address}, @code{name} or @code{body}. The
9050 attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
9051 a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
9052 article. If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated,
9053 and the result is thrown away.
9055 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
9056 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
9057 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
9058 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
9059 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
9060 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable.
9062 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
9063 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
9064 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
9066 @findex message-mail-p
9067 @findex message-news-p
9069 So here's a new example:
9072 (setq gnus-posting-styles
9074 (signature-file "~/.signature")
9076 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
9077 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
9079 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
9080 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
9081 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
9083 (signature my-news-signature))
9084 ((header "From.*To" "larsi.*org")
9085 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
9086 ((posting-from-work-p)
9087 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
9088 (address "user@@bar.foo")
9089 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
9090 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
9092 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
9100 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
9101 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
9102 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
9103 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
9104 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
9106 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
9107 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
9108 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
9109 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
9110 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
9114 @vindex nndraft-directory
9115 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
9116 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
9117 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
9118 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
9119 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
9120 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
9122 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
9123 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
9126 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
9127 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
9128 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
9129 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
9130 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
9131 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
9132 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
9133 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
9134 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
9135 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
9136 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
9137 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
9138 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
9139 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
9141 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
9142 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
9143 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
9145 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
9147 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
9148 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
9149 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
9151 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
9154 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
9155 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
9156 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
9157 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
9158 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
9159 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
9160 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
9163 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
9164 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
9165 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
9168 @node Rejected Articles
9169 @section Rejected Articles
9170 @cindex rejected articles
9172 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
9173 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
9174 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
9175 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
9177 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
9178 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
9179 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
9180 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
9181 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
9183 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
9184 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
9185 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
9188 @node Select Methods
9189 @chapter Select Methods
9190 @cindex foreign groups
9191 @cindex select methods
9193 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
9194 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
9195 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
9196 personal mail group.
9198 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
9199 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
9200 list where the first element says what backend to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
9201 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
9202 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
9203 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
9205 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
9206 we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
9208 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
9211 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
9212 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
9213 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
9214 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
9215 backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
9217 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
9220 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
9221 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
9222 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
9223 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
9224 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
9225 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
9229 @node The Server Buffer
9230 @section The Server Buffer
9232 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
9233 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
9234 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
9235 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
9236 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
9237 backend represents a virtual server.
9239 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
9240 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
9241 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
9242 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
9244 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
9245 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
9246 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
9247 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
9248 Anyways, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
9249 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
9250 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
9252 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
9253 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
9256 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
9257 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
9258 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
9259 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
9260 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
9261 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
9262 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
9265 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
9266 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
9269 @node Server Buffer Format
9270 @subsection Server Buffer Format
9271 @cindex server buffer format
9273 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
9274 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
9275 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
9276 variable, with some simple extensions:
9281 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
9284 The name of this server.
9287 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
9290 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
9293 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
9294 The mode line can also be customized by using the
9295 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
9296 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
9306 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
9309 @node Server Commands
9310 @subsection Server Commands
9311 @cindex server commands
9317 @findex gnus-server-add-server
9318 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
9322 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
9323 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
9326 @kindex SPACE (Server)
9327 @findex gnus-server-read-server
9328 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
9332 @findex gnus-server-exit
9333 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
9337 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
9338 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
9342 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
9343 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
9347 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
9348 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
9352 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
9353 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
9357 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
9358 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
9359 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
9364 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
9365 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
9366 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
9367 a mail backend that has gotten out of synch.
9372 @node Example Methods
9373 @subsection Example Methods
9375 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
9378 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
9381 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
9387 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
9388 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
9391 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
9392 @var{(variable form)} pairs.
9394 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
9395 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
9399 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
9402 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
9403 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
9405 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
9406 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
9407 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
9411 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
9414 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
9417 Here's the method for a public spool:
9421 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
9422 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
9425 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
9426 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
9427 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
9428 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
9429 should probably look something like this:
9433 (nntp-address "the.firewall.machine")
9434 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
9435 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
9436 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
9437 ("telnet" "the.real.nntp.host" "nntp")))
9440 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
9441 compressed connection over the modem line, you could create a virtual
9442 server that would look something like this:
9446 (nntp-address "copper.uio.no")
9447 (nntp-rlogin-program "ssh")
9448 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
9449 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
9450 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
9451 ("telnet" "news.uio.no" "nntp")))
9454 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
9455 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
9456 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
9457 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
9460 @node Creating a Virtual Server
9461 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
9463 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
9464 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
9466 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
9467 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
9468 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
9470 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
9472 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
9473 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
9474 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
9475 will contain the following:
9485 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
9486 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
9487 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
9490 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
9491 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
9492 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
9495 @node Server Variables
9496 @subsection Server Variables
9498 One sticky point when defining variables (both on backends and in Emacs
9499 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
9500 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
9501 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
9502 won't change the "derived" variables.
9504 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
9505 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
9506 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
9507 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
9508 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
9509 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
9510 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
9511 variables for each backend, see each backend's section later in this
9512 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
9516 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
9517 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
9518 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
9522 @node Servers and Methods
9523 @subsection Servers and Methods
9525 Wherever you would normally use a select method
9526 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
9527 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
9528 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
9532 @node Unavailable Servers
9533 @subsection Unavailable Servers
9535 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
9536 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
9537 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
9538 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
9539 actually the case or not.
9541 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
9542 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
9543 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
9544 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
9545 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
9546 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
9547 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
9548 it will regard that server as ``down''.
9550 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
9551 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
9553 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke it
9554 with the following commands:
9560 @findex gnus-server-open-server
9561 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
9562 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
9566 @findex gnus-server-close-server
9567 Close the connection (if any) to the server
9568 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
9572 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
9573 Mark the current server as unreachable
9574 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
9577 @kindex M-o (Server)
9578 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
9579 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
9580 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
9583 @kindex M-c (Server)
9584 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
9585 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
9586 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
9590 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
9591 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
9592 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
9598 @section Getting News
9599 @cindex reading news
9600 @cindex news backends
9602 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
9603 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
9604 or it can read from a local spool.
9607 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
9608 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
9613 @subsection @sc{nntp}
9616 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
9617 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
9618 server as the, uhm, address.
9620 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
9621 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
9622 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
9623 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
9625 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
9626 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
9627 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
9629 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
9634 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
9635 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
9636 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
9638 @cindex authentification
9639 @cindex nntp authentification
9640 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
9641 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
9642 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
9643 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
9644 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
9645 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
9646 present in this hook.
9648 @item nntp-authinfo-function
9649 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
9650 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
9651 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
9652 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
9653 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
9654 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
9655 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
9656 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
9657 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
9658 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
9659 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
9663 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
9666 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs. The
9667 valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
9668 @samp{default} and @samp{force}. (The latter is not a valid
9669 @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} token, which is the only way the
9670 @file{.authinfo} file format deviates from the @file{.netrc} file
9675 Here's an example file:
9678 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
9679 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
9682 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
9683 have to be first, for instance.
9685 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
9686 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
9687 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
9688 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
9689 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
9690 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
9691 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
9693 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
9694 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
9700 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
9701 previously mentioned.
9703 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
9705 @item nntp-server-action-alist
9706 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
9707 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
9708 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
9709 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
9712 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
9716 You probably don't want to do that, though.
9718 The default value is
9721 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
9722 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
9725 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
9726 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
9728 @item nntp-maximum-request
9729 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
9730 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
9731 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
9732 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
9733 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
9734 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
9735 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
9737 @item nntp-connection-timeout
9738 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
9739 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
9740 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
9741 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
9742 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
9743 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
9744 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
9745 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
9746 no timeouts are done.
9748 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
9749 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
9750 @c @cindex PPP connections
9751 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
9752 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
9753 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
9754 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
9755 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
9756 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
9757 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
9758 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
9759 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
9760 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
9762 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
9763 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
9764 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
9765 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
9768 @item nntp-server-hook
9769 @vindex nntp-server-hook
9770 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
9773 @findex nntp-open-rlogin
9774 @findex nntp-open-telnet
9775 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
9776 @item nntp-open-connection-function
9777 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
9778 This function is used to connect to the remote system. Four pre-made
9779 functions are supplied:
9782 @item nntp-open-network-stream
9783 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
9786 @item nntp-open-rlogin
9787 Does an @samp{rlogin} on the
9788 remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet} to the @sc{nntp} server
9791 @code{nntp-open-rlogin}-related variables:
9795 @item nntp-rlogin-program
9796 @vindex nntp-rlogin-program
9797 Program used to log in on remote machines. The default is @samp{rsh},
9798 but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
9800 @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
9801 @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
9802 This list will be used as the parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
9804 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
9805 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
9806 User name on the remote system.
9810 @item nntp-open-telnet
9811 Does a @samp{telnet} to the remote system and then another @samp{telnet}
9812 to get to the @sc{nntp} server.
9814 @code{nntp-open-telnet}-related variables:
9817 @item nntp-telnet-command
9818 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
9819 Command used to start @code{telnet}.
9821 @item nntp-telnet-switches
9822 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
9823 List of strings to be used as the switches to the @code{telnet} command.
9825 @item nntp-telnet-user-name
9826 @vindex nntp-telnet-user-name
9827 User name for log in on the remote system.
9829 @item nntp-telnet-passwd
9830 @vindex nntp-telnet-passwd
9831 Password to use when logging in.
9833 @item nntp-telnet-parameters
9834 @vindex nntp-telnet-parameters
9835 A list of strings executed as a command after logging in
9838 @item nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
9839 @vindex nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
9840 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the remote machine. The default is
9841 @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
9843 @item nntp-open-telnet-envuser
9844 @vindex nntp-open-telnet-envuser
9845 If non-@code{nil}, the @code{telnet} session (client and server both)
9846 will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for login name.
9847 This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
9851 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
9852 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
9853 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use this
9854 you must have SSLay installed
9855 (@file{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also need
9856 @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distributeion, for instance). You then
9857 define a server as follows:
9860 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
9862 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
9864 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
9865 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
9866 (nntp-port-number "snews")
9867 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
9872 @item nntp-end-of-line
9873 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
9874 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
9875 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
9876 using @code{rlogin} to talk to the server.
9878 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
9879 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
9880 User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
9884 @vindex nntp-address
9885 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
9887 @item nntp-port-number
9888 @vindex nntp-port-number
9889 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
9892 @item nntp-buggy-select
9893 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
9894 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
9896 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
9897 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
9898 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
9899 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
9902 @item nntp-xover-commands
9903 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
9906 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
9907 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
9911 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
9912 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
9913 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
9914 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
9915 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
9916 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
9917 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
9918 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
9919 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
9920 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
9921 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
9923 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
9924 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
9925 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
9927 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
9928 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
9929 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
9930 server closes connection.
9932 @item nntp-record-commands
9933 @vindex nntp-record-commands
9934 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
9935 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestep) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
9936 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
9937 that doesn't seem to work.
9943 @subsection News Spool
9947 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
9948 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
9949 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
9952 Anyways, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
9953 anything else) as the address.
9955 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
9956 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
9957 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
9958 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
9962 @item nnspool-inews-program
9963 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
9964 Program used to post an article.
9966 @item nnspool-inews-switches
9967 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
9968 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
9970 @item nnspool-spool-directory
9971 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
9972 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
9973 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
9975 @item nnspool-nov-directory
9976 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
9977 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
9978 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
9980 @item nnspool-lib-dir
9981 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
9982 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
9984 @item nnspool-active-file
9985 @vindex nnspool-active-file
9986 The path to the active file.
9988 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
9989 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
9990 The path to the group descriptions file.
9992 @item nnspool-history-file
9993 @vindex nnspool-history-file
9994 The path to the news history file.
9996 @item nnspool-active-times-file
9997 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
9998 The path to the active date file.
10000 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
10001 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
10002 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
10005 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
10006 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
10008 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
10009 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
10010 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
10016 @section Getting Mail
10017 @cindex reading mail
10020 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
10024 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
10025 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
10026 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
10027 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
10028 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
10029 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
10030 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
10031 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
10032 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
10033 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
10034 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
10035 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
10036 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
10040 @node Mail in a Newsreader
10041 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
10043 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
10044 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
10045 of a culture shock.
10047 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
10048 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
10050 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
10051 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
10052 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
10053 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
10055 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
10057 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
10058 deleted? How awful!
10060 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
10061 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
10062 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
10063 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
10066 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
10067 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
10068 they want to treat a message.
10070 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
10071 via SMTP, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
10072 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
10073 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
10074 archived somewhere else.
10076 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
10077 These are transported via NNTP, and are therefore news. But we may need
10078 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
10079 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
10080 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
10082 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
10083 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
10084 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
10086 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
10087 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
10090 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
10091 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
10092 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
10093 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
10094 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
10096 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
10097 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
10098 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
10099 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
10100 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
10101 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
10105 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
10106 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
10108 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
10109 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
10110 and things will happen automatically.
10112 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
10113 mail" backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
10116 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
10117 '((nnml "private")))
10120 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
10121 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
10122 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
10123 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
10124 like any other group.
10126 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
10129 (setq nnmail-split-methods
10130 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
10131 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
10135 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
10136 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
10137 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
10140 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
10141 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
10142 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
10145 @node Splitting Mail
10146 @subsection Splitting Mail
10147 @cindex splitting mail
10148 @cindex mail splitting
10150 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
10151 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
10152 to be split into groups.
10155 (setq nnmail-split-methods
10156 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
10157 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
10158 ("mail.other" "")))
10161 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
10162 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
10163 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
10164 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
10165 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
10166 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
10167 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
10170 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
10173 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
10174 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
10175 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
10176 mail belongs in that group.
10178 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
10179 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
10180 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
10181 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
10182 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
10183 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
10185 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
10186 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
10187 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
10188 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
10189 thinks should carry this mail message.
10191 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
10192 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
10193 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
10194 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
10196 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
10197 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
10198 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
10199 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
10200 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
10202 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
10205 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
10206 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
10207 links. If that's the case for you, set
10208 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
10209 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
10211 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
10212 @kindex nnmail-split-history
10213 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
10214 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command.
10216 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
10217 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
10218 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
10219 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
10220 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
10221 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
10222 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
10223 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
10224 month's rent money.
10228 @subsection Mail Sources
10230 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
10231 POP mail server, or from a procmail directory, for instance.
10234 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
10235 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
10236 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
10240 @node Mail Source Specifiers
10241 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
10243 @cindex mail server
10246 @cindex mail source
10248 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
10249 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
10254 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
10257 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
10258 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
10259 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
10262 The following mail source types are available:
10266 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
10272 The path of the file. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
10273 environment variable or @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}.
10276 An example file mail source:
10279 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
10282 Or using the default path:
10289 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used when
10290 you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
10296 The path of the directory where the files are. There is no default
10300 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
10304 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
10305 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
10306 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
10307 predicate are considered.
10311 Script run before/after fetching mail.
10315 An example directory mail source:
10318 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
10323 Get mail from a POP server.
10329 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
10330 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
10333 The port number of the POP server. The default is @samp{pop3}.
10336 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
10340 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
10344 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This is should be
10345 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
10348 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
10351 The valid format specifier characters are:
10355 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
10356 included in this string.
10359 The name of the server.
10362 The port number of the server.
10365 The user name to use.
10368 The password to use.
10371 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
10372 corresponding keywords.
10375 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
10376 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
10379 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
10380 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
10383 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
10384 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
10387 @item :authentication
10388 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
10389 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
10394 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
10395 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
10397 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
10398 default user name, and default fetcher:
10404 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
10407 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
10408 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
10411 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
10414 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
10418 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox currently only
10419 supported by qmail, where each file in a special directory contains
10426 The path of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
10427 @samp{~/Maildir/new}.
10429 If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
10430 them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
10431 @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the following example.
10435 An example maildir mail source:
10438 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/cur")
10442 Get mail from a IMAP server. If you don't want to use IMAP as intended,
10443 as a network mail reading protocol, for some reason or other Gnus let
10444 you treat it similar to a POP server and fetches articles from a given
10451 The name of the IMAP server. The default is taken from the
10452 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
10455 The port number of the IMAP server. The default is @samp{143}, or
10456 @samp{993} for SSL connections.
10459 The user name to give to the IMAP server. The default is the login
10463 The password to give to the IMAP server. If not specified, the user is
10467 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
10468 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
10469 @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{ssl} or the default @samp{network}.
10471 @item :authenticator
10472 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is one
10473 of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now, this means
10474 @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default
10478 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
10479 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
10482 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default,
10483 @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people,
10484 but if you sometimes peek in your mailbox with a IMAP client and mark
10485 some articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to
10486 @samp{nil}. Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter
10487 what. For a complete list of predicates, see RFC2060 §6.4.4.
10491 An example IMAP mail source:
10494 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com" :stream kerberos4)
10500 @node Mail Source Customization
10501 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
10503 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
10504 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
10508 @item mail-source-crash-box
10509 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
10510 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
10511 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
10513 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
10514 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
10515 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them.
10517 @item mail-source-directory
10518 @vindex mail-source-directory
10519 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
10520 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
10521 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
10524 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
10525 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
10526 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
10531 @node Fetching Mail
10532 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
10534 @vindex mail-sources
10535 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
10536 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
10537 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
10538 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
10540 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
10541 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
10544 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
10545 mail server, you'd say something like:
10550 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
10551 :password "secret")))
10554 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
10558 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
10559 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
10562 :password "secret")))
10566 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
10567 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
10568 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
10569 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
10570 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
10571 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
10575 @node Mail Backend Variables
10576 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
10578 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
10582 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
10583 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
10584 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
10585 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
10587 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
10588 @item nnmail-split-hook
10589 @findex article-decode-encoded-words
10590 @findex RFC1522 decoding
10591 @findex RFC2047 decoding
10592 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
10593 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
10594 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
10595 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
10596 in the buffer will show up in any files.
10597 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
10600 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
10601 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
10602 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
10603 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
10604 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
10605 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
10606 starting to handle the new mail) and
10607 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
10608 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
10609 default file modes the new mail files get:
10612 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
10613 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
10615 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
10616 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
10619 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
10620 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
10621 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
10622 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
10623 (assuming use of @code{nnml} backend) or files (assuming use of
10624 @code{nnfolder} backend) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
10625 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
10627 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
10628 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
10629 @findex delete-file
10630 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
10632 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
10633 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
10634 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
10635 the backend (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
10636 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
10641 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
10642 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
10643 @cindex mail splitting
10644 @cindex fancy mail splitting
10646 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
10647 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
10648 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
10649 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
10650 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
10651 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
10653 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
10656 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
10657 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
10658 ;; from real errors.
10659 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
10661 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
10662 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
10663 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
10664 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
10665 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
10666 ;; Other mailing lists...
10667 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
10668 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
10669 ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
10670 ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
10671 ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
10672 ;; message was really cross-posted.
10673 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
10674 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
10676 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
10677 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
10681 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
10682 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
10683 the five possible split syntaxes:
10688 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
10689 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
10693 @var{(FIELD VALUE [- RESTRICT [- RESTRICT [...]]] SPLIT)}: If the split
10694 is a list, the first element of which is a string, then store the
10695 message as specified by SPLIT, if header FIELD (a regexp) contains VALUE
10696 (also a regexp). If RESTRICT (yet another regexp) matches some string
10697 after FIELD and before the end of the matched VALUE, the SPLIT is
10698 ignored. If none of the RESTRICT clauses match, SPLIT is processed.
10701 @var{(| SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
10702 @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each SPLIT until one of them
10703 matches. A SPLIT is said to match if it will cause the mail message to
10704 be stored in one or more groups.
10707 @var{(& SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
10708 @code{&}, then process all SPLITs in the list.
10711 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
10712 this message. Use with extreme caution.
10715 @var{(: function arg1 arg2 ...)}: If the split is a list, and the first
10716 element is @code{:}, then the second element will be called as a
10717 function with @var{args} given as arguments. The function should return
10721 @var{(! FUNC SPLIT)}: If the split is a list, and the first element
10722 is @code{!}, then SPLIT will be processed, and FUNC will be called as a
10723 function with the result of SPLIT as argument. FUNC should return a split.
10726 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
10730 In these splits, @var{FIELD} must match a complete field name.
10731 @var{VALUE} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
10732 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
10733 field names or words. In other words, all @var{VALUE}'s are wrapped in
10734 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
10736 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
10737 @var{FIELD} and @var{VALUE} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
10738 are expanded as specified by the variable
10739 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
10740 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
10743 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
10744 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
10745 when all this splitting is performed.
10747 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
10748 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
10749 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
10752 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
10755 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
10756 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
10758 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
10759 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
10760 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
10761 groupings 1 through 9.
10764 @node Group Mail Splitting
10765 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
10766 @cindex mail splitting
10767 @cindex group mail splitting
10769 @findex gnus-group-split
10770 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
10771 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
10772 You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
10773 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
10774 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
10775 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
10776 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
10777 @var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
10779 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
10780 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
10781 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
10782 rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
10784 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
10785 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{FIELD} is @samp{any},
10786 the @var{VALUE} is a single regular expression that matches
10787 @var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
10788 matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{SPLIT} is the name of the
10789 group. @var{RESTRICT}s are also supported: just set the
10790 @var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
10792 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
10793 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
10794 parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
10795 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
10796 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
10797 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
10798 @code{gnus-group-split}.
10800 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
10801 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
10802 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
10803 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
10804 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
10805 some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
10806 that group is used as the catch-all group. Note that, in this case,
10807 there's no cross-posting, as a @code{|} fancy split encloses the
10808 @code{&} split and the catch-all group.
10810 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
10815 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
10816 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
10818 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
10819 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
10820 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
10821 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
10823 ((split-spec . catch-all))
10826 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
10827 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
10828 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
10831 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
10832 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
10833 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
10837 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
10838 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
10839 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
10843 (: gnus-mlsplt-fancy GROUPS NO-CROSSPOST CATCH-ALL)
10846 @var{GROUPS} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
10847 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
10848 @var{NO-CROSSPOST} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
10849 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{CATCH-ALL} may be the name
10850 of a group to be used as the default catch-all group. If
10851 @var{CATCH-ALL} is @code{nil}, or if @var{SPLIT-REGEXP} matches the
10852 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
10853 Otherwise, if some group has @var{SPLIT-SPEC} set to @code{catch-all},
10854 this group will override the value of the @var{CATCH-ALL} argument.
10856 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
10857 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
10858 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
10859 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
10860 used to select @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
10861 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
10862 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
10863 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
10864 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
10866 @findex gnus-group-split-update
10867 However, if you change group parameters, you have to update
10868 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
10869 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
10870 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
10871 you. For example, add to your @file{.gnus}:
10874 (gnus-group-split-setup AUTO-UPDATE CATCH-ALL)
10877 If @var{AUTO-UPDATE} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
10878 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
10879 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
10880 don't omit @var{CATCH-ALL} (it's optional),
10881 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
10884 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
10885 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
10886 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
10887 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
10889 @node Incorporating Old Mail
10890 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
10892 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
10893 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
10894 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
10897 Doing so can be quite easy.
10899 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
10900 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
10901 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
10902 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
10903 your @code{nnml} groups.
10909 Go to the group buffer.
10912 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
10913 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
10916 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
10919 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
10920 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
10923 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
10924 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
10927 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
10928 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
10929 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
10930 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
10931 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
10933 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
10934 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
10935 using the new mail backend.
10938 @node Expiring Mail
10939 @subsection Expiring Mail
10940 @cindex article expiry
10942 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
10943 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
10944 different approach to mail reading.
10946 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
10947 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
10948 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
10949 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
10950 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
10951 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
10954 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
10955 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
10956 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
10957 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
10958 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
10959 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
10960 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
10961 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
10963 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
10964 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
10965 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
10966 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
10967 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
10968 column in the summary buffer.
10970 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
10971 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
10972 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
10973 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
10976 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
10978 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
10979 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
10980 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
10983 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
10984 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
10985 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
10986 groups expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
10987 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
10989 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
10990 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
10993 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
10994 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
10997 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
10998 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
11000 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
11001 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
11002 don't really mix very well.
11004 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
11005 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
11006 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
11007 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
11010 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
11011 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
11012 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
11013 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
11016 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
11018 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
11020 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
11022 ((string= group "mail.junk")
11024 ((string= group "important")
11030 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
11031 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
11033 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
11034 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
11035 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
11038 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
11039 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
11041 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
11042 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
11043 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
11044 easier for procmail users.
11046 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
11047 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
11048 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
11049 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
11050 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
11051 caution. Even more dangerous is the
11052 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
11053 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
11054 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
11055 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
11056 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
11057 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
11058 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
11061 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
11063 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
11064 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
11065 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
11066 auto-expire turned on.
11070 @subsection Washing Mail
11071 @cindex mail washing
11072 @cindex list server brain damage
11073 @cindex incoming mail treatment
11075 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
11076 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC822 doesn't explicitly
11077 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
11078 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
11079 Yes, but RFC822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
11080 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
11082 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
11083 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
11084 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
11087 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
11088 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
11089 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
11090 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
11093 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
11094 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
11095 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
11096 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
11097 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
11100 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
11101 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
11102 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
11103 Emacs running on MS machines.
11107 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
11108 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
11109 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
11110 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
11113 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
11114 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
11115 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
11116 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
11118 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
11119 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
11120 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
11121 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
11122 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
11123 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
11124 also be a list of regexp.
11126 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
11127 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
11130 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
11131 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
11134 This can also be done non-destructively with
11135 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
11137 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
11138 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
11139 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
11141 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
11142 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
11144 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
11145 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
11146 @code{References} headers.
11150 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
11151 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
11152 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
11156 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
11157 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
11158 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
11165 @subsection Duplicates
11167 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
11168 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
11169 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
11170 @cindex duplicate mails
11171 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
11172 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
11173 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
11174 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
11175 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
11176 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
11177 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
11178 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
11179 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
11180 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
11181 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
11182 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
11183 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
11185 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
11186 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
11187 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
11188 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
11190 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
11193 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
11194 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
11198 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
11199 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
11200 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
11201 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
11202 (any mail "mail.misc")
11209 (setq nnmail-split-methods
11210 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
11215 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
11216 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
11217 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
11218 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
11219 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
11222 @node Not Reading Mail
11223 @subsection Not Reading Mail
11225 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
11226 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
11227 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
11229 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
11230 @code{nil}, none of the backends will ever attempt to read incoming
11231 mail, which should help.
11233 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
11234 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
11235 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
11236 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
11237 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
11238 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
11239 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
11240 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
11241 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
11242 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
11243 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
11245 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
11246 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
11250 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
11251 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
11253 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
11254 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
11255 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
11257 There are five different mail backends in the standard Gnus, and more
11258 backends are available separately. The mail backend most people use
11259 (because it is the fastest and most flexible) is @code{nnml}
11260 (@pxref{Mail Spool}).
11263 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
11264 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
11265 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
11266 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
11267 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
11268 * Comparing Mail Backends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
11272 @node Unix Mail Box
11273 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
11275 @cindex unix mail box
11277 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
11278 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
11279 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
11280 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
11281 which group it belongs in.
11283 Virtual server settings:
11286 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
11287 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
11288 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory.
11290 @item nnmbox-active-file
11291 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
11292 The name of the active file for the mail box.
11294 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
11295 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
11296 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
11302 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
11306 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
11307 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
11308 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
11309 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each mail
11310 article to say which group it belongs in.
11312 Virtual server settings:
11315 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
11316 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
11317 The name of the rmail mbox file.
11319 @item nnbabyl-active-file
11320 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
11321 The name of the active file for the rmail box.
11323 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
11324 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
11325 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail.
11330 @subsubsection Mail Spool
11332 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
11334 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
11335 format. It should be used with some caution.
11337 @vindex nnml-directory
11338 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
11339 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
11340 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
11341 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
11343 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
11346 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
11347 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
11348 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
11349 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
11350 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
11351 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
11352 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
11353 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
11355 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
11356 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
11357 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it the fastest
11358 backend when it comes to reading mail.
11360 Virtual server settings:
11363 @item nnml-directory
11364 @vindex nnml-directory
11365 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
11367 @item nnml-active-file
11368 @vindex nnml-active-file
11369 The active file for the @code{nnml} server.
11371 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
11372 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
11373 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
11376 @item nnml-get-new-mail
11377 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
11378 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail.
11380 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
11381 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
11382 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
11384 @item nnml-nov-file-name
11385 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
11386 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
11388 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
11389 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
11390 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
11394 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
11395 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
11396 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
11397 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
11398 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
11399 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
11400 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
11405 @subsubsection MH Spool
11407 @cindex mh-e mail spool
11409 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
11410 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
11411 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
11412 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
11414 Virtual server settings:
11417 @item nnmh-directory
11418 @vindex nnmh-directory
11419 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory.
11421 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
11422 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
11423 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail.
11426 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
11427 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
11428 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
11429 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
11430 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
11431 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
11432 to set this variable to @code{t}.
11437 @subsubsection Mail Folders
11439 @cindex mbox folders
11440 @cindex mail folders
11442 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
11443 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
11444 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
11447 Virtual server settings:
11450 @item nnfolder-directory
11451 @vindex nnfolder-directory
11452 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
11454 @item nnfolder-active-file
11455 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
11456 The name of the active file.
11458 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
11459 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
11460 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File Format}.
11462 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
11463 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
11464 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail.
11466 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
11467 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
11468 @cindex backup files
11469 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
11470 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
11471 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
11472 your @file{.emacs} file:
11475 (defun turn-off-backup ()
11476 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
11478 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
11481 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
11482 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
11483 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
11484 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
11485 extract some information from it before removing it.
11490 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
11491 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
11492 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
11493 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
11494 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
11495 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
11498 @node Comparing Mail Backends
11499 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Backends
11501 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{backend} is the common word for a
11502 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
11503 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
11504 and so selection of a suitable backend is required in order to get that
11505 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
11507 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
11508 typically done by NNTP these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
11509 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
11510 articles lay (the machine which today we call an NNTP server), and
11511 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
11512 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
11513 @code{nnspool} backends, to select between these methods, if one happens
11514 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
11517 The goal in selecting a mail backend is to pick one which
11518 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
11519 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
11520 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
11525 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
11526 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
11527 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
11528 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
11529 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
11530 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
11531 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
11532 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
11533 this backend, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
11534 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
11535 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
11536 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
11537 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
11542 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
11543 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
11544 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
11545 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
11546 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
11547 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
11548 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
11549 RMAIL was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
11550 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote RMAIL
11551 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
11552 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
11553 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
11554 headers/status bits stuff. RMAIL itself still exists as well, of
11555 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
11557 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
11558 filesystem, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
11563 @code{nnml} is the backend which smells the most as though you were
11564 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
11565 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
11566 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
11567 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
11568 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
11569 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
11570 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
11571 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
11572 @sc{nntp} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
11573 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
11574 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
11575 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
11576 provided by the active file and overviews.
11578 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
11579 resource which defines available places in the filesystem to put new
11580 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
11581 tight, shared filesystems. But if you live on a personal machine where
11582 the filesystem is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
11585 It is also problematic using this backend if you are living in a
11586 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
11591 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
11592 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
11593 individual files, but with little or no indexing support -- @code{nnmh}
11594 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
11595 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
11596 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
11597 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
11601 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
11602 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
11603 itself puts *all* one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
11604 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
11605 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
11606 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
11607 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
11608 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
11609 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
11611 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
11612 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
11613 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
11614 friendly mail backend all over.
11620 @node Other Sources
11621 @section Other Sources
11623 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
11624 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
11628 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
11629 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
11630 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
11631 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{SOUP} packets ``offline''.
11632 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
11633 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
11634 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a IMAP client.
11638 @node Directory Groups
11639 @subsection Directory Groups
11641 @cindex directory groups
11643 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
11644 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
11647 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
11648 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
11649 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
11650 backend to read directories. Big deal.
11652 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
11653 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
11654 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
11655 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
11656 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
11658 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
11660 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
11661 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
11662 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
11663 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
11666 @node Anything Groups
11667 @subsection Anything Groups
11670 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
11671 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
11672 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
11675 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
11676 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
11677 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
11678 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're
11679 forgetting. @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it
11680 snoops each file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e.,
11681 the first few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head.
11682 If this is just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source
11683 file), @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It
11684 will use file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
11687 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
11688 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
11689 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
11690 in the article buffer, just as usual.
11692 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
11693 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
11694 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
11695 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
11697 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
11698 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
11699 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
11700 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
11701 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
11702 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
11703 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
11704 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
11709 @item nneething-map-file-directory
11710 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
11711 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
11712 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
11714 @item nneething-exclude-files
11715 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
11716 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
11717 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
11719 @item nneething-include-files
11720 @vindex nneething-include-files
11721 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
11722 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
11724 @item nneething-map-file
11725 @vindex nneething-map-file
11726 Name of the map files.
11730 @node Document Groups
11731 @subsection Document Groups
11733 @cindex documentation group
11736 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
11737 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
11744 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
11749 The standard Unix mbox file.
11751 @cindex MMDF mail box
11753 The MMDF mail box format.
11756 Several news articles appended into a file.
11759 @cindex rnews batch files
11760 The rnews batch transport format.
11761 @cindex forwarded messages
11764 Forwarded articles.
11767 Netscape mail boxes.
11770 MIME multipart messages.
11772 @item standard-digest
11773 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
11776 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
11779 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
11780 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
11781 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
11784 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
11785 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
11786 group. And that's it.
11788 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
11789 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
11790 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
11791 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
11792 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
11793 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
11794 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
11795 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
11796 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
11797 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
11799 Virtual server variables:
11802 @item nndoc-article-type
11803 @vindex nndoc-article-type
11804 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
11805 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
11806 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
11807 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail} or @code{guess}.
11809 @item nndoc-post-type
11810 @vindex nndoc-post-type
11811 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
11812 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
11817 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
11821 @node Document Server Internals
11822 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
11824 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
11825 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
11826 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
11827 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
11829 First, here's an example document type definition:
11833 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
11834 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
11837 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
11838 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
11839 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
11840 types can be defined with very few settings:
11843 @item first-article
11844 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
11845 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
11848 @item article-begin
11849 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
11850 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
11852 @item head-begin-function
11853 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
11856 @item nndoc-head-begin
11857 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
11860 @item nndoc-head-end
11861 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
11862 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
11864 @item body-begin-function
11865 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
11869 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
11872 @item body-end-function
11873 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
11877 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
11880 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
11881 regexp will be totally ignored.
11885 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
11886 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
11887 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
11888 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
11889 something that's palatable for Gnus:
11892 @item prepare-body-function
11893 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
11894 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
11895 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
11897 @item article-transform-function
11898 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
11899 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
11900 body of the article.
11902 @item generate-head-function
11903 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
11904 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
11905 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
11906 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
11910 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
11915 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
11916 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
11917 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
11918 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
11919 (head-end . "^ ?$")
11920 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
11921 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
11922 (subtype digest guess))
11925 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
11926 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
11927 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
11928 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
11929 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
11931 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
11932 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
11933 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
11934 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
11935 traversed sequentially, and @code{nndoc-TYPE-type-p} is called for a given type @code{TYPE}. So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document
11936 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
11937 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
11938 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
11939 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
11940 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
11948 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
11949 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
11950 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
11952 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
11953 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
11954 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
11957 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
11958 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
11959 that interested in doing things properly.
11961 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
11962 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
11965 First some terminology:
11970 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
11971 get news and/or mail from.
11974 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
11975 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
11978 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
11982 @item message packets
11983 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
11984 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
11985 default, where @var{X} is a number.
11987 @item response packets
11988 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
11989 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
11990 default, where @var{X} is a number.
12000 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
12001 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
12002 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
12003 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
12006 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
12009 You put the packet in your home directory.
12012 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} backend as
12013 the native or secondary server.
12016 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
12017 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
12020 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
12024 You transfer this packet to the server.
12027 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
12030 You then repeat until you die.
12034 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
12035 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
12038 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
12039 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
12040 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
12044 @node SOUP Commands
12045 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
12047 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
12051 @kindex G s b (Group)
12052 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
12053 Pack all unread articles in the current group
12054 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
12055 process/prefix convention.
12058 @kindex G s w (Group)
12059 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
12060 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
12063 @kindex G s s (Group)
12064 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
12065 Send all replies from the replies packet
12066 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
12069 @kindex G s p (Group)
12070 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
12071 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
12074 @kindex G s r (Group)
12075 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
12076 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
12079 @kindex O s (Summary)
12080 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
12081 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
12082 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
12083 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
12088 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
12093 @item gnus-soup-directory
12094 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
12095 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
12096 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
12098 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
12099 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
12100 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
12101 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
12103 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
12104 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
12105 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
12106 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
12108 @item gnus-soup-packer
12109 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
12110 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
12111 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
12113 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
12114 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
12115 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
12116 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
12118 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
12119 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
12120 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
12122 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
12123 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
12124 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
12125 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
12131 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
12134 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
12135 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
12136 you can read them at leisure.
12138 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
12142 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
12143 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
12144 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
12145 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
12147 @item nnsoup-directory
12148 @vindex nnsoup-directory
12149 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
12150 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
12152 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
12153 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
12154 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
12155 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
12157 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
12158 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
12159 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
12160 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
12161 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
12163 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
12164 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
12165 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
12166 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
12168 @item nnsoup-active-file
12169 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
12170 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
12171 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
12172 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
12173 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
12175 @item nnsoup-packer
12176 @vindex nnsoup-packer
12177 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
12178 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
12180 @item nnsoup-unpacker
12181 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
12182 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
12183 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
12185 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
12186 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
12187 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
12190 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
12191 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
12192 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
12195 @item nnsoup-always-save
12196 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
12197 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
12203 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
12205 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
12206 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
12207 more for that to happen.
12209 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
12210 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
12211 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
12214 In specific, this is what it does:
12217 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
12218 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
12221 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
12222 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
12223 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
12227 @subsection Web Searches
12231 @cindex InReference
12232 @cindex Usenet searches
12233 @cindex searching the Usenet
12235 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
12236 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
12237 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
12238 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
12239 searches without having to use a browser.
12241 The @code{nnweb} backend allows an easy interface to the mighty search
12242 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
12243 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
12244 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
12245 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
12247 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
12248 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
12249 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
12250 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
12251 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
12252 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
12253 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
12254 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
12255 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
12256 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
12259 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
12260 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
12261 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
12262 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
12263 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
12264 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
12266 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
12267 to use @code{nnweb}.
12269 Virtual server variables:
12274 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
12275 are @code{dejanews}, @code{dejanewsold}, @code{altavista} and
12279 @vindex nnweb-search
12280 The search string to feed to the search engine.
12282 @item nnweb-max-hits
12283 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
12284 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
12287 @item nnweb-type-definition
12288 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
12289 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
12290 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
12295 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
12299 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
12302 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
12305 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
12309 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
12316 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
12317 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
12318 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
12321 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
12322 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
12323 The @code{nngateway} backend provides the interface.
12325 Note that you can't read anything from this backend---it can only be
12331 @item nngateway-address
12332 @vindex nngateway-address
12333 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
12335 @item nngateway-header-transformation
12336 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
12337 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
12338 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
12339 transformation should be called, and defaults to
12340 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
12341 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
12344 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
12345 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
12346 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
12349 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
12352 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
12355 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
12358 The following pre-defined functions exist:
12360 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
12363 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
12364 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
12365 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
12367 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
12369 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
12370 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
12371 @code{nngateway-address}.
12376 (setq gnus-post-method
12377 '(nngateway "mail2news@@replay.com"
12378 (nngateway-header-transformation
12379 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
12387 So, to use this, simply say something like:
12390 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
12400 IMAP is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or ...), think of
12401 it as a modernized NNTP. Connecting to a IMAP server is much similar to
12402 connecting to a news server, you just specify the network address of the
12405 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
12410 @item nnimap-address
12411 @vindex nnimap-address
12413 The address of the remote IMAP server. Defaults to the virtual server
12414 name if not specified.
12416 @item nnimap-server-port
12417 @vindex nnimap-server-port
12418 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for SSL.
12420 @item nnimap-list-pattern
12421 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
12422 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups
12423 to. This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
12424 interested in a few -- some servers export your home directory via IMAP,
12425 you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in @file{~/Mail/*}
12428 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
12429 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
12430 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
12436 ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*" ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))
12439 @item nnimap-stream
12440 @vindex nnimap-stream
12441 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
12442 will use the most secure stream your server is capable of.
12446 @dfn{kerberos4:} Uses the `imtest' program.
12448 @dfn{ssl:} Uses OpenSSL or SSLeay.
12450 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
12453 @item nnimap-authenticator
12454 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
12456 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap will
12457 use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
12461 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos authentication.
12463 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
12465 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
12467 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as `anonymous', supplying your emailadress as password.
12470 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
12472 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
12473 Unlike Parmenides the IMAP designers has decided that things that
12474 doesn't exist actually does exist. More specifically, IMAP has this
12475 concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually delete
12476 them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what nnimap
12477 does when you delete a article in Gnus (with @kbd{G DEL} or similair).
12479 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
12480 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
12481 running in circles yet?
12483 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
12484 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
12487 The possible options are:
12492 The default behaviour, delete all articles marked as "Deleted" when
12495 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing the
12496 articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other IMAP clients may allow
12497 you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command manually,
12498 @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
12500 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
12507 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
12508 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
12509 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
12514 @node Splitting in IMAP
12515 @subsubsection Splitting in IMAP
12516 @cindex splitting imap mail
12518 Splitting is something Gnus users has loved and used for years, and now
12519 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many IMAP
12520 server has server side splitting and those that have splitting seem to
12521 use some non-standard protocol. This means that IMAP support for Gnus
12522 has to do it's own splitting.
12526 There are three variables of interest:
12530 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
12531 @cindex splitting, crosspost
12533 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
12535 If non-nil, do crossposting if several split methods match the mail. If
12536 nil, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule} found will be used.
12538 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
12540 @item nnimap-split-inbox
12541 @cindex splitting, inbox
12543 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
12545 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of IMAP mailboxes
12546 to split from. Defaults to nil, which means that splitting is disabled!
12549 (setq nnimap-split-inbox '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
12552 No nnmail equivalent.
12554 @item nnimap-split-rule
12555 @cindex Splitting, rules
12556 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
12558 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
12561 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
12562 sublist gives the name of the IMAP mailbox to move articles matching the
12563 regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that? Neither did I, we
12567 (setq nnimap-split-rule
12568 '(("INBOX.nnimap" "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
12569 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
12570 ("INBOX.private" "")))
12573 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
12574 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
12575 into INBOX.spam and everything else in INBOX.private.
12577 The first string may contain `\\1' forms, like the ones used by
12578 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
12582 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@")
12585 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
12586 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
12587 containing the headers of the article. It should return a non-nil value
12588 if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
12590 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
12591 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
12592 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
12593 of your inbox. (This might might affect performance if you keep lots of
12594 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
12595 them every time you fetch new mail.)
12597 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
12598 end. The first rule to make a match will "win", unless you have
12599 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will "win".
12601 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it need too.
12603 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
12607 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
12608 @subsubsection Editing IMAP ACLs
12609 @cindex editing imap acls
12610 @cindex Access Control Lists
12611 @cindex Editing IMAP ACLs
12613 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
12615 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in IMAP for limiting
12616 (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all IMAP
12617 servers support this, this function will give an error if it doesn't.
12619 To edit a ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
12620 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with a ACL
12621 editing window with detailed instructions.
12623 Some possible uses:
12627 Giving "anyone" the "lrs" rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
12628 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
12629 follow the list without subscribing to it.
12631 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
12632 "anyone" posting ("p") capabilities to have "plussing" work (that is,
12633 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the IMAP mailbox
12637 @node Expunging mailboxes
12638 @subsubsection Expunging mailboxes
12642 @cindex Manual expunging
12644 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
12646 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-close},
12647 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
12648 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
12650 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
12655 @node Combined Groups
12656 @section Combined Groups
12658 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
12662 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
12663 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
12667 @node Virtual Groups
12668 @subsection Virtual Groups
12670 @cindex virtual groups
12671 @cindex merging groups
12673 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
12676 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
12677 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
12678 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
12680 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
12681 regexp to match component groups.
12683 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
12684 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
12685 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
12686 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
12687 the virtual group.)
12689 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
12690 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
12693 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
12696 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
12697 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
12699 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
12700 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
12701 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
12702 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
12705 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
12708 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
12709 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
12710 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
12712 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
12713 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
12714 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
12715 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
12716 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
12718 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
12719 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
12720 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
12722 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
12723 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
12724 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
12725 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
12726 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
12727 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
12728 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
12729 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
12730 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
12731 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
12732 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
12734 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
12735 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
12736 has to ask the backend of the component group the article comes from
12737 whether it is a news or mail backend. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
12738 there is typically no sure way for the component backend to know this,
12739 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
12740 not-news backend. (Just to be on the safe side.)
12742 @kbd{C-c C-t} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
12743 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
12747 @node Kibozed Groups
12748 @subsection Kibozed Groups
12752 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
12753 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
12754 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
12755 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
12757 @kindex G k (Group)
12758 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
12761 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
12762 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
12763 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
12764 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
12766 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
12767 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
12768 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
12770 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
12771 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
12772 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
12773 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
12774 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
12775 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
12776 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
12777 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
12779 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
12780 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
12781 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
12782 Stranger things have happened.
12784 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
12785 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
12787 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
12788 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
12789 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
12790 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
12791 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
12792 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
12794 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
12795 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
12798 @node Gnus Unplugged
12799 @section Gnus Unplugged
12804 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
12806 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
12807 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
12808 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
12809 read news. Believe it or not.
12811 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
12812 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
12813 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
12814 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
12815 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
12817 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
12818 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
12819 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
12820 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
12821 reading news on a machine.
12823 Using Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple.
12827 First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a machine
12828 that has full connection to the net. Go ahead. I'll still be waiting
12832 Then, put the following magical incantation at the end of your
12833 @file{.gnus.el} file:
12840 That's it. Gnus is now an ``offline'' newsreader.
12842 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
12845 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
12846 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
12847 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
12848 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
12849 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
12850 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
12851 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
12852 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
12853 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
12858 @subsection Agent Basics
12860 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
12862 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
12863 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
12864 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
12865 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
12867 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
12868 connected to the net continuously.
12870 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
12871 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
12873 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
12878 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
12879 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
12880 already fetched while in this mode.
12883 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
12884 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
12885 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged}.
12888 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
12889 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{J
12890 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
12891 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
12894 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
12895 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
12896 then you read the news offline.
12899 And then you go to step 2.
12902 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
12908 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
12909 backend, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
12910 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
12911 @kbd{J a} the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
12912 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}). This will typically be only the
12913 primary select method, which is listed on the bottom in the buffer.
12916 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
12923 @node Agent Categories
12924 @subsection Agent Categories
12926 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
12927 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
12928 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
12929 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
12930 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
12931 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
12932 you're interested in the articles anyway.
12934 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
12935 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
12936 Groups that do not belong in any other category belong to the
12937 @code{default} category. Gnus has its own buffer for creating and
12938 managing categories.
12941 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
12942 * The Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
12943 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
12947 @node Category Syntax
12948 @subsubsection Category Syntax
12950 A category consists of two things.
12954 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
12955 are eligible for downloading; and
12958 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
12959 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
12960 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
12963 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
12964 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
12965 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
12966 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
12968 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
12969 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
12970 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as descibed below.
12972 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
12973 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
12974 operators sprinkled in between.
12976 Perhaps some examples are in order.
12978 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
12979 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
12985 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
12986 short (for some value of ``short'').
12988 Here's a more complex predicate:
12997 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
12998 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
13001 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
13002 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
13003 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
13005 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
13006 you want to do, you can write your own.
13010 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
13011 lines; default 100.
13014 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
13015 lines; default 200.
13018 True iff the article has a download score less than
13019 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
13022 True iff the article has a download score greater than
13023 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
13026 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
13027 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
13028 checksum and sees whether articles match.
13037 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
13038 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
13039 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
13042 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
13043 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
13044 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
13045 something along the lines of the following:
13048 (defun my-article-old-p ()
13049 "Say whether an article is old."
13050 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
13051 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
13054 with the predicate then defined as:
13057 (not my-article-old-p)
13060 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
13061 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
13062 wherever. (Note: this would have to be at a point *after*
13063 @code{gnus-agent} has been loaded via @code{(gnus-agentize)})
13066 (defvar gnus-category-predicate-alist
13067 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
13068 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
13071 and simply specify your predicate as:
13077 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
13078 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
13079 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
13080 just don't give a damm.
13083 The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
13084 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
13085 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
13086 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
13087 parameters like so:
13090 (agent-predicate . short)
13093 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category
13094 default. Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this,
13095 the @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair
13098 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
13101 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
13104 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
13105 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
13106 predicate is assumed to be a list.
13109 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
13110 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
13111 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
13112 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
13113 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
13114 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
13116 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
13117 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
13118 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
13119 if it's to be specific to that group.
13121 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
13128 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
13129 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
13135 Category specification
13139 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
13145 Group Parameter specification
13148 (agent-score ("from"
13149 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
13154 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
13160 These score files must *only* contain the permitted scoring keywords
13167 Category specification
13170 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
13176 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
13180 Group Parameter specification
13183 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
13186 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
13191 Use @code{normal} score files
13193 If you dont want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
13194 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
13195 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
13196 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
13198 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
13199 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
13200 files for a group, *filtering out* those those sections that do not
13201 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
13205 Category Specification
13212 Group Parameter specification
13215 (agent-score . file)
13220 @node The Category Buffer
13221 @subsubsection The Category Buffer
13223 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
13224 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
13225 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
13227 The following commands are available in this buffer:
13231 @kindex q (Category)
13232 @findex gnus-category-exit
13233 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
13236 @kindex k (Category)
13237 @findex gnus-category-kill
13238 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
13241 @kindex c (Category)
13242 @findex gnus-category-copy
13243 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
13246 @kindex a (Category)
13247 @findex gnus-category-add
13248 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
13251 @kindex p (Category)
13252 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
13253 Edit the predicate of the current category
13254 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
13257 @kindex g (Category)
13258 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
13259 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
13260 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
13263 @kindex s (Category)
13264 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
13265 Edit the download score rule of the current category
13266 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
13269 @kindex l (Category)
13270 @findex gnus-category-list
13271 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
13275 @node Category Variables
13276 @subsubsection Category Variables
13279 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
13280 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
13281 Hook run in category buffers.
13283 @item gnus-category-line-format
13284 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
13285 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
13286 Variables}). Valid elements are:
13290 The name of the category.
13293 The number of groups in the category.
13296 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
13297 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
13298 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
13300 @item gnus-agent-short-article
13301 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
13302 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
13304 @item gnus-agent-long-article
13305 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
13306 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
13308 @item gnus-agent-low-score
13309 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
13310 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
13313 @item gnus-agent-high-score
13314 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
13315 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
13321 @node Agent Commands
13322 @subsection Agent Commands
13324 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
13325 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged} command works in all modes, and
13326 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
13330 * Group Agent Commands::
13331 * Summary Agent Commands::
13332 * Server Agent Commands::
13335 You can run a complete batch fetch from the command line with the
13336 following incantation:
13338 @cindex gnus-agent-batch-fetch
13340 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch-fetch
13345 @node Group Agent Commands
13346 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
13350 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
13351 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
13352 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
13353 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
13356 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
13357 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
13358 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
13361 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
13362 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
13363 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
13364 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
13367 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
13368 @findex gnus-group-send-drafts
13369 Send all sendable messages in the draft group
13370 (@code{gnus-group-send-drafts}). @xref{Drafts}.
13373 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
13374 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
13375 Add the current group to an Agent category
13376 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
13377 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
13380 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
13381 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
13382 Remove the current group from its category, if any
13383 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
13384 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
13389 @node Summary Agent Commands
13390 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
13394 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
13395 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
13396 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
13399 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
13400 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
13401 Remove the downloading mark from the article
13402 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
13405 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
13406 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
13407 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
13410 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
13411 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
13412 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
13417 @node Server Agent Commands
13418 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
13422 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
13423 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
13424 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
13425 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
13428 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
13429 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
13430 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
13431 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
13437 @subsection Agent Expiry
13439 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
13440 @findex gnus-agent-expire
13441 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
13442 @cindex Agent expiry
13443 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
13446 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
13447 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
13448 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
13449 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
13450 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
13451 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
13453 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
13454 if @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
13455 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
13456 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
13457 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
13460 @node Outgoing Messages
13461 @subsection Outgoing Messages
13463 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
13464 stored in the draft groups (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view them there
13465 after posting, and edit them at will.
13467 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
13468 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
13469 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
13470 messages in the draft group.
13474 @node Agent Variables
13475 @subsection Agent Variables
13478 @item gnus-agent-directory
13479 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
13480 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
13481 @file{~/News/agent/}.
13483 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
13484 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
13485 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
13486 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
13487 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
13490 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
13491 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
13492 Hook run when connecting to the network.
13494 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
13495 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
13496 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
13501 @node Example Setup
13502 @subsection Example Setup
13504 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
13505 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
13506 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
13509 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over NNTP
13510 ;;; from your ISP's server.
13511 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
13513 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
13514 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
13515 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
13517 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
13518 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
13520 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
13524 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
13525 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
13528 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
13529 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
13530 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
13531 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
13532 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
13535 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
13536 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
13537 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
13538 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
13539 back all the killed groups.)
13541 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
13542 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
13543 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
13546 @node Batching Agents
13547 @subsection Batching Agents
13549 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
13550 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
13551 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
13555 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
13559 @node Agent Caveats
13560 @subsection Agent Caveats
13562 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
13563 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
13567 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the
13572 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists
13573 in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
13579 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
13580 articles; when it's plugged, it only talks to your ISP.
13587 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
13588 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
13589 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
13592 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
13593 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
13594 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
13595 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
13596 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
13598 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
13599 before generating the summary buffer.
13601 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
13602 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
13603 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
13605 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
13606 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
13607 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
13608 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
13611 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
13612 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
13613 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
13614 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
13615 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
13616 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
13617 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
13618 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
13619 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
13620 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
13621 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
13622 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
13623 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
13624 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
13625 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
13626 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
13630 @node Summary Score Commands
13631 @section Summary Score Commands
13632 @cindex score commands
13634 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
13635 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
13636 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
13637 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
13638 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
13640 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
13641 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
13642 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
13643 score file the current one.
13645 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
13650 @kindex V s (Summary)
13651 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
13652 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
13655 @kindex V S (Summary)
13656 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
13657 Display the score of the current article
13658 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
13661 @kindex V t (Summary)
13662 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
13663 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
13664 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
13667 @kindex V R (Summary)
13668 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
13669 Run the current summary through the scoring process
13670 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
13671 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
13672 effect you're having.
13675 @kindex V c (Summary)
13676 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
13677 Make a different score file the current
13678 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
13681 @kindex V e (Summary)
13682 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
13683 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
13684 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
13688 @kindex V f (Summary)
13689 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
13690 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
13691 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
13694 @kindex V F (Summary)
13695 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
13696 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
13697 after editing score files.
13700 @kindex V C (Summary)
13701 @findex gnus-score-customize
13702 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
13703 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
13707 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
13712 @kindex V m (Summary)
13713 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
13714 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
13715 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
13718 @kindex V x (Summary)
13719 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
13720 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
13721 expunge all articles below this score
13722 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
13725 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
13726 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
13729 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
13730 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
13734 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
13735 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
13737 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
13738 keys are available:
13742 Score on the author name.
13745 Score on the subject line.
13748 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
13751 Score on the @code{References} line.
13757 Score on the number of lines.
13760 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
13763 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
13764 the followups to this author.
13778 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
13779 what headers you are scoring on.
13791 Substring matching.
13794 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
13823 Greater than number.
13828 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
13829 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
13830 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
13834 Temporary score entry.
13837 Permanent score entry.
13840 Immediately scoring.
13845 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
13846 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
13847 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
13848 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
13850 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
13851 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
13852 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
13853 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
13854 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
13856 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
13857 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
13858 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
13859 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
13860 current score file.
13862 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
13863 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
13864 pretend they are keymaps or not.
13867 @node Group Score Commands
13868 @section Group Score Commands
13869 @cindex group score commands
13871 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
13876 @kindex W f (Group)
13877 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
13878 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
13879 all the time. This command will flush the cache
13880 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
13884 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
13886 @findex gnus-batch-score
13887 @cindex batch scoring
13889 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
13893 @node Score Variables
13894 @section Score Variables
13895 @cindex score variables
13899 @item gnus-use-scoring
13900 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
13901 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
13902 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
13904 @item gnus-kill-killed
13905 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
13906 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
13907 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
13908 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
13909 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
13910 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
13911 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
13913 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
13914 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
13915 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
13916 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
13917 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
13919 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
13920 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
13921 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
13922 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
13924 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
13925 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
13926 @cindex score cache
13927 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
13928 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
13929 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
13930 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
13931 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
13932 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
13935 @item gnus-save-score
13936 @vindex gnus-save-score
13937 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
13938 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
13939 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
13941 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
13942 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
13943 across group visits.
13945 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
13946 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
13947 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
13948 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
13949 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
13950 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
13951 manually entered data.
13953 @item gnus-summary-default-score
13954 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
13955 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
13957 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
13958 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
13959 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
13960 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
13961 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
13962 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
13964 @item gnus-score-over-mark
13965 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
13966 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
13967 default. Default is @samp{+}.
13969 @item gnus-score-below-mark
13970 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
13971 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
13972 default. Default is @samp{-}.
13974 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
13975 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
13976 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
13977 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
13979 Predefined functions available are:
13982 @item gnus-score-find-single
13983 @findex gnus-score-find-single
13984 Only apply the group's own score file.
13986 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
13987 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
13988 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
13989 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
13990 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
13991 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
13992 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
13993 then a regexp match is done.
13995 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
13996 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
13998 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
13999 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
14000 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
14001 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
14003 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
14004 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
14005 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
14006 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
14007 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE}.
14010 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
14011 functions will be called, and all the returned lists of score files will
14012 be applied. These functions can also return lists of score alists
14013 directly. In that case, the functions that return these non-file score
14014 alists should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file
14015 functions, to ensure that the last score file returned is the local
14018 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
14019 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
14020 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
14021 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
14022 are expired. It's 7 by default.
14024 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
14025 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
14026 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
14027 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
14028 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
14029 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
14030 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
14033 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
14034 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
14035 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
14037 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
14038 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
14039 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
14040 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
14041 threading---according to the current value of
14042 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
14043 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
14044 simplified in this manner.
14049 @node Score File Format
14050 @section Score File Format
14051 @cindex score file format
14053 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
14054 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
14055 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
14057 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
14061 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
14063 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
14065 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
14067 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
14072 (mark-and-expunge -10)
14076 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
14077 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
14078 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
14079 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
14083 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
14084 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
14086 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
14087 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
14088 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
14090 Six keys are supported by this alist:
14095 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
14096 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
14097 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
14098 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
14099 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
14100 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
14101 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
14102 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
14103 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
14104 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
14105 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
14106 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
14107 to articles that matches these score entries.
14109 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
14110 score entry has one to four elements.
14114 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
14115 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
14119 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
14120 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
14121 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
14122 is successful. If this element is not present, the
14123 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
14124 instead. This is 1000 by default.
14127 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
14128 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
14129 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
14130 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
14131 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
14134 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
14135 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
14136 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
14137 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
14140 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
14141 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
14142 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
14143 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
14144 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
14145 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
14146 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
14147 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
14148 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
14149 instead, if you feel like.
14152 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
14153 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
14155 These predicates are true if
14158 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
14161 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
14162 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
14169 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
14170 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
14171 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
14172 it's not. I think.)
14174 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some backends (like
14175 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
14176 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
14177 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
14180 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
14181 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
14182 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
14183 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
14184 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
14185 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
14186 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
14190 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
14191 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
14192 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
14193 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
14194 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
14195 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
14196 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
14197 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
14200 @item Head, Body, All
14201 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
14205 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
14206 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
14207 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
14208 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
14209 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
14210 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
14211 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
14215 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
14216 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{X}, then you add a
14217 @samp{thread} match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each
14218 article that has @var{X} in its @code{References} header. (These new
14219 @samp{thread} matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching
14220 articles.) This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an
14221 entire thread, even though some articles in the thread may not have
14222 complete @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
14223 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
14224 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
14228 @cindex Score File Atoms
14230 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
14231 lower than this number will be marked as read.
14234 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
14235 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
14237 @item mark-and-expunge
14238 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
14239 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
14242 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
14243 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
14244 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
14245 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
14246 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
14249 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
14250 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
14253 @item exclude-files
14254 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
14255 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
14259 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
14260 ignored when handling global score files.
14263 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
14264 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
14265 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
14266 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
14269 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
14270 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
14271 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
14272 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
14274 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
14278 (mark-and-expunge -100)
14281 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
14282 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
14283 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
14284 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
14285 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
14287 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where there
14288 exist a few interesting threads which can't be found automatically by
14289 ordinary scoring rules.
14292 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
14293 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
14294 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
14295 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
14296 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
14297 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
14298 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
14299 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
14300 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
14301 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
14302 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
14306 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
14307 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
14308 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
14309 file for a number of groups.
14312 @cindex local variables
14313 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
14314 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
14315 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
14316 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
14317 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
14321 @node Score File Editing
14322 @section Score File Editing
14324 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
14325 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
14326 with a mode for that.
14328 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
14329 additional commands:
14334 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
14335 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
14336 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
14337 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
14340 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
14341 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
14342 Insert the current date in numerical format
14343 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
14344 you were wondering.
14347 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
14348 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
14349 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
14350 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
14351 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
14356 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
14358 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
14359 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
14361 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
14362 e} to begin editing score files.
14365 @node Adaptive Scoring
14366 @section Adaptive Scoring
14367 @cindex adaptive scoring
14369 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
14370 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
14371 stupidity, to be precise.
14373 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
14374 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
14375 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
14376 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
14377 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
14378 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
14379 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
14380 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
14381 variable to @code{(word line)}.
14383 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
14384 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
14385 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
14386 might look something like this:
14389 (defvar gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
14390 '((gnus-unread-mark)
14391 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
14392 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
14393 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
14394 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
14395 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
14396 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
14397 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
14398 (gnus-ancient-mark)
14399 (gnus-low-score-mark)
14400 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
14403 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
14404 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
14405 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
14406 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
14407 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
14408 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
14411 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
14412 will be applied to each article.
14414 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
14415 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
14416 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
14417 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
14419 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
14420 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
14421 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
14422 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
14424 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
14425 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
14426 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
14427 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
14429 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
14430 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
14431 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
14432 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
14433 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
14434 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
14436 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
14437 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
14438 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
14439 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
14440 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
14441 aspirins afterwards.)
14443 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
14444 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
14445 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
14447 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
14448 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
14449 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
14451 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
14452 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
14453 let you use different rules in different groups.
14455 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
14456 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
14457 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
14460 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
14461 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
14462 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
14463 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
14464 the length of the match is less than
14465 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
14466 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
14469 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
14470 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
14471 headers. If you adapt on words, the
14472 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
14473 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
14476 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
14477 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
14478 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
14479 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
14480 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
14483 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
14484 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
14485 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
14486 score with 30 points.
14488 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
14489 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
14490 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
14491 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
14492 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
14494 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
14495 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
14496 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
14497 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
14499 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
14500 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
14501 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
14502 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
14504 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
14505 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
14506 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
14507 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
14508 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
14510 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
14511 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
14512 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
14514 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
14515 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
14516 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
14517 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
14520 @node Home Score File
14521 @section Home Score File
14523 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
14524 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
14525 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
14526 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
14528 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
14529 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
14530 could perhaps use the same home score file.
14532 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
14533 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
14538 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
14542 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
14543 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
14547 A list. The elements in this list can be:
14551 @var{(regexp file-name)}. If the @var{regexp} matches the group name,
14552 the @var{file-name} will will be used as the home score file.
14555 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
14556 the home score file.
14559 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
14562 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
14567 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
14570 (setq gnus-home-score-file
14571 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
14574 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
14575 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
14577 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
14579 (setq gnus-home-score-file
14580 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
14583 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
14584 Other functions include
14587 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
14588 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
14589 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
14590 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
14594 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
14595 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
14596 their own home score files:
14599 (setq gnus-home-score-file
14600 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
14601 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
14602 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
14603 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
14606 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
14607 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
14608 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
14609 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
14610 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
14612 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
14613 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
14614 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
14615 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
14616 precedence over this variable.
14619 @node Followups To Yourself
14620 @section Followups To Yourself
14622 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
14623 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
14624 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
14625 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
14626 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
14627 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
14631 @item gnus-score-followup-article
14632 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
14633 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
14636 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
14637 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
14638 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
14642 @vindex message-sent-hook
14643 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
14644 @code{message-sent-hook}.
14646 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
14647 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
14651 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
14652 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
14655 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
14656 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
14661 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore.no>"
14665 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
14666 is system-dependent.
14670 @section Scoring Tips
14671 @cindex scoring tips
14677 @cindex scoring crossposts
14678 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
14679 the @code{Xref} header.
14681 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
14684 @item Multiple crossposts
14685 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
14686 more than, say, 3 groups:
14688 ("xref" ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
14691 @item Matching on the body
14692 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
14693 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
14694 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
14695 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
14696 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
14697 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
14698 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
14701 @item Marking as read
14702 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
14703 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
14704 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
14708 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
14710 @item Negated character classes
14711 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
14712 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
14713 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
14717 @node Reverse Scoring
14718 @section Reverse Scoring
14719 @cindex reverse scoring
14721 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
14722 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
14723 like this in your score file:
14727 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
14732 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
14733 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
14736 @node Global Score Files
14737 @section Global Score Files
14738 @cindex global score files
14740 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
14741 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
14742 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
14744 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
14745 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
14746 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
14748 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
14749 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
14750 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
14751 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
14752 files are applicable to which group.
14754 Say you want to use the score file
14755 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
14756 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory:
14759 (setq gnus-global-score-files
14760 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
14761 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
14764 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
14765 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
14766 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
14767 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
14768 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
14770 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
14771 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
14773 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
14774 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
14775 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
14776 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
14777 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
14778 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
14780 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
14786 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
14788 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
14790 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
14792 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
14793 lowered out of existence.
14795 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
14796 articles completely.
14799 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
14800 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
14801 old articles for a long time.
14804 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
14805 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
14806 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
14807 holding our breath yet?
14811 @section Kill Files
14814 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
14815 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
14816 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
14818 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
14819 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
14820 files into score files.
14822 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
14823 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
14824 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
14825 that isn't a very good idea.
14827 Normal kill files look like this:
14830 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
14831 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
14835 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
14836 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
14838 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
14839 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
14842 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
14847 @kindex M-k (Summary)
14848 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
14849 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
14852 @kindex M-K (Summary)
14853 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
14854 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
14857 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
14862 @kindex M-k (Group)
14863 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
14864 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
14867 @kindex M-K (Group)
14868 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
14869 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
14872 Kill file variables:
14875 @item gnus-kill-file-name
14876 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
14877 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
14878 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
14879 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
14880 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
14881 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
14883 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
14884 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
14885 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
14886 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
14889 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
14890 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
14891 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
14892 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
14893 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
14894 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
14895 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
14896 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
14897 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
14899 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
14900 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
14901 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
14906 @node Converting Kill Files
14907 @section Converting Kill Files
14909 @cindex converting kill files
14911 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
14912 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
14913 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
14916 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
14917 You can fetch it from
14918 @file{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-other/gnus-kill-to-score}.
14920 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
14921 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
14922 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
14930 GroupLens is a collaborative filtering system that helps you work
14931 together with other people to find the quality news articles out of the
14932 huge volume of news articles generated every day.
14934 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
14935 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
14936 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
14937 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
14938 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
14939 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
14940 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
14941 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
14945 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
14946 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
14947 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
14948 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
14952 @node Using GroupLens
14953 @subsection Using GroupLens
14955 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
14957 @samp{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
14958 better bit in town at the moment.
14960 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
14964 @item gnus-use-grouplens
14965 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
14966 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
14967 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
14969 @item grouplens-pseudonym
14970 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
14971 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
14972 with the Better Bit Bureau.
14974 @item grouplens-newsgroups
14975 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
14976 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
14980 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
14981 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
14982 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
14983 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
14984 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
14985 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
14988 @node Rating Articles
14989 @subsection Rating Articles
14991 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
14992 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
14993 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
14994 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
14997 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
15002 @kindex r (GroupLens)
15003 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
15004 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
15007 @kindex k (GroupLens)
15008 @findex grouplens-score-thread
15009 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
15010 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
15011 threads in rec.humor.
15015 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
15016 the score of the article you're reading.
15021 @kindex n (GroupLens)
15022 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
15023 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
15026 @kindex , (GroupLens)
15027 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
15028 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
15032 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
15033 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
15036 @node Displaying Predictions
15037 @subsection Displaying Predictions
15039 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
15040 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
15041 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
15042 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
15043 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
15045 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
15046 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
15047 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
15048 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
15049 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
15050 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
15051 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
15052 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
15053 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
15054 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
15055 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
15056 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
15057 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
15059 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
15060 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
15061 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
15062 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
15064 The following are valid values for that variable.
15067 @item prediction-spot
15068 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
15071 @item confidence-interval
15072 A numeric confidence interval.
15074 @item prediction-bar
15075 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
15077 @item confidence-bar
15078 Numerical confidence.
15080 @item confidence-spot
15081 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
15083 @item prediction-num
15084 Plain-old numeric value.
15086 @item confidence-plus-minus
15087 Prediction +/- confidence.
15092 @node GroupLens Variables
15093 @subsection GroupLens Variables
15097 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
15098 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
15099 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
15100 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%)
15103 @item grouplens-bbb-host
15104 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
15107 @item grouplens-bbb-port
15108 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
15110 @item grouplens-score-offset
15111 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
15112 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
15115 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
15116 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
15117 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
15122 @node Advanced Scoring
15123 @section Advanced Scoring
15125 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
15126 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
15127 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
15128 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
15129 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
15131 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
15135 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
15136 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
15137 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
15141 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
15142 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
15144 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
15145 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
15146 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
15147 non-@code{nil} value.
15149 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
15150 operator, and various match operators.
15157 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
15158 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
15159 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
15164 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
15165 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
15166 then this operator will return @code{false}.
15171 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
15172 logical negation of the value of its argument.
15176 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
15177 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
15178 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
15179 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
15180 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
15181 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
15182 the ancestry you want to go.
15184 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
15185 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
15186 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
15187 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
15188 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
15191 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
15192 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
15194 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
15195 when he's talking about Gnus:
15199 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
15200 ("subject" "Gnus"))
15206 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
15210 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
15217 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
15218 really don't want to read what he's written:
15222 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
15223 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
15227 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
15228 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
15229 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
15236 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
15237 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
15238 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
15239 ("body" "white.*socks"))
15243 The possibilities are endless.
15246 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
15247 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
15249 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
15250 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
15251 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
15252 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
15253 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
15254 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
15255 @samp{subject}) first.
15257 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
15258 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
15269 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
15270 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
15276 ("subject" "Gnus")))
15283 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
15284 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
15289 @section Score Decays
15290 @cindex score decays
15293 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
15294 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
15295 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
15296 use them in any sensible way.
15298 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
15299 @findex gnus-decay-score
15300 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
15301 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
15302 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
15303 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
15304 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
15305 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
15306 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
15307 definition of that function:
15310 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
15312 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
15313 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
15316 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
15318 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
15320 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
15323 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
15324 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
15325 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
15326 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
15330 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
15333 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
15336 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
15340 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
15341 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
15342 the new score, which should be an integer.
15344 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
15345 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
15352 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
15353 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
15354 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
15355 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
15356 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
15357 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
15358 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
15359 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
15360 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
15361 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
15362 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
15363 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
15364 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
15365 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
15366 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
15367 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
15368 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
15369 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
15373 @node Process/Prefix
15374 @section Process/Prefix
15375 @cindex process/prefix convention
15377 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
15378 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
15380 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
15381 command to be performed on.
15385 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
15386 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
15387 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
15388 with the current one.
15390 @vindex transient-mark-mode
15391 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
15392 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
15394 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
15395 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
15398 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
15399 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
15401 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
15404 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
15405 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
15406 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
15407 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
15409 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
15410 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
15411 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
15412 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
15413 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
15414 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
15415 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
15416 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
15420 @section Interactive
15421 @cindex interaction
15425 @item gnus-novice-user
15426 @vindex gnus-novice-user
15427 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
15428 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
15429 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
15430 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
15433 @item gnus-expert-user
15434 @vindex gnus-expert-user
15435 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
15436 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
15437 matter how strange.
15439 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
15440 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
15441 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
15442 is @code{t} by default.
15444 @item gnus-interactive-exit
15445 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
15446 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
15451 @node Symbolic Prefixes
15452 @section Symbolic Prefixes
15453 @cindex symbolic prefixes
15455 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
15456 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
15457 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
15458 rule of 900 to the current article.
15460 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
15461 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
15462 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
15463 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
15464 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
15465 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
15466 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
15468 @kindex M-i (Summary)
15469 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
15470 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
15471 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
15472 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
15473 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a M-C-u} means ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u}
15474 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b M-C-u} means
15475 ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
15476 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
15478 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
15479 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
15480 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
15482 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
15486 @node Formatting Variables
15487 @section Formatting Variables
15488 @cindex formatting variables
15490 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
15491 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
15492 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
15493 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
15494 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
15497 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
15498 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
15499 lots of percentages everywhere.
15502 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
15503 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
15504 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
15505 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
15506 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
15509 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
15510 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
15511 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
15512 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
15513 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
15514 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
15515 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
15516 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
15518 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
15519 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
15521 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
15522 @findex gnus-update-format
15523 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
15524 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
15525 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
15526 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
15530 @node Formatting Basics
15531 @subsection Formatting Basics
15533 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
15534 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
15535 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
15537 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
15538 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
15539 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
15540 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
15541 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
15544 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
15545 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
15546 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
15547 less than 4 characters wide.
15550 @node Mode Line Formatting
15551 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
15553 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
15554 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
15555 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
15556 with the following two differences:
15561 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
15564 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
15565 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
15566 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
15567 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
15568 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
15569 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
15570 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
15575 @node Advanced Formatting
15576 @subsection Advanced Formatting
15578 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
15579 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
15580 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
15581 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
15583 These are the valid modifiers:
15588 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
15592 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
15597 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
15600 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
15605 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
15608 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
15611 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
15614 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
15618 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
15619 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
15620 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
15621 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
15622 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
15623 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
15624 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
15626 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
15627 last operation, padding.
15629 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
15630 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
15631 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
15632 @xref{Compilation}.
15635 @node User-Defined Specs
15636 @subsection User-Defined Specs
15638 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
15639 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
15640 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
15641 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
15642 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
15643 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
15644 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
15645 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
15646 should protect against that.
15648 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
15649 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
15650 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
15651 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
15655 @node Formatting Fonts
15656 @subsection Formatting Fonts
15658 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
15659 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
15660 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
15661 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
15664 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
15665 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
15666 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
15667 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
15668 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
15669 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
15671 Text inside the @samp{%<} and @samp{%>} specifiers will get the special
15672 @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you say
15673 @samp{%1<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The
15674 @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or
15675 symbols naming functions that return a string. Under @code{balloon-help-mode},
15676 when the mouse passes over text with this property set, a balloon window
15677 will appear and display the string. Please refer to the doc string of
15678 @code{balloon-help-mode} for more information on this.
15680 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
15683 ;; Create three face types.
15684 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
15685 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
15687 ;; We want the article count to be in
15688 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
15689 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
15690 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
15692 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
15693 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
15695 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
15696 (setq gnus-group-line-format
15697 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
15700 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
15701 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
15703 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
15704 mode-line variables.
15707 @node Windows Configuration
15708 @section Windows Configuration
15709 @cindex windows configuration
15711 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
15713 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
15714 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
15715 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
15716 @code{t} by default.
15718 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
15719 glitches. Use at your own peril.
15721 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
15722 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
15723 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
15726 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
15727 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
15728 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
15732 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
15733 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
15734 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
15735 possible names is listed below.
15737 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
15738 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
15741 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
15745 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
15746 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
15747 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
15748 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
15749 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
15750 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
15751 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
15752 size spec per split.
15754 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
15755 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
15756 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
15757 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
15758 present) gets focus.
15760 Here's a more complicated example:
15763 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
15764 (summary 0.25 point)
15765 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
15769 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
15770 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
15771 occupy, not a percentage.
15773 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
15774 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
15775 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
15776 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
15777 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
15780 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
15783 (article (horizontal 1.0
15788 (summary 0.25 point)
15793 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
15794 @code{horizontal} thingie?
15796 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
15797 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
15798 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
15799 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
15800 the screen is to be given to this strip.
15802 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
15803 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
15804 lines from the splits.
15806 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
15810 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
15811 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
15812 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
15813 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
15814 buffer = "(" buffer-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
15815 size = number | frame-params
15816 buffer-name = group | article | summary ...
15819 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
15820 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
15821 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
15822 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
15824 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
15825 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
15826 @cindex window height
15827 @cindex window width
15828 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
15829 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
15830 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
15831 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
15832 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
15833 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
15835 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
15836 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
15837 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
15838 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
15840 @findex gnus-configure-frame
15841 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
15842 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
15843 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
15844 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
15845 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
15846 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
15847 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
15848 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
15849 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
15850 configuration list.
15853 (gnus-configure-frame
15857 (article 0.3 point))
15865 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
15866 @code{frame} split:
15869 (gnus-configure-frame
15872 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
15874 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
15875 (user-position . t)
15876 (left . -1) (top . 1))
15881 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
15882 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
15883 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
15884 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
15885 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
15886 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
15887 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
15888 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
15890 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
15891 be found in its default value.
15893 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
15894 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
15895 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
15899 (message (horizontal 1.0
15900 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
15902 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
15907 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
15908 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
15909 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
15912 (message (frame 1.0
15913 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
15914 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
15915 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
15916 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
15917 (name . "Message"))
15918 (message 1.0 point))))
15921 @findex gnus-add-configuration
15922 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
15923 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
15924 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
15925 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
15928 (gnus-add-configuration
15929 '(article (vertical 1.0
15931 (summary .25 point)
15935 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
15936 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
15937 Gnus has been loaded.
15939 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
15940 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
15941 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
15942 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
15943 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
15945 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
15946 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
15947 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
15951 @node Faces and Fonts
15952 @section Faces and Fonts
15957 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
15958 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
15959 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
15964 @section Compilation
15965 @cindex compilation
15966 @cindex byte-compilation
15968 @findex gnus-compile
15970 Remember all those line format specification variables?
15971 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
15972 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
15973 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
15974 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
15975 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
15978 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
15979 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
15980 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
15981 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
15982 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
15983 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
15984 them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
15988 @section Mode Lines
15991 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
15992 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
15993 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
15994 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
15995 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
15996 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
15997 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
16000 @cindex display-time
16002 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
16003 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
16004 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
16005 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
16006 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
16007 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
16008 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
16009 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
16012 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
16014 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
16015 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
16017 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
16018 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
16019 (length display-time-string)))))
16022 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
16023 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
16024 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
16025 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
16026 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
16029 @node Highlighting and Menus
16030 @section Highlighting and Menus
16032 @cindex highlighting
16035 @vindex gnus-visual
16036 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
16037 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
16038 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
16041 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
16042 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
16045 @item group-highlight
16046 Do highlights in the group buffer.
16047 @item summary-highlight
16048 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
16049 @item article-highlight
16050 Do highlights in the article buffer.
16052 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
16054 Create menus in the group buffer.
16056 Create menus in the summary buffers.
16058 Create menus in the article buffer.
16060 Create menus in the browse buffer.
16062 Create menus in the server buffer.
16064 Create menus in the score buffers.
16066 Create menus in all buffers.
16069 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
16070 buffers, you could say something like:
16073 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
16076 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
16079 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
16082 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
16083 in all Gnus buffers.
16085 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
16088 @item gnus-mouse-face
16089 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
16090 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
16091 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
16095 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
16099 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
16100 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
16101 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
16103 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
16104 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
16105 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
16107 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
16108 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
16109 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
16111 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
16112 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
16113 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
16115 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
16116 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
16117 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
16119 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
16120 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
16121 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
16132 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
16133 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
16134 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
16135 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
16136 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
16140 @vindex gnus-carpal
16141 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
16142 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
16143 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
16148 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
16149 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
16150 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
16152 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
16153 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
16154 Face used on buttons.
16156 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
16157 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
16158 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
16160 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
16161 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
16162 Buttons in the group buffer.
16164 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
16165 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
16166 Buttons in the summary buffer.
16168 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
16169 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
16170 Buttons in the server buffer.
16172 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
16173 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
16174 Buttons in the browse buffer.
16177 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
16178 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
16179 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
16187 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
16188 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
16189 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
16190 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
16191 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
16193 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
16194 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
16195 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
16197 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
16198 been idle for thirty minutes:
16201 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
16204 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
16208 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
16211 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
16212 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
16213 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
16215 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
16216 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
16217 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
16218 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
16220 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
16221 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
16222 @var{idle} minutes.
16224 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
16225 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
16228 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
16229 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
16230 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
16232 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
16233 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
16234 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
16235 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
16237 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
16238 your @file{.gnus} file:
16240 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
16242 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
16245 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
16246 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
16247 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
16248 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
16249 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
16250 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
16251 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
16252 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
16253 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
16254 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
16255 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
16257 @findex gnus-demon-init
16258 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
16259 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
16260 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
16261 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
16262 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
16264 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
16265 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
16266 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
16275 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
16276 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
16278 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
16279 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
16280 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
16281 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
16284 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
16285 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
16286 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
16287 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
16289 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
16290 this will make spam disappear.
16292 There are some variables to customize, of course:
16295 @item gnus-use-nocem
16296 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
16297 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
16300 @item gnus-nocem-groups
16301 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
16302 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
16303 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
16304 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
16306 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
16307 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
16308 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
16309 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
16310 "rbraver@@ohww.norman.ok.us" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
16311 "jem@@xpat.com" "snowhare@@xmission.com" "red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us
16312 (Richard E. Depew)")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
16314 Known despammers that you can put in this list include:
16317 @item clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;
16318 @cindex Chris Lewis
16319 Chris Lewis---Major Canadian despammer who has probably canceled more
16320 usenet abuse than anybody else.
16323 @cindex CancelMoose[tm]
16324 The CancelMoose[tm] on autopilot. The CancelMoose[tm] is reputed to be
16325 Norwegian, and was the person(s) who invented NoCeM.
16327 @item jem@@xpat.com;
16329 John Milburn---despammer located in Korea who is getting very busy these
16332 @item red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us (Richard E. Depew)
16333 Richard E. Depew---lone American despammer. He mostly cancels binary
16334 postings to non-binary groups and removes spews (regurgitated articles).
16337 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
16338 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
16339 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
16340 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
16341 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
16342 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
16343 @var{(issuer conditions ...)} elements in the list. Each condition is
16344 either a string (which is a regexp that matches types you want to use)
16345 or a list on the form @code{(not STRING)}, where @var{string} is a
16346 regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
16348 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
16349 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
16352 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
16355 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
16356 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
16359 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
16362 The specs are applied left-to-right.
16365 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
16366 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
16368 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
16369 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
16370 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
16371 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
16373 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
16374 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
16377 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
16379 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
16387 This might be dangerous, though.
16389 @item gnus-nocem-directory
16390 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
16391 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
16392 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
16394 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
16395 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
16396 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
16397 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
16398 might then see old spam.
16402 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
16403 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
16404 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
16405 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
16412 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
16413 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
16414 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
16416 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
16417 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
16418 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
16419 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
16420 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
16421 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
16422 @code{undo} function.
16424 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
16425 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
16426 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
16427 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
16428 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
16429 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
16430 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
16431 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
16432 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
16433 never be totally undoable.
16435 @findex gnus-undo-mode
16436 @vindex gnus-use-undo
16438 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
16439 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
16440 default. The @kbd{M-C-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo} command
16441 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
16446 @section Moderation
16449 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
16450 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
16451 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
16454 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
16458 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
16461 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
16463 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
16468 You split your incoming mail by matching on
16469 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
16470 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
16473 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
16474 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
16477 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
16478 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
16482 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
16485 (setq gnus-moderated-list
16486 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
16490 @node XEmacs Enhancements
16491 @section XEmacs Enhancements
16494 XEmacs is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has taken
16498 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
16499 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
16500 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
16501 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
16514 So... You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
16515 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
16516 over your shoulder as you read news.
16519 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
16520 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
16521 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
16522 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
16523 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
16528 @subsubsection Picon Basics
16530 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
16539 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
16540 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
16541 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
16542 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
16543 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
16544 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
16545 @code{GIF} formats.
16548 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
16549 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
16550 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
16551 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
16552 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
16554 @vindex gnus-picons-database
16555 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
16556 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
16557 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
16558 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
16559 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
16562 @node Picon Requirements
16563 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
16565 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must be running XEmacs
16566 19.13 or greater since all other versions of Emacs aren't yet able to
16569 Additionally, you must have @code{x} support compiled into XEmacs. To
16570 display color picons which are much nicer than the black & white one,
16571 you also need one of @code{xpm} or @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
16573 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
16574 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
16575 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
16576 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
16577 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
16581 @subsubsection Easy Picons
16583 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
16584 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
16587 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
16588 (setq gnus-treat-display-picons t)
16591 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
16592 containing the Picons databases.
16594 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
16597 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
16598 "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
16603 @subsubsection Hard Picons
16611 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
16612 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
16613 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
16614 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
16615 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
16620 @item gnus-picons-database
16621 @vindex gnus-picons-database
16622 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
16623 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
16624 subdirectories. This is only useful if
16625 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
16626 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
16628 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
16629 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
16630 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
16631 engine is @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
16632 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
16633 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
16634 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
16636 @item gnus-picons-display-where
16637 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
16638 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
16639 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
16640 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
16641 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
16642 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
16643 routines---@pxref{Windows Configuration}.
16645 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
16646 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
16647 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
16652 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
16653 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
16655 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
16656 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
16659 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
16661 @item gnus-article-display-picons
16662 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
16663 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
16664 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer.
16666 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
16667 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
16668 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present.
16674 @node Picon Useless Configuration
16675 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
16683 The following variables offer further control over how things are
16684 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
16685 don't need to worry about.
16689 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
16690 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
16691 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
16692 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
16694 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
16695 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
16696 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
16697 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
16699 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
16700 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
16701 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
16702 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
16703 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
16705 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
16706 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
16707 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
16708 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
16709 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
16710 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
16711 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
16713 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
16714 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
16715 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
16716 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
16718 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
16719 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
16720 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
16721 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
16722 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
16723 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
16724 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
16726 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
16727 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
16728 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
16729 Defaults to @code{nil}.
16731 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
16732 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
16733 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
16734 Defaults to @code{t}.
16736 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
16737 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
16738 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
16739 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
16741 @item gnus-picons-setup-hook
16742 @vindex gnus-picons-setup-hook
16743 Hook run in the picon buffer, if that is displayed.
16745 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
16746 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
16747 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
16748 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
16750 If @code{nil}, display the picons in the @code{From} and
16751 @code{Newsgroups} lines. This is the defailt.
16753 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
16754 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
16755 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
16756 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
16757 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
16758 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
16759 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
16760 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
16771 @subsection Smileys
16776 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/BigFace.ps,height=20cm}}
16781 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
16782 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
16784 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
16785 @file{.gnus.el} file:
16788 (setq gnus-treat-display-smiley t)
16791 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
16792 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
16793 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
16794 text and maps that to file names.
16796 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
16797 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
16798 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
16799 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
16800 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
16801 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
16803 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
16804 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
16806 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
16807 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
16808 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
16810 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
16811 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
16815 @item smiley-data-directory
16816 @vindex smiley-data-directory
16817 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
16819 @item smiley-flesh-color
16820 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
16821 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
16823 @item smiley-features-color
16824 @vindex smiley-features-color
16825 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
16827 @item smiley-tongue-color
16828 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
16829 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
16831 @item smiley-circle-color
16832 @vindex smiley-circle-color
16833 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
16835 @item smiley-mouse-face
16836 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
16837 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
16843 @subsection Toolbar
16853 @item gnus-use-toolbar
16854 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
16855 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
16856 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
16857 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
16859 @item gnus-group-toolbar
16860 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
16861 The toolbar in the group buffer.
16863 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
16864 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
16865 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
16867 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
16868 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
16869 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
16875 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
16878 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
16879 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
16880 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
16881 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
16882 unusual directory structure.
16884 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
16885 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
16886 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
16887 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
16889 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
16890 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
16891 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
16892 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
16893 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
16894 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
16896 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
16897 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
16898 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
16912 @node Fuzzy Matching
16913 @section Fuzzy Matching
16914 @cindex fuzzy matching
16916 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
16917 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
16919 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
16920 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
16921 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
16923 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
16924 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
16925 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
16926 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
16927 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
16930 @node Thwarting Email Spam
16931 @section Thwarting Email Spam
16935 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
16937 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
16938 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
16939 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
16940 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
16941 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
16942 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
16943 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
16944 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
16947 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
16948 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
16949 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
16950 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
16951 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
16952 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
16956 The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
16957 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
16959 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
16960 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
16961 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
16962 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
16963 sysadm whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
16964 part of the mail address.)
16967 (setq message-default-news-headers
16968 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
16971 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
16972 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
16977 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
16978 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
16979 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
16985 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
16986 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
16987 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
16988 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
16990 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @code{smtp} server
16991 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
16992 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
16993 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
16994 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
16995 your fancy split rule in this way:
17000 (to "larsi" "misc")
17004 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
17005 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
17006 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
17007 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
17008 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
17010 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
17011 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
17012 at @* @file{<URL:http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html>}.
17013 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
17014 cosmic balance somewhat.
17016 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
17017 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
17018 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
17019 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
17022 @node Various Various
17023 @section Various Various
17029 @item gnus-home-directory
17030 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
17031 defaults to @file{~/}.
17033 @item gnus-directory
17034 @vindex gnus-directory
17035 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
17036 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
17037 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
17039 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
17040 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
17041 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
17042 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
17044 @item gnus-default-directory
17045 @vindex gnus-default-directory
17046 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
17047 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
17048 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
17049 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
17050 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
17051 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
17054 @vindex gnus-verbose
17055 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
17056 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
17057 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
17058 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
17059 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
17061 @item gnus-verbose-backends
17062 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
17063 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
17064 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
17066 @item nnheader-max-head-length
17067 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
17068 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
17069 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
17070 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
17071 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
17072 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
17073 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
17074 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
17075 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
17077 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
17078 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
17079 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
17080 read when doing the operation described above.
17082 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
17083 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
17085 @cindex invalid characters in file names
17086 @cindex characters in file names
17087 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
17088 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
17089 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
17092 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
17096 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
17097 Windows (phooey) systems.
17099 @item gnus-hidden-properties
17100 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
17101 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
17102 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
17103 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
17105 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
17106 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
17107 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
17108 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
17109 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
17111 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
17112 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
17113 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
17122 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
17123 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
17125 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
17127 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
17133 Not because of victories @*
17136 but for the common sunshine,@*
17138 the largess of the spring.
17142 but for the day's work done@*
17143 as well as I was able;@*
17144 not for a seat upon the dais@*
17145 but at the common table.@*
17150 @chapter Appendices
17153 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
17154 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
17155 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
17156 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
17157 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
17158 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
17159 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
17167 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
17168 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
17170 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage, you
17171 can point your (feh!) web browser to
17172 @file{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/}. This is also the primary
17173 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is known
17174 as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
17176 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
17177 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
17178 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
17179 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
17180 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
17181 appropriate name, don't you think?)
17183 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
17184 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
17185 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
17186 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
17188 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
17189 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
17190 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
17192 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
17193 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
17195 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
17196 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
17198 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37
17199 releases. If was released as ``Gnus 5.6 on March 8th 1998.
17201 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
17202 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'' --
17203 don't panic. Don't let it know that you're frightened. Back away.
17204 Slowly. Whatever you do, don't run. Walk away, calmly, until you're
17205 out of its reach. Find a proper released version of Gnus and snuggle up
17209 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
17210 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
17211 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
17212 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
17213 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
17214 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
17215 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
17216 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
17223 What's the point of Gnus?
17225 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
17226 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
17227 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
17228 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
17229 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
17230 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
17231 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
17232 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
17233 keep track of millions of people who post?
17235 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
17236 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
17237 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
17238 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
17239 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
17240 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
17241 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
17242 every one of you to explore and invent.
17244 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
17245 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
17248 @node Compatibility
17249 @subsection Compatibility
17251 @cindex compatibility
17252 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
17253 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
17254 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
17259 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
17263 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
17266 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
17269 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
17270 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
17271 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
17272 important variables have their values copied into their global
17273 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
17274 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
17276 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
17277 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
17278 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
17279 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
17280 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
17284 @cindex highlighting
17285 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
17286 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
17287 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
17288 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
17289 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
17290 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
17293 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
17294 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
17295 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
17296 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
17298 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
17299 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
17300 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
17301 to stop doing it the old way.
17303 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
17305 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
17307 @cindex reporting bugs
17309 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
17310 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
17311 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
17313 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
17314 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
17315 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
17316 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
17321 @subsection Conformity
17323 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
17324 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
17331 There are no known breaches of this standard.
17335 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
17337 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
17338 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
17339 We do have some breaches to this one.
17345 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
17346 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
17347 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
17348 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
17349 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
17354 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
17355 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
17356 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
17357 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
17361 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
17362 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
17367 @subsection Emacsen
17373 Gnus should work on :
17381 XEmacs 20.4 and up.
17385 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
17386 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
17389 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
17390 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
17391 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
17395 @node Gnus Development
17396 @subsection Gnus Development
17398 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
17399 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
17400 propose changes and new features, post patches and new backends. This
17401 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
17402 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
17403 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
17404 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
17405 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
17407 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
17408 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
17409 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
17410 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
17411 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
17414 @vindex nnmail-delete-incoming
17415 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
17416 In particular, @code{nnmail-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
17417 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
17418 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
17420 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
17421 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
17422 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
17423 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
17424 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
17425 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
17426 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
17427 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
17428 usually keep up with these rapid changes, whille people on the newsgroup
17429 can't be assumed to do so.
17434 @subsection Contributors
17435 @cindex contributors
17437 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
17438 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
17439 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
17440 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
17441 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
17442 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
17443 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
17444 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
17445 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
17446 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
17448 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
17454 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
17457 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
17458 well as numerous other things).
17461 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
17464 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
17467 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el and many other things
17468 connected with @sc{mime} and other types of en/decoding.
17471 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
17472 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
17475 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
17478 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
17479 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
17482 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
17485 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
17488 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
17491 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
17494 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
17495 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
17498 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
17501 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
17504 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
17507 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
17511 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
17514 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
17517 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
17520 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
17521 well as autoconf support.
17525 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
17526 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
17528 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
17537 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
17541 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
17551 Alexei V. Barantsev,
17566 Massimo Campostrini,
17571 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
17572 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
17576 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
17579 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
17585 Michael Welsh Duggan,
17590 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
17594 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
17602 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
17604 Michelangelo Grigni,
17608 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
17610 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
17612 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
17619 François Felix Ingrand,
17620 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c ?
17621 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
17623 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
17634 Peter Skov Knudsen,
17635 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
17637 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
17638 Thor Kristoffersen,
17641 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
17659 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
17660 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
17667 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
17672 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
17676 John McClary Prevost,
17682 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
17687 Christian von Roques,
17690 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
17697 Philippe Schnoebelen,
17699 Randal L. Schwartz,
17714 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
17719 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
17735 Katsumi Yamaoka @c Yamaoka
17740 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
17741 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
17742 (550kB and counting).
17744 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
17747 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
17748 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
17752 @subsection New Features
17753 @cindex new features
17756 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
17757 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.3/5.3.
17758 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
17759 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
17762 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
17763 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
17764 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
17768 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
17770 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
17775 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
17776 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
17779 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
17780 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
17783 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
17786 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
17787 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
17788 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
17791 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
17792 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
17793 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
17794 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
17797 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
17798 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
17801 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
17802 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
17803 (@pxref{The Active File}).
17806 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
17807 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
17810 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
17811 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
17812 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
17815 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
17816 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
17817 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
17820 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
17821 the @file{.emacs} file.
17824 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
17825 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
17828 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
17829 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
17832 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
17833 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
17836 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
17837 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
17840 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
17841 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
17844 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
17847 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
17848 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
17851 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
17852 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
17855 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
17856 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
17859 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
17862 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
17863 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
17866 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
17870 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
17874 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
17875 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
17878 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
17884 @node September Gnus
17885 @subsubsection September Gnus
17889 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/september.ps,height=20cm}}
17893 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
17898 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
17899 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
17903 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
17904 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
17908 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
17912 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
17913 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
17916 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
17920 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
17923 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
17926 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
17929 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
17933 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
17934 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
17937 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
17941 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
17945 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
17949 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
17953 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
17956 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
17957 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
17960 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
17964 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
17965 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
17968 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
17971 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
17972 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
17973 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
17976 Gnus has a new backend (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
17980 The Gnus cache is much faster.
17983 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
17987 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
17988 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
17991 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
17992 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
17995 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
17996 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
17999 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
18000 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
18001 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
18004 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
18005 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
18008 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
18011 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
18014 All mail backends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
18017 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
18020 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
18021 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
18024 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Windows
18028 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
18031 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}}
18036 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
18039 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
18043 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
18046 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
18050 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
18053 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
18056 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
18057 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
18060 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
18061 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
18065 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
18066 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
18069 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
18073 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
18074 buffer to allow easier treatment.
18077 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
18080 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
18084 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
18088 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
18089 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
18092 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
18096 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
18097 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
18100 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
18101 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
18104 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
18108 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
18111 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
18114 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
18120 @subsubsection Red Gnus
18122 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
18126 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/red.ps,height=20cm}}
18133 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
18136 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
18137 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
18140 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
18141 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
18145 Article washing status can be displayed in the
18146 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
18149 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
18152 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
18153 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
18156 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
18160 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
18161 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
18165 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
18166 Server Internals}).
18169 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
18173 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
18176 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
18177 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
18180 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
18181 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
18182 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
18185 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
18186 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
18189 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
18190 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
18193 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{M-C-_}
18197 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
18198 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
18201 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
18202 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
18205 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
18209 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
18212 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
18216 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
18217 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
18220 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
18221 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
18224 A new command for reading collections of documents
18225 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{M-C-d}
18226 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
18229 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
18233 A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post even when the NNTP
18234 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
18237 A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
18238 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
18239 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
18242 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
18243 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
18247 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
18251 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
18255 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}}
18260 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
18264 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
18268 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
18269 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
18272 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
18278 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
18280 New features in Gnus 5.6:
18285 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
18286 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
18287 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
18290 The @code{nndraft} backend has returned, but works differently than
18291 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
18292 group, which is created automatically.
18295 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
18299 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
18302 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
18303 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
18306 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
18310 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
18313 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
18314 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
18317 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
18320 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
18321 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
18324 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
18325 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
18328 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
18329 control over simplification.
18332 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
18335 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
18339 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
18342 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
18345 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
18346 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
18347 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
18350 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
18351 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
18354 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
18358 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
18359 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
18362 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
18363 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
18366 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
18370 A history of where mails have been split is available.
18373 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
18376 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
18377 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
18380 A new function for citing in Message has been
18381 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
18384 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
18387 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
18391 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
18392 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
18395 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
18396 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
18399 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} backend.
18402 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
18407 @node Newest Features
18408 @subsection Newest Features
18411 Also known as the @dfn{todo list}. Sure to be implemented before the
18414 Be afraid. Be very afraid.
18416 (That a feature appears in this list doesn't necessarily mean that I've
18417 decided to actually implement it. It just means that I think it sounds
18420 (Yes, this is the actual, up-to-the-second todo list.)
18425 I would like the zombie-page to contain an URL to the source of the
18426 latest version of gnus or some explanation on where to find it.
18429 A way to continue editing the latest Message composition.
18432 http://www.sonicnet.com/feature/ari3/
18435 facep is not declared.
18438 Include a section in the manual on why the number of articles
18439 isn't the same in the group buffer and on the SPC prompt.
18442 Interacting with rmail fcc isn't easy.
18447 <URL:http://www.falch.no/people/pepper/DSSSL-Lite/archives/>
18448 <URL:http://www.eit.com/software/hypermail/hypermail.html>
18449 <URL:http://homer.ncm.com/>
18450 <URL:http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Internet/World_Wide_Web/HTML_Converters/>
18451 http://www.uwsg.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9610/index.html
18452 <URL:http://union.ncsa.uiuc.edu/HyperNews/get/www/html/converters.html>
18453 http://www.miranova.com/gnus-list/
18458 @samp{^-- } is made into - in LaTeX.
18461 gnus-kill is much slower than it was in GNUS 4.1.3.
18464 when expunging articles on low score, the sparse nodes keep hanging on?
18466 starting the first time seems to hang Gnus on some systems. Does
18467 NEWGROUPS answer too fast?
18469 nndir doesn't read gzipped files.
18471 FAQ doesn't have an up node?
18473 when moving mail from a procmail spool to the crash-box,
18474 the crash-box is only appropriate to one specific group.
18476 `t' `t' makes X-Faces disappear.
18478 nnmh-be-safe means that crossposted articles will
18479 be marked as unread.
18481 Orphan score entries don't show on "V t" score trace
18483 when clearing out data, the cache data should also be reset.
18485 rewrite gnus-summary-limit-children to be non-recursive
18486 to avoid exceeding lisp nesting on huge groups.
18488 expunged articles are counted when computing scores.
18490 implement gnus-batch-brew-soup
18492 ticked articles aren't easy to read in pick mode -- `n' and
18493 stuff just skips past them. Read articles are the same.
18495 topics that contain just groups with ticked
18496 articles aren't displayed.
18498 nndoc should always allocate unique Message-IDs.
18500 If there are mail groups the first time you use Gnus, Gnus'll
18501 make the mail groups killed.
18503 no "no news is good news" when using topics.
18505 when doing crosspost marking, the cache has to be consulted
18506 and articles have to be removed.
18508 nnweb should fetch complete articles when they are split into several
18511 scoring on head immediate doesn't work.
18513 finding short score file names takes forever.
18515 canceling articles in foreign groups.
18517 nntp-open-rlogin no longer works.
18519 C-u C-x C-s (Summary) switches to the group buffer.
18521 move nnmail-split-history out to the backends.
18523 nnweb doesn't work properly.
18525 using a virtual server name as `gnus-select-method' doesn't work?
18527 when killing/yanking a group from one topic to another in a slave, the
18528 master will yank it first to one topic and then add it to another.
18532 warn user about `=' redirection of a group in the active file?
18534 take over the XEmacs menubar and offer a toggle between the XEmacs
18535 bar and the Gnus bar.
18538 push active file and NOV file parsing down into C code.
18539 `(canonize-message-id id)'
18540 `(mail-parent-message-id references n)'
18541 `(parse-news-nov-line &optional dependency-hashtb)'
18542 `(parse-news-nov-region beg end &optional dependency-hashtb fullp)'
18543 `(parse-news-active-region beg end hashtb)'
18548 nnml .overview directory with splits.
18552 postponed commands.
18554 the selected article show have its Subject displayed in its summary line.
18556 when entering groups, get the real number of unread articles from
18559 sort after gathering threads -- make false roots have the
18560 headers of the oldest orphan with a 0 article number?
18562 nndoc groups should inherit the score files of their parents? Also
18563 inherit copy prompts and save files.
18565 command to start up Gnus (if not running) and enter a mail mode buffer.
18567 allow editing the group description from the group buffer
18568 for backends that support that.
18570 gnus-hide,show-all-topics
18572 groups and sub-topics should be allowed to mingle inside each topic,
18573 and not just list all subtopics at the end.
18575 a command to remove all read articles that are not needed to connect
18576 threads -- `gnus-summary-limit-to-sparse-unread'?
18578 a variable to turn off limiting/cutting of threads in the tree buffer.
18580 a variable to limit how many files are uudecoded.
18582 add zombie groups to a special "New Groups" topic.
18584 server mode command: close/open all connections
18586 put a file date in gnus-score-alist and check whether the file
18587 has been changed before using it.
18589 on exit from a digest group, go to the next article in the parent group.
18591 hide (sub)threads with low score.
18593 when expiring, remove all marks from expired articles.
18595 gnus-summary-limit-to-body
18597 a regexp alist that says what level groups are to be subscribed
18598 on. Eg. -- `(("nnml:" . 1))'.
18600 easier interface to nnkiboze to create ephemeral groups that
18601 contain groups that match a regexp.
18603 allow newlines in <URL:> urls, but remove them before using
18606 If there is no From line, the mail backends should fudge one from the
18609 fuzzy simplifying should strip all non-alpha-numerical info
18610 from subject lines.
18612 gnus-soup-brew-soup-with-high-scores.
18614 nntp-ping-before-connect
18616 command to check whether NOV is evil. "list overview.fmt".
18618 when entering a group, Gnus should look through the score
18619 files very early for `local' atoms and set those local variables.
18621 message annotations.
18623 topics are always yanked before groups, and that's not good.
18625 (set-extent-property extent 'help-echo "String to display in minibuf")
18626 to display help in the minibuffer on buttons under XEmacs.
18628 allow group line format spec to say how many articles there
18633 `run-with-idle-timer' in gnus-demon.
18635 stop using invisible text properties and start using overlays instead
18637 C-c C-f C-e to add an Expires header.
18639 go from one group to the next; everything is expunged; go to the
18640 next group instead of going to the group buffer.
18642 gnus-renumber-cache -- to renumber the cache using "low" numbers.
18644 record topic changes in the dribble buffer.
18646 `nnfolder-generate-active-file' should look at the folders it
18647 finds and generate proper active ranges.
18649 nneething-look-in-files-for-article-heads variable to control
18650 whether nneething should sniff all files in the directories.
18652 gnus-fetch-article -- start Gnus, enter group, display article
18654 gnus-dont-move-articles-to-same-group variable when respooling.
18656 when messages are crossposted between several auto-expirable groups,
18657 articles aren't properly marked as expirable.
18659 nneething should allow deletion/moving.
18661 TAB on the last button should go to the first button.
18663 if the car of an element in `mail-split-methods' is a function,
18664 and the function returns non-nil, use that as the name of the group(s) to
18667 command for listing all score files that have been applied.
18669 a command in the article buffer to return to `summary' config.
18671 `gnus-always-post-using-current-server' -- variable to override
18672 `C-c C-c' when posting.
18674 nnmail-group-spool-alist -- says where each group should use
18677 when an article is crossposted to an auto-expirable group, the article
18678 should be marker as expirable.
18680 article mode command/menu for "send region as URL to browser".
18682 on errors, jump to info nodes that explain the error. For instance,
18683 on invalid From headers, or on error messages from the nntp server.
18685 when gathering threads, make the article that has no "Re: " the parent.
18686 Also consult Date headers.
18688 a token in splits to call shrink-window-if-larger-than-buffer
18690 `1 0 A M' to do matches on the active hashtb.
18692 duplicates -- command to remove Gnus-Warning header, use the read
18693 Message-ID, delete the "original".
18695 when replying to several messages at once, put the "other" message-ids
18696 into a See-Also header.
18698 support setext: URL:http://www.bsdi.com/setext/
18700 support ProleText: <URL:http://proletext.clari.net/prole/proletext.html>
18702 when browsing a foreign server, the groups that are already subscribed
18703 should be listed as such and not as "K".
18705 generate font names dynamically.
18707 score file mode auto-alist.
18709 allow nndoc to change/add/delete things from documents. Implement
18710 methods for each format for adding an article to the document.
18712 `gnus-fetch-old-headers' `all' value to incorporate
18713 absolutely all headers there is.
18715 function like `|', but concatenate all marked articles
18716 and pipe them to the process.
18718 cache the list of killed (or active) groups in a separate file. Update
18719 the file whenever we read the active file or the list
18720 of killed groups in the .eld file reaches a certain length.
18722 function for starting to edit a file to put into
18723 the current mail group.
18725 score-find-trace should display the total score of the article.
18727 "ghettozie" -- score on Xref header and nix it out after using it
18728 to avoid marking as read in other groups it has been crossposted to.
18730 look at procmail splitting. The backends should create
18731 the groups automatically if a spool file exists for that group.
18733 function for backends to register themselves with Gnus.
18735 when replying to several process-marked articles,
18736 have all the From end up in Cc headers? Variable to toggle.
18738 command to delete a crossposted mail article from all
18739 groups it has been mailed to.
18741 `B c' and `B m' should be crosspost aware.
18743 hide-pgp should also hide PGP public key blocks.
18745 Command in the group buffer to respool process-marked groups.
18747 `gnus-summary-find-matching' should accept
18748 pseudo-"headers" like "body", "head" and "all"
18750 When buttifying <URL: > things, all white space (including
18751 newlines) should be ignored.
18753 Process-marking all groups in a topic should process-mark
18754 groups in subtopics as well.
18756 Add non-native groups to the list of killed groups when killing them.
18758 nntp-suggest-kewl-config to probe the nntp server and suggest
18761 add edit and forward secondary marks.
18763 nnml shouldn't visit its .overview files.
18765 allow customizing sorting within gathered threads.
18767 `B q' shouldn't select the current article.
18769 nnmbox should support a newsgroups file for descriptions.
18771 allow fetching mail from several pop servers.
18773 Be able to specify whether the saving commands save the original
18774 or the formatted article.
18776 a command to reparent with the child process-marked (cf. `T ^'.).
18778 I think the possibility to send a password with nntp-open-rlogin
18779 should be a feature in Red Gnus.
18781 The `Z n' command should be possible to execute from a mouse click.
18783 more limiting functions -- date, etc.
18785 be able to limit on a random header; on body; using reverse matches.
18787 a group parameter (`absofucking-total-expiry') that will make Gnus expire
18788 even unread articles.
18790 a command to print the article buffer as postscript.
18792 variable to disable password fetching when opening by nntp-open-telnet.
18794 manual: more example servers -- nntp with rlogin, telnet
18796 checking for bogus groups should clean topic alists as well.
18798 canceling articles in foreign groups.
18800 article number in folded topics isn't properly updated by
18803 Movement in the group buffer to the next unread group should go to the
18804 next closed topic with unread messages if no group can be found.
18806 Extensive info pages generated on the fly with help everywhere --
18807 in the "*Gnus edit*" buffers, for instance.
18809 Topic movement commands -- like thread movement. Up, down, forward, next.
18811 a way to tick/mark as read Gcc'd articles.
18813 a way to say that all groups within a specific topic comes
18814 from a particular server? Hm.
18816 `gnus-article-fill-if-long-lines' -- a function to fill
18817 the article buffer if there are any looong lines there.
18819 `T h' should jump to the parent topic and fold it.
18821 a command to create an ephemeral nndoc group out of a file,
18822 and then splitting it/moving it to some other group/backend.
18824 a group parameter for nnkiboze groups that says that
18825 all kibozed articles should be entered into the cache.
18827 It should also probably be possible to delimit what
18828 `gnus-jog-cache' does -- for instance, work on just some groups, or on
18829 some levels, and entering just articles that have a score higher than
18832 nnfolder should append to the folder instead of re-writing
18833 the entire folder to disk when accepting new messages.
18835 allow all backends to do the proper thing with .gz files.
18837 a backend for reading collections of babyl files nnbabylfolder?
18839 a command for making the native groups into foreign groups.
18841 server mode command for clearing read marks from all groups
18844 when following up multiple articles, include all To, Cc, etc headers
18847 a command for deciding what the total score of the current
18848 thread is. Also a way to highlight based on this.
18850 command to show and edit group scores
18852 a gnus-tree-minimize-horizontal to minimize tree buffers
18855 command to generate nnml overview file for one group.
18857 `C-u C-u a' -- prompt for many crossposted groups.
18859 keep track of which mail groups have received new articles (in this session).
18860 Be able to generate a report and perhaps do some marking in the group
18863 gnus-build-sparse-threads to a number -- build only sparse threads
18864 that are of that length.
18866 have nnmh respect mh's unseen sequence in .mh_profile.
18868 cache the newsgroups descriptions locally.
18870 asynchronous posting under nntp.
18872 be able to control word adaptive scoring from the score files.
18874 a variable to make `C-c C-c' post using the "current" select method.
18876 `limit-exclude-low-scored-articles'.
18878 if `gnus-summary-show-thread' is a number, hide threads that have
18879 a score lower than this number.
18881 split newsgroup subscription variable up into "order" and "method".
18883 buttonize ange-ftp file names.
18885 a command to make a duplicate copy of the current article
18886 so that each copy can be edited separately.
18888 nnweb should allow fetching from the local nntp server.
18890 record the sorting done in the summary buffer so that
18891 it can be repeated when limiting/regenerating the buffer.
18893 nnml-generate-nov-databses should generate for
18896 when the user does commands in the group buffer, check
18897 the modification time of the .newsrc.eld file and use
18898 ask-user-about-supersession-threat. Also warn when trying
18899 to save .newsrc.eld and it has changed.
18901 M-g on a topic will display all groups with 0 articles in
18904 command to remove all topic stuff.
18906 allow exploding incoming digests when reading incoming mail
18907 and splitting the resulting digests.
18909 nnsoup shouldn't set the `message-' variables.
18911 command to nix out all nnoo state information.
18913 nnmail-process-alist that calls functions if group names
18914 matches an alist -- before saving.
18916 use buffer-invisibility-spec everywhere for hiding text.
18918 variable to activate each group before entering them
18919 to get the (new) number of articles. `gnus-activate-before-entering'.
18921 command to fetch a Message-ID from any buffer, even
18922 starting Gnus first if necessary.
18924 when posting and checking whether a group exists or not, just
18925 ask the nntp server instead of relying on the active hashtb.
18927 buttonize the output of `C-c C-a' in an apropos-like way.
18929 `G p' should understand process/prefix, and allow editing
18930 of several groups at once.
18932 command to create an ephemeral nnvirtual group that
18933 matches some regexp(s).
18935 nndoc should understand "Content-Type: message/rfc822" forwarded messages.
18937 it should be possible to score "thread" on the From header.
18939 hitting RET on a "gnus-uu-archive" pseudo article should unpack it.
18941 `B i' should display the article at once in the summary buffer.
18943 remove the "*" mark at once when unticking an article.
18945 `M-s' should highlight the matching text.
18947 when checking for duplicated mails, use Resent-Message-ID if present.
18949 killing and yanking groups in topics should be better. If killing one copy
18950 of a group that exists in multiple topics, only that copy should
18951 be removed. Yanking should insert the copy, and yanking topics
18952 should be possible to be interspersed with the other yankings.
18954 command for enter a group just to read the cached articles. A way to say
18955 "ignore the nntp connection; just read from the cache."
18957 `X u' should decode base64 articles.
18959 a way to hide all "inner" cited text, leaving just the most
18960 recently cited text.
18962 nnvirtual should be asynchronous.
18964 after editing an article, gnus-original-article-buffer should
18967 there should probably be a way to make Gnus not connect to the
18968 server and just read the articles in the server
18970 allow a `set-default' (or something) to change the default
18971 value of nnoo variables.
18973 a command to import group infos from a .newsrc.eld file.
18975 groups from secondary servers have the entire select method
18976 listed in each group info.
18978 a command for just switching from the summary buffer to the group
18981 a way to specify that some incoming mail washing functions
18982 should only be applied to some groups.
18984 Message `C-f C-t' should ask the user whether to heed
18985 mail-copies-to: never.
18987 new group parameter -- `post-to-server' that says to post
18988 using the current server. Also a variable to do the same.
18990 the slave dribble files should auto-save to the slave file names.
18992 a group parameter that says what articles to display on group entry, based
18995 a way to visually distinguish slave Gnusae from masters. (Whip instead
18998 Use DJ Bernstein "From " quoting/dequoting, where applicable.
19000 Why is hide-citation-maybe and hide-citation different? Also
19003 group user-defined meta-parameters.
19007 From: John Griffith <griffith@@sfs.nphil.uni-tuebingen.de>
19009 I like the option for trying to retrieve the FAQ for a group and I was
19010 thinking it would be great if for those newsgroups that had archives
19011 you could also try to read the archive for that group. Part of the
19012 problem is that archives are spread all over the net, unlike FAQs.
19013 What would be best I suppose is to find the one closest to your site.
19015 In any case, there is a list of general news group archives at @*
19016 ftp://ftp.neosoft.com/pub/users/claird/news.lists/newsgroup_archives.html
19023 From: Jason L Tibbitts III <tibbs@@hpc.uh.edu>
19024 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
19026 (gnus-group-add-parameter group
19027 (cons 'gnus-group-date-last-entered (list (current-time-string))))))
19029 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
19030 "Return the date the group was last read."
19031 (cond ((car (gnus-group-get-parameter gnus-tmp-group 'gnus-group-date-last-entered)))
19036 tanken var at når du bruker `gnus-startup-file' som prefix (FOO) til å lete
19037 opp en fil FOO-SERVER, FOO-SERVER.el, FOO-SERVER.eld, kan du la den være en
19038 liste hvor du bruker hvert element i listen som FOO, istedet. da kunne man
19039 hatt forskjellige serveres startup-filer forskjellige steder.
19043 LMI> Well, nnbabyl could alter the group info to heed labels like
19044 LMI> answered and read, I guess.
19046 It could also keep them updated (the same for the Status: header of
19049 They could be used like this:
19053 `M l <name> RET' add label <name> to current message.
19054 `M u <name> RET' remove label <name> from current message.
19055 `/ l <expr> RET' limit summary buffer according to <expr>.
19057 <expr> would be a boolean expression on the labels, e.g.
19059 `/ l bug & !fixed RET'
19062 would show all the messages which are labeled `bug' but not labeled
19065 One could also imagine the labels being used for highlighting, or
19066 affect the summary line format.
19070 Sender: abraham@@dina.kvl.dk
19072 I'd like a gnus-find-file which work like find file, except that it
19073 would recognize things that looks like messages or folders:
19075 - If it is a directory containing numbered files, create an nndir
19078 - For other directories, create a nneething summary buffer.
19080 - For files matching "\\`From ", create a nndoc/mbox summary.
19082 - For files matching "\\`BABYL OPTIONS:", create a nndoc/baby summary.
19084 - For files matching "\\`[^ \t\n]+:", create an *Article* buffer.
19086 - For other files, just find them normally.
19088 I'd like `nneething' to use this function, so it would work on a
19089 directory potentially containing mboxes or babyl files.
19092 Please send a mail to bwarsaw@@cnri.reston.va.us (Barry A. Warsaw) and
19093 tell him what you are doing.
19096 Currently, I get prompted:
19100 decend into sci.something ?
19104 The problem above is that since there is really only one subsection of
19105 science, shouldn't it prompt you for only descending sci.something? If
19106 there was a sci.somethingelse group or section, then it should prompt
19107 for sci? first the sci.something? then sci.somethingelse?...
19110 Ja, det burde være en måte å si slikt. Kanskje en ny variabel?
19111 `gnus-use-few-score-files'? SÃ¥ kunne score-regler legges til den
19112 "mest" lokale score-fila. F. eks. ville no-gruppene betjenes av
19113 "no.all.SCORE", osv.
19116 What i want is for Gnus to treat any sequence or combination of the following
19117 as a single spoiler warning and hide it all, replacing it with a "Next Page"
19123 more than n blank lines
19125 more than m identical lines
19126 (which should be replaced with button to show them)
19128 any whitespace surrounding any of the above
19132 Well, we could allow a new value to `gnus-thread-ignore-subject' --
19133 `spaces', or something. (We could even default to that.) And then
19134 subjects that differ in white space only could be considered the
19135 "same" subject for threading purposes.
19138 Modes to preprocess the contents (e.g. jka-compr) use the second form
19139 "(REGEXP FUNCTION NON-NIL)" while ordinary modes (e.g. tex) use the first
19140 form "(REGEXP . FUNCTION)", so you could use it to distinguish between
19141 those two types of modes. (auto-modes-alist, insert-file-contents-literally.)
19144 Under XEmacs -- do funny article marks:
19147 soup - bowl of soup
19148 score below - dim light bulb
19149 score over - bright light bulb
19152 Yes. I think the algorithm is as follows:
19157 show-list-of-articles-in-group
19158 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
19159 if (no-more-articles-in-group-to-select)
19160 if (articles-selected)
19161 start-reading-selected-articles;
19162 junk-unread-articles;
19167 else if (key-pressed = '.')
19168 if (consolidated-menus) # same as hide-thread in Gnus
19169 select-thread-under-cursor;
19171 select-article-under-cursor;
19175 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
19176 if (more-pages-in-article)
19178 else if (more-selected-articles-to-read)
19185 My precise need here would have been to limit files to Incoming*.
19186 One could think of some `nneething-only-files' variable, but I guess
19187 it would have been unacceptable if one was using many unrelated such
19190 A more useful approach would be to, in response to the `G D' prompt, be
19191 allowed to say something like: `~/.mail/Incoming*', somewhat limiting
19192 the top-level directory only (in case directories would be matched by
19193 the wildcard expression).
19196 It would be nice if it also handled
19198 <URL:news://sunsite.auc.dk/>
19200 which should correspond to `B nntp RET sunsite.auc.dk' in *Group*.
19205 Take a look at w3-menu.el in the Emacs-W3 distribution - this works out
19206 really well. Each menu is 'named' by a symbol that would be on a
19207 gnus-*-menus (where * would be whatever, but at least group, summary, and
19208 article versions) variable.
19210 So for gnus-summary-menus, I would set to '(sort mark dispose ...)
19212 A value of '1' would just put _all_ the menus in a single 'GNUS' menu in
19213 the main menubar. This approach works really well for Emacs-W3 and VM.
19217 nndoc should take care to create unique Message-IDs for all its
19220 gnus-score-followup-article only works when you have a summary buffer
19221 active. Make it work when posting from the group buffer as well.
19222 (message-sent-hook).
19224 rewrite gnus-demon to use run-with-idle-timers.
19227 * Enhancements to Gnus:
19231 * gnus-servers (gnus-start-server-buffer?)--enters Gnus and goes
19232 straight to the server buffer, without opening any connections to
19235 * gnus-server-read-server-newsrc--produces a buffer very similar to
19236 the group buffer, but with only groups from that server listed;
19237 quitting this buffer returns to the server buffer.
19240 add a command to check the integrity of an nnfolder folder --
19241 go through the article numbers and see that there are no duplicates,
19245 `unsmileyfy-buffer' to undo smileification.
19248 a command to give all relevant info on an article, including all
19252 when doing `-request-accept-article', the backends should do
19253 the nnmail duplicate checking.
19256 allow `message-signature-file' to be a function to return the
19257 value of the signature file.
19260 In addition, I would love it if I could configure message-tab so that it
19261 could call `bbdb-complete-name' in other headers. So, some sort of
19264 (setq message-tab-alist
19265 '((message-header-regexp message-expand-group)
19266 ("^\\(To\\|[cC]c\\|[bB]cc\\)" bbdb-complete-name)))
19268 then you could run the relevant function to complete the information in
19272 cache the newsgroups file locally to avoid reloading it all the time.
19275 a command to import a buffer into a group.
19278 nnweb should allow fetching by Message-ID from servers.
19281 point in the article buffer doesn't always go to the
19282 beginning of the buffer when selecting new articles.
19285 a command to process mark all unread articles.
19288 `gnus-gather-threads-by-references-and-subject' -- first
19289 do gathering by references, and then go through the dummy roots and
19290 do more gathering by subject.
19293 gnus-uu-mark-in-numerical-order -- process mark articles in
19294 article numerical order.
19297 (gnus-thread-total-score
19298 (gnus-id-to-thread (mail-header-id (gnus-summary-article-header))))
19302 sorting by score is wrong when using sparse threads.
19305 a command to fetch an arbitrary article -- without having to be
19306 in the summary buffer.
19309 a new nncvs backend. Each group would show an article, using
19310 version branches as threading, checkin date as the date, etc.
19313 http://www.dejanews.com/forms/dnsetfilter_exp.html ?
19314 This filter allows one to construct advance queries on the Dejanews
19315 database such as specifying start and end dates, subject, author,
19316 and/or newsgroup name.
19319 new Date header scoring type -- older, newer
19322 use the summary toolbar in the article buffer.
19325 a command to fetch all articles that are less than X days old.
19328 in pick mode, `q' should save the list of selected articles in the
19329 group info. The next time the group is selected, these articles
19330 will automatically get the process mark.
19333 Isn't it possible to (also?) allow M-^ to automatically try the
19334 default server if it fails on the current server? (controlled by a
19335 user variable, (nil, t, 'ask)).
19338 make it possible to cancel articles using the select method for the
19342 `gnus-summary-select-article-on-entry' or something. It'll default
19343 to t and will select whatever article decided by `gnus-auto-select-first'.
19346 a new variable to control which selection commands should be unselecting.
19347 `first', `best', `next', `prev', `next-unread', `prev-unread' are
19351 be able to select groups that have no articles in them
19352 to be able to post in them (using the current select method).
19355 be able to post via DejaNews.
19358 `x' should retain any sortings that have been performed.
19361 allow the user to specify the precedence of the secondary marks. Also
19362 allow them to be displayed separately.
19365 gnus-summary-save-in-pipe should concatenate the results from
19366 the processes when doing a process marked pipe.
19369 a new match type, like Followup, but which adds Thread matches on all
19370 articles that match a certain From header.
19373 a function that can be read from kill-emacs-query-functions to offer
19374 saving living summary buffers.
19377 a function for selecting a particular group which will contain
19378 the articles listed in a list of article numbers/id's.
19381 a battery of character translation functions to translate common
19382 Mac, MS (etc) characters into ISO 8859-1.
19385 (defun article-fix-m$word ()
19386 "Fix M$Word smartquotes in an article."
19389 (let ((buffer-read-only nil))
19390 (goto-char (point-min))
19391 (while (search-forward "\221" nil t)
19392 (replace-match "`" t t))
19393 (goto-char (point-min))
19394 (while (search-forward "\222" nil t)
19395 (replace-match "'" t t))
19396 (goto-char (point-min))
19397 (while (search-forward "\223" nil t)
19398 (replace-match "\"" t t))
19399 (goto-char (point-min))
19400 (while (search-forward "\224" nil t)
19401 (replace-match "\"" t t)))))
19406 (add-hook 'gnus-exit-query-functions
19408 (if (and (file-exists-p nnmail-spool-file)
19409 (> (nnheader-file-size nnmail-spool-file) 0))
19410 (yes-or-no-p "New mail has arrived. Quit Gnus anyways? ")
19411 (y-or-n-p "Are you sure you want to quit Gnus? "))))
19415 allow message-default-headers to be a function.
19418 new Date score match types -- < > = (etc) that take floating point
19419 numbers and match on the age of the article.
19423 > > > If so, I've got one gripe: It seems that when I fire up gnus 5.2.25
19424 > > > under xemacs-19.14, it's creating a new frame, but is erasing the
19425 > > > buffer in the frame that it was called from =:-O
19427 > > Hm. How do you start up Gnus? From the toolbar or with
19428 > > `M-x gnus-other-frame'?
19430 > I normally start it up from the toolbar; at
19431 > least that's the way I've caught it doing the
19436 all commands that react to the process mark should push
19437 the current process mark set onto the stack.
19440 gnus-article-hide-pgp
19441 Selv ville jeg nok ha valgt å slette den dersom teksten matcher
19443 "\\(This\s+\\)?[^ ]+ has been automatically signed by"
19445 og det er maks hundre tegn mellom match-end og ----linja. Men -det-
19446 er min type heuristikk og langt fra alles.
19449 `gnus-subscribe-sorted' -- insert new groups where they would have been
19450 sorted to if `gnus-group-sort-function' were run.
19453 gnus-(group,summary)-highlight should respect any `face' text props set
19457 use run-with-idle-timer for gnus-demon instead of the
19458 home-brewed stuff for better reliability.
19461 add a way to select which NoCeM type to apply -- spam, troll, etc.
19464 nndraft-request-group should tally auto-save files.
19467 implement nntp-retry-on-break and nntp-command-timeout.
19470 gnus-article-highlight-limit that says when not to highlight (long)
19474 (nnoo-set SERVER VARIABLE VALUE)
19480 interrupitng agent fetching of articles should save articles.
19483 command to open a digest group, and copy all the articles there to the
19487 a variable to disable article body highlights if there's more than
19488 X characters in the body.
19491 handle 480/381 authinfo requests separately.
19494 include the texi/dir file in the distribution.
19497 format spec to "tab" to a position.
19500 Move all prompting to the new `M-n' default style.
19503 command to display all dormant articles.
19506 gnus-auto-select-next makeover -- list of things it should do.
19509 a score match type that adds scores matching on From if From has replied
19510 to something someone else has said.
19513 Read Netscape discussion groups:
19514 snews://secnews.netscape.com/netscape.communicator.unix
19517 One command to edit the original version if an article, and one to edit
19518 the displayed version.
19521 @kbd{T v} -- make all process-marked articles the children of the
19525 Switch from initial text to the new default text mechanism.
19528 How about making it possible to expire local articles? Will it be
19529 possible to make various constraints on when an article can be
19530 expired, e.g. (read), (age > 14 days), or the more interesting (read
19534 New limit command---limit to articles that have a certain string
19535 in the head or body.
19538 Allow breaking lengthy NNTP commands.
19541 gnus-article-highlight-limit, to disable highlighting in big articles.
19544 Editing an article should put the article to be edited
19545 in a special, unique buffer.
19548 A command to send a mail to the admin-address group param.
19551 A Date scoring type that will match if the article
19552 is less than a certain number of days old.
19555 New spec: %~(tab 56) to put point on column 56
19558 Allow Gnus Agent scoring to use normal score files.
19561 Rething the Agent active file thing. `M-g' doesn't update the active
19562 file, for instance.
19565 With dummy roots, `^' and then selecing the first article
19566 in any other dummy thread will make Gnus highlight the
19567 dummy root instead of the first article.
19570 Propagate all group properties (marks, article numbers, etc) up to the
19571 topics for displaying.
19574 `n' in the group buffer with topics should go to the next group
19575 with unread articles, even if that group is hidden in a topic.
19578 gnus-posting-styles doesn't work in drafts.
19581 gnus-summary-limit-include-cached is slow when there are
19582 many articles in the cache, since it regenerates big parts of the
19583 summary buffer for each article.
19586 Implement gnus-batch-brew-soup.
19589 Group parameters and summary commands for un/subscribing to mailing
19593 Introduce nnmail-home-directory.
19596 gnus-fetch-group and friends should exit Gnus when the user
19600 The jingle is only played on the second invocation of Gnus.
19603 Bouncing articles should do MIME.
19606 Crossposted articles should "inherit" the % or @ mark from the other
19607 groups it has been crossposted to, or something. (Agent.)
19610 `S D r' should allow expansion of aliases.
19613 If point is on a group that appears multiple times in topics, and
19614 you press `l', point will move to the first instance of the group.
19617 Fetch by Message-ID from dejanews.
19619 <URL:http://search.dejanews.com/msgid.xp?MID=%3C62h9l9$hm4@@basement.replay.com%3E&fmt=raw>
19622 A spec for the group line format to display the number of
19623 agent-downloaded articles in the group.
19626 Some nntp servers never respond when posting, so there should be a
19627 timeout for all commands.
19630 When stading on a topic line and `t'-ing, point goes to the last line.
19631 It should go somewhere else.
19634 I'm having trouble accessing a newsgroup with a "+" in its name with
19635 Gnus. There is a new newsgroup on msnews.microsoft.com named
19636 "microsoft.public.multimedia.directx.html+time" that I'm trying to
19638 "nntp+msnews.microsoft.com:microsoft.public.multimedia.directx.html+time"
19639 but it gives an error that it cant access the group.
19641 Is the "+" character illegal in newsgroup names? Is there any way in
19642 Gnus to work around this? (gnus 5.6.45 - XEmacs 20.4)
19649 Subject: Answer to your mails 01.01.1999-01.05.1999
19650 --text follows this line--
19651 Sorry I killfiled you...
19653 Under the subject "foo", you wrote on 01.01.1999:
19655 Under the subject "foo1", you wrote on 01.01.1999:
19660 Allow "orphan" scores in the Agent scoring.
19664 - Edit article's summary line.
19666 - Sort lines in buffer by subject
19668 --> the old subject line appears in Summary buffer, not the one that was
19674 Remove list identifiers from the subject in the summary when doing `^'
19678 Solve the halting problem.
19687 @section The Manual
19691 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
19692 either @code{texi2dvi}
19694 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
19695 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
19697 to get what you hold in your hands now.
19699 The following conventions have been used:
19704 This is a @samp{string}
19707 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
19710 This is a @file{file}
19713 This is a @code{symbol}
19717 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
19721 (setq flargnoze "yes")
19724 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
19727 (setq flumphel 'yes)
19730 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
19731 ever get them confused.
19735 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
19736 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
19737 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
19738 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
19739 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
19740 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
19741 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
19749 @section Terminology
19751 @cindex terminology
19756 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
19757 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
19758 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
19759 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
19760 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
19764 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
19765 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
19766 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
19767 not posting, and replying is not following up.
19771 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
19775 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
19780 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
19781 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
19782 is all done by the backends.
19786 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
19787 default, way of getting news.
19791 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
19792 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary backends for getting
19797 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
19798 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
19802 A message that has been posted as news.
19805 @cindex mail message
19806 A message that has been mailed.
19810 A mail message or news article
19814 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
19819 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
19824 A line from the head of an article.
19828 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
19829 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
19833 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
19834 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
19835 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
19836 normal @sc{head} format.
19840 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
19841 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
19842 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
19843 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
19844 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
19845 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
19847 @item killed groups
19848 @cindex killed groups
19849 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
19850 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
19852 @item zombie groups
19853 @cindex zombie groups
19854 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
19857 @cindex active file
19858 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
19859 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
19860 is rather large, as you might surmise.
19863 @cindex bogus groups
19864 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
19865 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
19866 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
19869 @cindex activating groups
19870 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
19871 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
19872 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
19876 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
19878 @item select method
19879 @cindex select method
19880 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
19883 @item virtual server
19884 @cindex virtual server
19885 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
19886 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
19887 whole is a virtual server.
19891 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
19892 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
19895 @item ephemeral groups
19896 @cindex ephemeral groups
19897 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
19898 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
19899 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
19902 @cindex solid groups
19903 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
19904 group buffer are solid groups.
19906 @item sparse articles
19907 @cindex sparse articles
19908 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
19909 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
19913 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
19914 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
19918 @cindex thread root
19919 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
19920 articles in the thread.
19924 An article that has responses.
19928 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
19932 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
19933 specified by RFC1153.
19939 @node Customization
19940 @section Customization
19941 @cindex general customization
19943 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
19944 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
19945 for some quite common situations.
19948 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
19949 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
19950 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
19951 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
19955 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
19956 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
19958 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
19959 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
19960 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
19964 @item gnus-read-active-file
19965 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
19966 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
19967 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
19968 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
19969 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
19971 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
19972 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
19973 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
19974 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
19978 @node Slow Terminal Connection
19979 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
19981 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
19982 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
19983 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
19987 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
19988 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
19989 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
19990 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
19991 horizontal and vertical recentering.
19993 @item gnus-visible-headers
19994 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
19995 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
19996 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
19997 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
19999 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
20001 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
20002 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
20003 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
20006 @item gnus-use-full-window
20007 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
20008 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
20009 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
20010 want to read them anyway.
20012 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
20013 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
20016 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
20017 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
20018 lines, which might save some time.
20022 @node Little Disk Space
20023 @subsection Little Disk Space
20026 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
20027 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
20031 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
20032 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
20033 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
20034 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
20037 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
20038 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
20039 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
20040 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
20043 @item gnus-save-killed-list
20044 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
20045 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
20046 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
20047 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
20053 @subsection Slow Machine
20054 @cindex slow machine
20056 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
20057 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
20059 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
20060 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
20062 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
20063 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
20064 summary buffer faster.
20068 @node Troubleshooting
20069 @section Troubleshooting
20070 @cindex troubleshooting
20072 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
20080 Make sure your computer is switched on.
20083 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
20084 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
20088 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
20089 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
20090 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
20091 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
20094 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
20098 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
20099 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
20100 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
20101 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
20102 something like that.
20105 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
20108 @cindex reporting bugs
20110 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
20112 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
20113 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
20114 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
20115 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
20117 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
20118 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
20119 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
20120 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
20123 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
20124 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
20125 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
20126 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
20127 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
20128 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
20130 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
20131 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
20132 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
20135 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
20136 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
20138 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
20139 @cindex ding mailing list
20140 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
20141 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
20145 @node Gnus Reference Guide
20146 @section Gnus Reference Guide
20148 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
20149 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
20150 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
20151 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
20154 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
20155 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
20156 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
20157 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
20158 and general methods of operation.
20161 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
20162 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
20163 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
20164 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
20165 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
20166 * Group Info:: The group info format.
20167 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
20168 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
20169 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
20173 @node Gnus Utility Functions
20174 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
20175 @cindex Gnus utility functions
20176 @cindex utility functions
20178 @cindex internal variables
20180 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
20181 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
20182 Below is a list of the most common ones.
20186 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
20187 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
20188 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
20190 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
20191 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
20192 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
20194 @item gnus-group-real-name
20195 @findex gnus-group-real-name
20196 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
20199 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
20200 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
20201 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
20202 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
20204 @item gnus-get-info
20205 @findex gnus-get-info
20206 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
20208 @item gnus-group-unread
20209 @findex gnus-group-unread
20210 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
20214 @findex gnus-active
20215 The active entry for @var{group}.
20217 @item gnus-set-active
20218 @findex gnus-set-active
20219 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
20221 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
20222 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
20223 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
20226 @item gnus-continuum-version
20227 @findex gnus-continuum-version
20228 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
20229 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
20232 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
20233 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
20234 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
20236 @item gnus-news-group-p
20237 @findex gnus-news-group-p
20238 Says whether @var{group} came from a news backend.
20240 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
20241 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
20242 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
20244 @item gnus-server-to-method
20245 @findex gnus-server-to-method
20246 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
20248 @item gnus-server-equal
20249 @findex gnus-server-equal
20250 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
20252 @item gnus-group-native-p
20253 @findex gnus-group-native-p
20254 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
20256 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
20257 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
20258 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
20260 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
20261 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
20262 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
20264 @item group-group-find-parameter
20265 @findex group-group-find-parameter
20266 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
20267 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
20269 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
20270 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
20271 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
20273 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
20274 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
20275 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
20277 @item gnus-check-backend-function
20278 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
20279 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the backend
20280 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
20283 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
20287 @item gnus-read-method
20288 @findex gnus-read-method
20289 Prompts the user for a select method.
20294 @node Backend Interface
20295 @subsection Backend Interface
20297 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
20298 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
20299 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
20300 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
20301 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
20302 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
20304 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
20305 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
20306 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
20307 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
20308 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
20309 been opened, the function should fail.
20311 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
20312 name. Take this example:
20316 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
20317 (nntp-port-number 4324))
20320 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
20321 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
20323 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
20324 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
20325 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
20327 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
20328 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
20329 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
20331 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
20332 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
20333 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
20334 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
20335 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
20336 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
20339 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
20340 some might be said not to be. The latter are backends that generally
20341 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
20342 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
20345 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
20348 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
20351 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
20352 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
20353 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
20354 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
20355 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
20356 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
20360 @node Required Backend Functions
20361 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
20365 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
20367 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
20368 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
20369 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
20370 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
20372 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
20373 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
20374 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
20375 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
20377 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
20378 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
20379 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
20380 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
20381 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
20382 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
20383 number, do maximum fetches.
20385 Here's an example HEAD:
20388 221 1056 Article retrieved.
20389 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
20390 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
20391 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
20392 Subject: Re: Something very droll
20393 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
20394 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
20396 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
20397 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
20398 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
20402 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
20403 these in the data buffer.
20405 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
20409 head = error / valid-head
20410 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
20411 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
20412 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
20413 header = <text> eol
20416 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
20417 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
20421 nov-buffer = *nov-line
20422 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
20423 field = <text except TAB>
20426 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
20430 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
20432 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
20433 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
20435 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
20436 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
20437 server. In fact, it should do so.
20439 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
20440 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
20443 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
20445 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
20446 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
20449 There should be no data returned.
20452 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
20454 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
20455 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
20456 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
20457 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
20459 There should be no data returned.
20462 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
20464 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
20465 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
20466 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
20467 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
20469 There should be no data returned.
20472 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
20474 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
20476 There should be no data returned.
20479 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
20481 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
20482 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
20483 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
20484 it would be nice if that were possible.
20486 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
20487 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
20488 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
20489 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
20490 into its article buffer.
20492 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
20493 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
20494 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
20495 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
20496 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
20497 on successful article retrieval.
20500 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
20502 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
20503 making @var{group} the current group.
20505 If @var{FAST}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
20508 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
20511 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
20514 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
20515 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
20516 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
20517 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
20518 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
20519 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
20520 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
20521 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
20524 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
20525 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
20526 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
20530 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
20532 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
20533 a no-op on most backends.
20535 There should be no data returned.
20538 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
20540 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
20543 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
20546 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
20547 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
20550 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
20551 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
20554 active-file = *active-line
20555 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
20557 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
20560 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
20561 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
20562 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
20565 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
20567 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
20568 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
20569 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
20570 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
20571 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
20572 clear if the posting could not be completed.
20574 There should be no result data from this function.
20579 @node Optional Backend Functions
20580 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
20584 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
20586 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
20587 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
20588 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
20590 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
20591 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
20592 former is in the same format as the data from
20593 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
20594 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
20597 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
20601 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
20603 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
20604 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
20605 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
20606 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
20607 should return the (altered) group info.
20609 There should be no result data from this function.
20612 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
20614 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
20615 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
20616 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
20617 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
20618 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
20619 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
20620 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
20621 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
20623 There should be no result data from this function.
20626 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
20628 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
20629 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
20630 @code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some backends (such as IMAP) however carry all
20631 information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to propagate
20632 the mark information to the server.
20634 ACTION is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
20637 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
20640 Range is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. Action is
20641 @code{set}, @code{add} or @code{del}, respectively used for removing all
20642 existing marks and setting them as specified, adding (preserving the
20643 marks not mentioned) mark and removing (preserving the marks not
20644 mentioned) marks. Mark is a list of marks; where each mark is a
20645 symbol. Currently used marks are @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply},
20646 @code{expire}, @code{killed}, @code{dormant}, @code{save},
20647 @code{download} and @code{unsend}, but your backend should, if possible,
20648 not limit itself to theese.
20650 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
20651 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
20652 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
20653 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
20655 An example action list:
20658 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
20659 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
20660 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
20663 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
20664 mark on (currently not used for anything).
20666 There should be no result data from this function.
20668 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
20670 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
20671 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
20672 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
20673 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
20674 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
20676 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
20677 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
20678 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
20681 There should be no result data from this function.
20684 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
20686 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
20687 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
20688 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
20689 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
20690 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
20691 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
20692 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
20694 There should be no result data from this function.
20697 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
20699 The result data from this function should be a description of
20703 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
20705 description = <text>
20708 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
20710 The result data from this function should be the description of all
20711 groups available on the server.
20714 description-buffer = *description-line
20718 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
20720 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
20721 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
20722 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
20725 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
20727 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
20729 There should be no return data.
20732 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
20734 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
20735 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
20736 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
20737 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
20738 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
20741 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
20744 There should be no result data returned.
20747 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
20750 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
20751 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
20753 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
20754 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
20755 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
20756 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
20757 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
20758 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
20760 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
20761 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
20764 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
20765 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
20767 There should be no data returned.
20770 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
20772 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
20773 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
20774 this function in short order.
20776 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
20777 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
20779 There should be no data returned.
20782 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
20784 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
20785 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
20787 There should be no data returned.
20790 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
20792 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
20793 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
20794 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
20796 There should be no data returned.
20799 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
20801 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
20802 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
20804 There should be no data returned.
20809 @node Error Messaging
20810 @subsubsection Error Messaging
20812 @findex nnheader-report
20813 @findex nnheader-get-report
20814 The backends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
20815 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
20816 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the backend
20817 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
20818 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
20819 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
20822 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
20824 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
20827 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
20828 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
20829 recently reported message for the backend in question. This function
20830 takes one argument---the server symbol.
20832 Internally, these functions access @var{backend}@code{-status-string},
20833 so the @code{nnchoke} backend will have its error message stored in
20834 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
20837 @node Writing New Backends
20838 @subsubsection Writing New Backends
20840 Many backends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
20841 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
20842 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
20843 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
20844 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
20847 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
20848 backends when writing new backends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
20849 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
20851 All the backends declare their public variables and functions by using a
20852 package called @code{nnoo}.
20854 To inherit functions from other backends (and allow other backends to
20855 inherit functions from the current backend), you should use the
20861 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
20862 parameters. For instance:
20865 (nnoo-declare nndir
20869 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
20870 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
20873 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
20874 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
20875 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
20877 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
20878 variables in the parent backends to map the variable to when executing
20879 a function in those backends.
20882 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
20883 "Where nndir will look for groups."
20884 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
20887 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
20888 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
20889 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
20891 @item nnoo-define-basics
20892 This macro defines some common functions that almost all backends should
20896 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
20900 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
20901 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
20902 function as being public so that other backends can inherit it.
20904 @item nnoo-map-functions
20905 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current backend to
20906 functions from the parent backends.
20909 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
20910 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
20911 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
20914 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
20915 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
20916 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
20917 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
20920 This macro allows importing functions from backends. It should be the
20921 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
20922 haven't already been defined.
20928 nnmh-request-newgroups)
20932 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
20933 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
20934 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
20939 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} backend.
20942 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
20943 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
20947 (require 'nnheader)
20951 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
20953 (nnoo-declare nndir
20956 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
20957 "Where nndir will look for groups."
20958 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
20960 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
20961 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
20964 (defvoo nndir-current-group "" nil nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
20965 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
20966 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
20968 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
20969 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
20971 ;;; Interface functions.
20973 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
20975 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
20976 (setq nndir-directory
20977 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
20979 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
20980 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
20981 (push `(nndir-current-group
20982 ,(file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
20984 (push `(nndir-top-directory
20985 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
20987 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
20989 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
20990 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
20991 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
20992 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
20993 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
20997 nnmh-status-message
20999 nnmh-request-newgroups))
21005 @node Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
21006 @subsubsection Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
21008 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
21009 Having Gnus start using your new backend is rather easy---you just
21010 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
21011 enter the backend into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
21013 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the backend name and
21014 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
21019 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
21022 The abilities can be:
21026 This is a mailish backend---followups should (probably) go via mail.
21028 This is a newsish backend---followups should (probably) go via news.
21030 This backend supports both mail and news.
21032 This is neither a post nor mail backend---it's something completely
21035 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
21036 articles and groups.
21038 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
21039 true for almost all backends.
21040 @item prompt-address
21041 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
21042 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for backends like
21043 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
21047 @node Mail-like Backends
21048 @subsubsection Mail-like Backends
21050 One of the things that separate the mail backends from the rest of the
21051 backends is the heavy dependence by the mail backends on common
21052 functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
21053 @code{nnml-request-scan}:
21056 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
21057 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
21058 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
21061 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
21062 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
21065 This function takes four parameters.
21069 This should be a symbol to designate which backend is responsible for
21072 @item exit-function
21073 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
21075 @item temp-directory
21076 Where the temporary files should be stored.
21079 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
21080 performed for one group only.
21083 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{backend}@code{-save-mail} to
21084 save each article. @var{backend}@code{-active-number} will be called to
21085 find the article number assigned to this article.
21087 The function also uses the following variables:
21088 @var{backend}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
21089 this backend); and @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} and
21090 @var{backend}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
21091 @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
21095 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
21096 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
21100 @node Score File Syntax
21101 @subsection Score File Syntax
21103 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
21104 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
21105 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
21107 Here's a typical score file:
21111 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
21118 BNF definition of a score file:
21121 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
21122 element = rule / atom
21123 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
21124 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
21125 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
21126 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
21128 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
21129 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
21130 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
21131 date-header = "date"
21132 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
21133 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
21134 score = "nil" / <integer>
21135 date = "nil" / <natural number>
21136 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
21137 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
21138 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
21139 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
21140 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
21141 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
21142 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
21143 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
21144 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
21145 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
21146 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
21147 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
21148 exclude-files / read-only / touched
21149 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
21150 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
21151 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
21152 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
21153 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
21154 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
21155 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
21156 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
21157 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
21158 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
21159 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
21160 eval = "eval" space <form>
21161 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
21164 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
21167 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
21168 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
21169 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
21170 one looong line, then that's ok.
21172 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
21173 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
21177 @subsection Headers
21179 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
21180 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
21181 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
21182 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
21184 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
21185 RFC1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
21186 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
21187 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
21188 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
21189 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
21190 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
21192 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
21193 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
21194 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
21195 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
21196 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
21198 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
21199 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
21205 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
21206 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
21208 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
21209 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
21210 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
21211 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
21213 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
21217 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
21220 is transformed into
21223 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
21226 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
21227 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
21230 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
21233 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
21234 is slightly tricky:
21237 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
21243 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
21246 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
21252 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
21259 and is equal to the previous range.
21261 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
21262 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
21263 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
21267 range = simple-range / normal-range
21268 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
21269 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
21270 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
21271 number *[ " " contents ]
21274 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
21275 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
21276 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
21277 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
21278 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
21283 @subsection Group Info
21285 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
21286 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
21287 describes the group.
21289 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
21290 second is a more complex one:
21293 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
21295 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
21296 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
21298 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
21301 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
21302 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
21303 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
21304 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
21305 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
21306 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
21307 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
21308 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
21309 this section is about.
21311 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
21312 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
21313 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
21315 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
21318 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
21319 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
21320 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
21321 group = quote <string> quote
21322 ralevel = rank / level
21323 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
21324 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
21325 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
21327 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
21328 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
21329 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
21330 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
21333 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
21334 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
21337 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
21338 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
21341 @item gnus-info-group
21342 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
21343 @findex gnus-info-group
21344 @findex gnus-info-set-group
21345 Get/set the group name.
21347 @item gnus-info-rank
21348 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
21349 @findex gnus-info-rank
21350 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
21351 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
21353 @item gnus-info-level
21354 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
21355 @findex gnus-info-level
21356 @findex gnus-info-set-level
21357 Get/set the group level.
21359 @item gnus-info-score
21360 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
21361 @findex gnus-info-score
21362 @findex gnus-info-set-score
21363 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
21365 @item gnus-info-read
21366 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
21367 @findex gnus-info-read
21368 @findex gnus-info-set-read
21369 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
21371 @item gnus-info-marks
21372 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
21373 @findex gnus-info-marks
21374 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
21375 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
21377 @item gnus-info-method
21378 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
21379 @findex gnus-info-method
21380 @findex gnus-info-set-method
21381 Get/set the group select method.
21383 @item gnus-info-params
21384 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
21385 @findex gnus-info-params
21386 @findex gnus-info-set-params
21387 Get/set the group parameters.
21390 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
21391 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
21393 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
21394 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
21395 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
21396 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
21399 @node Extended Interactive
21400 @subsection Extended Interactive
21401 @cindex interactive
21402 @findex gnus-interactive
21404 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
21405 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
21406 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
21409 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
21410 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
21415 The best thing to do would have been to implement
21416 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
21417 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
21418 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
21419 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
21420 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
21421 @code{interactive}.
21423 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
21428 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
21429 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
21433 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
21434 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
21435 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
21438 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
21442 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
21446 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
21452 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
21453 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
21457 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
21458 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
21459 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
21461 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
21462 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
21463 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
21464 Gnus, that's very useful.
21466 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
21467 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
21468 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
21469 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
21470 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
21471 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
21472 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
21473 following function:
21476 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
21480 (,function ,@@args))
21484 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
21485 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
21486 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
21489 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
21490 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
21491 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
21493 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
21494 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
21495 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
21498 @node Various File Formats
21499 @subsection Various File Formats
21502 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
21503 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
21507 @node Active File Format
21508 @subsubsection Active File Format
21510 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
21511 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
21514 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
21517 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
21518 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
21519 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
21520 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
21521 no.general 1000 900 y
21524 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
21527 active = *group-line
21528 group-line = group space high-number space low-number space flag <NEWLINE>
21529 group = <non-white-space string>
21531 high-number = <non-negative integer>
21532 low-number = <positive integer>
21533 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
21536 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
21537 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
21540 @node Newsgroups File Format
21541 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
21543 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
21544 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
21545 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
21548 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
21549 Here's the definition:
21553 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
21554 group = <non-white-space string>
21556 description = <string>
21561 @node Emacs for Heathens
21562 @section Emacs for Heathens
21564 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
21565 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
21566 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
21567 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
21568 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
21569 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
21570 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
21574 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
21575 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
21580 @subsection Keystrokes
21584 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
21587 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
21590 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
21591 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
21592 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
21593 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
21594 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
21595 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
21597 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
21598 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
21599 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
21600 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
21601 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
21602 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
21603 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
21605 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
21606 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
21607 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
21608 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
21609 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
21610 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
21611 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
21613 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
21614 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
21615 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
21616 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
21617 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
21623 @subsection Emacs Lisp
21625 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
21626 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
21627 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
21628 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
21630 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
21631 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
21632 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
21633 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
21634 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
21635 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
21636 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
21639 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
21640 write the following:
21643 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
21646 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
21647 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
21648 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
21651 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
21652 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
21653 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
21654 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
21655 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
21657 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
21658 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
21659 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
21663 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
21667 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
21670 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
21671 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
21674 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
21677 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
21678 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
21681 @include gnus-faq.texi