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4 @settitle Red Gnus Manual
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176 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
183 \thispagestyle{empty}
185 Copyright \copyright{} 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
187 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
188 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
189 are preserved on all copies.
191 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
192 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
193 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
194 permission notice identical to this one.
196 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
197 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
206 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
208 Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
210 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
211 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
212 are preserved on all copies.
215 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
216 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
217 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
218 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
221 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
222 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
223 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
224 permission notice identical to this one.
226 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
227 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
233 @title Red Gnus Manual
235 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
238 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
239 Copyright @copyright{} 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
241 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
242 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
243 are preserved on all copies.
245 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
246 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
247 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
248 permission notice identical to this one.
250 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
251 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
260 @top The Gnus Newsreader
264 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
265 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
266 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
274 \thispagestyle{empty}
277 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
278 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
280 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
281 being accused of plagiarism:
283 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
284 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
285 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you can
286 even read news with it!
288 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
289 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
290 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
291 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
292 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
299 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
300 * The Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
301 * The Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
302 * The Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
303 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
304 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
305 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
306 * Various:: General purpose settings.
307 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
308 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
309 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
310 * Key Index:: Key Index.
315 @chapter Starting Gnus
320 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
321 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
324 @findex gnus-other-frame
325 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
326 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
327 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
329 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
333 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
334 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
335 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
336 * Slave Gnusii:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
337 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
338 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
339 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
340 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
341 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
342 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
343 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
347 @node Finding the News
348 @section Finding the News
350 @vindex gnus-select-method
352 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
353 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
354 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
355 native method. All groups that are not fetched with this method are
358 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
359 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
362 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
365 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
368 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
371 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
372 certainly be much faster.
374 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
376 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
377 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
378 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
379 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
380 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
381 that fails as well, Gnus will will try to use the machine that is
382 running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long-shot, though.
384 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
385 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
386 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
387 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
389 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
390 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
391 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
392 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
393 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
394 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting.
396 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
398 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
399 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
400 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
401 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
402 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
403 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
405 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
407 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
408 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
409 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
410 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
411 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
412 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
415 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
416 would typically set this variable to
419 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
424 @section The First Time
425 @cindex first time usage
427 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
428 be subscribed by default.
430 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
431 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
432 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
433 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
436 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
437 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is here
438 defined as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
440 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
441 help you with most common problems.
443 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
444 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
448 @node The Server is Down
449 @section The Server is Down
450 @cindex server errors
452 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
453 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
454 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
456 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
457 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
458 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
459 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
460 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
461 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
462 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
464 @findex gnus-no-server
466 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
467 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
468 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
469 if you're in a hurry as well.
473 @section Slave Gnusiï
476 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
477 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (eg., if you
478 are using the two different Gnusiï to read from two different servers),
479 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
481 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusiï that use the same
484 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
485 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
486 @dfn{servants}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
487 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
488 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
489 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
490 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
492 Anyways, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
493 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusiï should be started with
494 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
495 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contains information only
496 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
497 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
498 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
499 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
501 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
502 information in the normal (i. e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
505 @node Fetching a Group
506 @section Fetching a Group
508 @findex gnus-fetch-group
509 It it sometime convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
510 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
511 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
512 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
513 It takes the group name as a parameter.
520 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
521 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
522 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
524 This variable should contain a function. Some handy pre-fab values
529 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
530 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
531 Make all new groups zombies. You can browse the zombies later (with
532 @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly, or subscribe to them.
535 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
536 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
537 Subscribe all new groups randomly.
539 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
540 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
541 Subscribe all new groups alphabetically.
543 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
544 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
545 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
546 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
547 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
548 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into it's
549 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
550 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
551 up. Or something like that.
553 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
554 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
555 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
556 you about @strong{all} new groups.
558 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
559 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
564 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
565 A closely related variable is
566 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
567 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
568 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
569 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
572 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above to
573 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
574 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
576 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
577 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
578 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
581 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
584 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
585 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
586 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
587 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
588 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
589 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
590 subscribing these groups.
591 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
592 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
594 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
595 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
596 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
597 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
598 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
599 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
600 and if the the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
601 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
603 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
604 Yet another variable that meddles here is
605 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
606 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
607 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
608 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
609 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
610 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
611 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
612 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
614 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
615 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
616 you could set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
617 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
618 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
619 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
620 is @code{t} by default.
622 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
623 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
624 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
625 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
626 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster &
627 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
628 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
629 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
630 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
631 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
633 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
634 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
635 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
636 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
637 few days. If any do, then it works. If any don't, then it doesn't
638 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
639 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
640 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
641 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
642 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
643 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
645 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
646 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
647 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
648 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
649 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
650 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
653 @node Changing Servers
654 @section Changing Servers
656 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
657 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
658 very flake and you want to use another.
660 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
661 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
665 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
666 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
667 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
668 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
671 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
672 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
673 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
674 functions more than absolutely necessary.
676 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
677 @findex gnus-change-server
678 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
679 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map
680 reads and article marks. The @kbd{M-x gnus-change-server} command will
681 do this for all your native groups. It will prompt for the method you
684 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
685 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
686 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
687 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
688 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
692 @section Startup Files
693 @cindex startup files
696 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
697 information is traditionally stored in this file.
699 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
700 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
701 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
702 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
703 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
704 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
705 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
707 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
708 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
709 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
710 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file.
712 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
713 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
714 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
715 the file and save some space, as well as making exit from Gnus faster.
716 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
717 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right?
719 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
720 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
721 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
722 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
723 will also means that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
724 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
725 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
726 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
729 @vindex gnus-startup-file
730 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
731 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
732 file being whatever that one is with a @samp{.eld} appended.
734 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
735 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
736 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
737 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
738 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
739 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
740 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
741 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
742 control on or off. Version control is off by default when saving the
745 @vindex gnus-init-file
746 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-init-file} file, which is
747 @file{~/.gnus.el} by default. This is a normal Emacs Lisp file and can
748 be used to avoid cluttering your @file{.emacs} file with Gnus stuff.
756 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
757 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
758 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
759 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
760 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
763 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
764 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
767 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
768 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
769 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
771 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
772 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
773 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
774 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
775 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
776 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
779 @node The Active File
780 @section The Active File
782 @cindex ignored groups
784 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
785 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
786 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
788 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
789 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
790 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
791 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
792 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
793 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
794 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
797 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
798 @c if you set it to anything else.
800 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
802 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
803 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
804 reading the active file. This variable is @code{t} by default.
806 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
807 you actually subscribe to.
809 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
810 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
811 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
812 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
814 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
815 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
816 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
817 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
818 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
819 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
821 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
822 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
823 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
824 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
825 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
826 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
828 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
829 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
832 @node Startup Variables
833 @section Startup Variables
838 @vindex gnus-load-hook
839 A hook that is run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
840 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
841 times you start Gnus.
843 @item gnus-startup-hook
844 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
845 A hook that is run after starting up Gnus successfully.
847 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
848 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
849 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
850 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
851 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
852 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
853 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
854 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
856 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
857 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
858 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
859 your boss might not notice that you are reading news instead of doing
862 @item gnus-no-groups-message
863 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
864 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
868 @node The Group Buffer
869 @chapter The Group Buffer
872 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
873 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
874 long as Gnus is active.
877 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
878 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
879 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
880 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
881 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
882 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
883 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
884 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
885 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
886 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
887 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
888 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
889 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
890 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
891 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
892 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
896 @node Group Buffer Format
897 @section Group Buffer Format
898 @cindex group buffer format
901 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
902 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
903 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
907 @node Group Line Specification
908 @subsection Group Line Specification
910 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
911 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
913 Here's a couple of example group lines:
916 25: news.announce.newusers
917 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
922 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
923 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
924 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
925 asterisk at the beginning of the line?)
927 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
928 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
929 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
930 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
931 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
932 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
934 The default value that produced those lines above is
935 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n}.
937 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
938 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
939 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
940 never examined by Gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
943 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
944 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
945 instead of wasting time reading news.)
947 Here's a list of all available format characters:
952 Only marked articles.
955 Whether the group is subscribed.
958 Level of subscribedness.
961 Number of unread articles.
964 Number of dormant articles.
967 Number of ticked articles.
970 Number of read articles.
973 Total number of articles.
976 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
979 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
988 Newsgroup description.
991 @samp{m} if moderated.
994 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1003 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1007 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1010 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1011 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1012 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1013 The default is @code{1}.
1016 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1017 be a letter. @sc{gnus} will call the function
1018 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1019 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current headers as
1020 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
1021 into the buffer just like information from any other specifier.
1025 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1026 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1027 group, or a bogus (or semi-bogus) native group.
1030 @node Group Modeline Specification
1031 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1033 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1034 The mode line can be changed by setting
1035 (@code{gnus-group-mode-line-format}). It doesn't understand that many
1040 The native news server.
1042 The native select method.
1046 @node Group Highlighting
1047 @subsection Group Highlighting
1049 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1050 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1051 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1052 that look like @var{(form . face)}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1053 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1055 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1059 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1061 ,(custom-face-lookup "Red" nil nil t nil nil))
1062 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) .
1063 ,(custom-face-lookup "SeaGreen" nil nil t nil nil))
1065 ,(custom-face-lookup "SpringGreen" nil nil t nil nil))
1067 ,(custom-face-lookup "SteelBlue" nil nil t nil nil))
1069 ,(custom-face-lookup "SkyBlue" nil nil t nil nil))
1073 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1080 The number of unread articles in the group.
1084 Whether the group is a mail group.
1086 The level of the group.
1088 The score of the group.
1090 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1092 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1093 topic being inserted.
1096 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1097 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1098 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1100 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1101 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1102 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1103 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1104 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1107 @node Group Maneuvering
1108 @section Group Maneuvering
1109 @cindex group movement
1111 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1112 expected, hopefully.
1118 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1119 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1120 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1127 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1128 Go to the previous group group that has unread articles
1129 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1133 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1134 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1138 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1139 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1143 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1144 Go to the next unread group on the same level (or lower)
1145 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1149 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1150 Go to the previous unread group on the same level (or lower)
1151 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1154 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1160 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1161 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1162 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1167 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1168 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1169 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1173 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1174 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1175 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1178 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1179 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1180 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1181 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1185 @node Selecting a Group
1186 @section Selecting a Group
1187 @cindex group selection
1192 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1193 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1194 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1195 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1196 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1197 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1198 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, Gnus
1199 will fetch @var{N} number of articles. If @var{N} is positive, fetch
1200 the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is negative, fetch the
1201 @var{abs(N)} oldest articles.
1205 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1206 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1207 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1208 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1209 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1213 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1214 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1215 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1216 minimum amount off fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1217 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1218 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1219 enter some humongous group.
1222 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1223 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1224 This is yet one more command that does the same as the one above, but
1225 this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1226 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1230 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
1231 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
1232 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
1233 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
1234 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is when catching up a group from
1239 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
1240 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
1241 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
1244 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1245 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
1246 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
1247 unread articles than this, Gnus will query the user before entering the
1248 group. The user can then specify how many articles should be fetched
1249 from the server. If the user specifies a negative number (@code{-n}),
1250 the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it is positive, the
1251 @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will be fetched.
1253 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
1254 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
1255 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
1256 automatically when entering a group.
1261 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
1262 full summary buffer.
1265 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
1268 Select the most high-scored article in the group when entering the
1272 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
1273 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
1274 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
1278 @node Subscription Commands
1279 @section Subscription Commands
1288 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
1289 Toggle subscription to the current group
1290 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
1296 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
1297 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
1298 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
1299 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
1305 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
1306 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
1312 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
1313 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
1316 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
1317 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
1318 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
1319 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
1320 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
1326 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
1327 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
1331 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
1332 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
1335 @kindex S C-k (Group)
1336 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
1337 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
1338 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
1339 be used with some caution. The only thing where this command comes in
1340 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
1341 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level @code{7} will
1342 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
1343 @file{.newsrc} file.
1347 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1351 @section Group Levels
1354 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
1355 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
1356 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
1357 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
1358 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1360 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
1366 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
1367 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
1368 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
1369 prompted for a level.
1372 @vindex gnus-level-killed
1373 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
1374 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
1375 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
1376 Gnus considers groups on between levels 1 and
1377 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
1378 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
1379 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
1380 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
1381 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (default 9),
1382 completely dead. Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly
1383 the same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what
1384 articles you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and
1385 living groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely
1386 for reasons of efficiency.
1388 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
1389 low levels (eg. 1 or 2).
1391 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
1392 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
1393 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
1395 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
1396 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
1397 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
1398 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
1399 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
1400 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
1401 relevant legal ranges.
1403 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
1404 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
1405 will only move to groups that are of the same level (or lower). In
1406 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
1407 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
1408 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
1411 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
1412 All groups with a level less than or equal to
1413 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
1416 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
1417 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
1418 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
1419 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
1422 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
1423 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
1424 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
1425 use this level as the ``work'' level.
1427 @vindex gnus-activate-level
1428 Gnus will normally just activate groups that are on level
1429 @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to activate
1430 unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable to
1435 @section Group Score
1438 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
1439 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
1440 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
1443 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can assign a score to each
1444 group. You can then sort the group buffer based on this score.
1445 Alternatively, you can sort on score and then level. (Taken together,
1446 the level and the score is called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group
1447 that is on level 4 and has a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group
1448 on level 5 that has a score of 300. (The level is the most significant
1449 part and the score is the least significant part.)
1451 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
1452 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
1453 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
1454 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
1455 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
1456 action after each summary exit, you can add
1457 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
1458 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
1459 slow things down somewhat.
1462 @node Marking Groups
1463 @section Marking Groups
1464 @cindex marking groups
1466 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
1467 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
1468 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
1469 bidding on those groups.
1471 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
1472 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
1473 with the process mark and then execute the command.
1481 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
1482 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
1488 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
1489 Remove the mark from the current group
1490 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
1494 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
1495 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
1499 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
1500 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
1504 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
1505 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
1509 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
1510 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
1511 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
1514 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
1516 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
1517 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
1518 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
1519 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
1520 the command to be executed.
1523 @node Foreign Groups
1524 @section Foreign Groups
1526 Here are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
1527 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
1528 special-purpose groups:
1534 @findex gnus-group-make-group
1535 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
1536 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
1537 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
1541 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
1542 Rename the current group to something else
1543 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is legal only on some
1544 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
1549 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
1550 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
1551 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
1555 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
1556 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
1557 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
1561 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
1562 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
1563 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
1567 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
1568 Make a directory group. You will be prompted for a directory name
1569 (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
1573 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
1574 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
1578 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
1579 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
1580 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
1581 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
1582 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
1583 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
1584 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
1588 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
1589 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
1590 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
1591 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
1592 @xref{Kibozed Groups}
1596 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
1597 Read an arbitrary directory as if with were a newsgroup with the
1598 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
1602 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
1603 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
1604 Make a group based on some file or other
1605 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1606 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
1607 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
1608 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs}, and
1609 @code{forward}. If you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will
1610 guess at the file type.
1613 @kindex G DEL (Group)
1614 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
1615 This function will delete the current group
1616 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
1617 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
1618 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
1619 absolutely sure of what you are doing.
1623 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
1624 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
1625 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}).
1629 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
1630 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
1631 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
1634 @xref{Select Methods} for more information on the various select
1637 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
1638 If the @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
1639 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
1640 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
1641 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers.
1644 @node Group Parameters
1645 @section Group Parameters
1646 @cindex group parameters
1648 Gnus stores all information on a group in a list that is usually known
1649 as the @dfn{group info}. This list has from three to six elements.
1650 Here's an example info.
1653 ("nnml:mail.ding" 3 ((1 . 232) 244 (256 . 270)) ((tick 246 249))
1654 (nnml "private") ((to-address . "ding@@ifi.uio.no")))
1657 The first element is the @dfn{group name}, as Gnus knows the group,
1658 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
1659 normally is a small integer. The third element is a list of ranges of
1660 read articles. The fourth element is a list of lists of article marks
1661 of various kinds. The fifth element is the select method (or virtual
1662 server, if you like). The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group
1663 parameters}, which is what this section is about.
1665 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
1666 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
1667 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
1669 The group parameters store information local to a particular group:
1674 If the group parameter list contains an element that looks like
1675 @code{(to-address . "some@@where.com")}, that address will be used by
1676 the backend when doing followups and posts. This is primarily useful in
1677 mail groups that represent closed mailing lists---mailing lists where
1678 it's expected that everybody that writes to the mailing list is
1679 subscribed to it. Since using this parameter ensures that the mail only
1680 goes to the mailing list itself, it means that members won't receive two
1681 copies of your followups.
1683 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
1684 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
1685 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
1686 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
1687 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
1688 list address instead.
1692 If the group parameter list has an element that looks like
1693 @code{(to-list . "some@@where.com")}, that address will be used when
1694 doing a @kbd{a} in any group. It is totally ignored when doing a
1695 followup---except that if it is present in a news group, you'll get mail
1696 group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
1698 @item broken-reply-to
1699 @cindex broken-reply-to
1700 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
1701 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
1702 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
1703 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
1704 broken behavior. So there!
1708 If the group parameter list contains an element like @code{(to-group
1709 . "some.group.name")}, all posts will be sent to that group.
1713 If this symbol is present in the group parameter list, all articles that
1714 are read will be marked as expirable. For an alternative approach,
1715 @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
1718 @cindex total-expire
1719 If this symbol is present, all read articles will be put through the
1720 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
1725 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
1726 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
1727 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
1728 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
1729 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
1730 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
1733 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
1734 @samp{file} into the current score file for the group in question. This
1735 means that all score commands you issue will end up in that file.
1738 When unsubscribing to a mailing list you should never send the
1739 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
1740 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
1741 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
1744 This parameter allows you to enter a arbitrary comment on the group.
1746 @item @var{(variable form)}
1747 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
1748 are entering. Say you want to turn threading off in
1749 @samp{news.answers}. You'd then put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in
1750 the group parameters of that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be
1751 made into a local variable in the summary buffer you enter, and the form
1752 @code{nil} will be @code{eval}ed there.
1754 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
1755 If you want to hear a beep when you enter the group
1756 @samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, you could put something like
1757 @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that group.
1758 @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the @code{(ding)}
1759 form, but who cares?
1763 If you want to change the group info you can use the @kbd{G E} command
1764 to enter a buffer where you can edit it.
1766 You usually don't want to edit the entire group info, so you'd be better
1767 off using the @kbd{G p} command to just edit the group parameters.
1770 @node Listing Groups
1771 @section Listing Groups
1772 @cindex group listing
1774 These commands all list various slices of the groups that are available.
1782 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
1783 List all groups that have unread articles
1784 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
1785 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
1786 only lists groups of level five or lower (i.e., just subscribed groups).
1792 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
1793 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
1794 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
1795 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
1796 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
1797 unsubscribed groups).
1801 @findex gnus-group-list-level
1802 List all unread groups on a specific level
1803 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
1804 with no unread articles.
1808 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
1809 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
1810 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
1811 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
1816 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
1817 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
1821 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
1822 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
1823 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
1827 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
1828 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
1832 @findex gnus-group-list-active
1833 List absolutely all groups that are in the active file(s) of the
1834 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
1835 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
1836 to do a @kbd{A m} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
1841 @findex gnus-group-apropos
1842 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
1843 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
1847 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
1848 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
1849 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
1853 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
1854 @cindex visible group parameter
1855 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
1856 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
1857 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
1858 get the same effect.
1860 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
1861 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
1862 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
1863 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
1864 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
1867 @node Sorting Groups
1868 @section Sorting Groups
1869 @cindex sorting groups
1871 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
1872 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
1873 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
1874 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
1875 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
1876 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
1881 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
1882 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
1883 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
1885 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
1886 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
1887 Sort by group level.
1889 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
1890 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
1891 Sort by group score.
1893 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
1894 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
1895 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
1896 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}.
1898 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
1899 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
1900 Sort by number of unread articles.
1902 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
1903 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
1904 Sort by alphabetically on the select method.
1909 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
1910 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
1914 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
1915 some sorting criteria:
1919 @kindex G S a (Group)
1920 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
1921 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
1922 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
1925 @kindex G S u (Group)
1926 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
1927 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
1928 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
1931 @kindex G S l (Group)
1932 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
1933 Sort the group buffer by group level
1934 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
1937 @kindex G S v (Group)
1938 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
1939 Sort the group buffer by group score
1940 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}).
1943 @kindex G S r (Group)
1944 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
1945 Sort the group buffer by group level
1946 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}).
1949 @kindex G S m (Group)
1950 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
1951 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
1952 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
1956 When given a prefix, all these commands will sort in reverse order.
1959 @node Group Maintenance
1960 @section Group Maintenance
1961 @cindex bogus groups
1966 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
1967 Find bogus groups and delete them
1968 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
1972 @findex gnus-find-new-newsgroups
1973 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-find-new-newsgroups}). If
1974 given a prefix, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server for
1978 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
1979 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
1980 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
1981 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
1984 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
1985 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
1986 Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
1987 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
1992 @node Browse Foreign Server
1993 @section Browse Foreign Server
1994 @cindex foreign servers
1995 @cindex browsing servers
2000 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
2001 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
2002 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
2003 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
2006 @findex gnus-browse-mode
2007 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
2008 will be use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit
2009 (well, a lot) like a normal group buffer, but with one major difference
2010 - you can't enter any of the groups. If you want to read any of the
2011 news available on that server, you have to subscribe to the groups you
2012 think may be interesting, and then you have to exit this buffer. The
2013 new groups will be added to the group buffer, and then you can read them
2014 as you would any other group.
2016 Future versions of Gnus may possibly permit reading groups straight from
2019 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
2024 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2025 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2029 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2030 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2033 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
2034 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
2035 Enter the current group and display the first article
2036 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
2039 @kindex RET (Browse)
2040 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
2041 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
2045 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
2046 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
2047 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2053 @findex gnus-browse-exit
2054 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
2058 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
2059 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
2060 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
2065 @section Exiting Gnus
2066 @cindex exiting Gnus
2068 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
2073 @findex gnus-group-suspend
2074 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
2075 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
2076 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
2080 @findex gnus-group-exit
2081 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
2085 @findex gnus-group-quit
2086 Quit Gnus without saving any startup files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
2089 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
2090 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
2091 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
2092 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
2093 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
2098 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
2099 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
2100 trying to customize meta-variables.
2105 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, feels her feet go
2106 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
2107 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
2113 @section Group Topics
2116 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
2117 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
2118 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
2119 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
2120 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
2121 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
2123 @findex gnus-topic-mode
2125 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
2126 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
2127 is a toggling command.)
2129 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
2130 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
2131 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
2132 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
2135 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
2136 the hook for the group mode:
2139 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
2143 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
2144 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
2145 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
2149 @node Topic Variables
2150 @subsection Topic Variables
2151 @cindex topic variables
2153 Now, if you select a topic, if will fold/unfold that topic, which is
2154 really neat, I think.
2156 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
2157 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
2158 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
2159 Elements allowed are:
2171 Number of groups in the topic.
2173 Number of unread articles in the topic.
2175 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
2178 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
2179 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
2180 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
2181 The default is @code{2}.
2183 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
2184 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
2187 @node Topic Commands
2188 @subsection Topic Commands
2189 @cindex topic commands
2191 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
2192 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
2193 definitions slightly.
2199 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
2200 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
2201 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
2205 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
2206 Move the current group to some other topic
2207 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command understands the
2208 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2212 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
2213 Copy the current group to some other topic
2214 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command understands the
2215 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2219 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
2220 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
2221 This command understands the process/prefix convention
2222 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2226 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
2227 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2228 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
2232 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
2233 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2234 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
2238 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
2239 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
2240 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
2243 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
2244 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
2245 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
2246 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
2250 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
2252 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
2253 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
2254 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
2255 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
2256 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
2257 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
2260 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
2261 @findex gnus-topic-indent
2262 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2263 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
2264 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
2268 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
2269 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}).
2273 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
2274 Yank the previously killed group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}).
2275 Note that all topics will be yanked before all groups.
2279 @findex gnus-topic-rename
2280 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
2283 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
2284 @findex gnus-topic-delete
2285 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
2289 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
2290 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
2291 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
2295 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
2296 @cindex group parameters
2297 @cindex topic parameters
2299 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}). All
2300 groups in the topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
2301 ancestor) topic parameters. Group parameters (of course) override topic
2302 parameters, and topic parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters
2303 in super-topics. You know. Normal inheretance rules.
2308 @node Topic Topology
2309 @subsection Topic Topology
2310 @cindex topic topology
2313 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
2319 2: alt.religion.emacs
2322 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2324 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2325 13: comp.sources.unix
2328 So, here we have one top-level topic, two topics under that, and one
2329 sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always just one (1)
2330 top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as follows:
2334 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
2335 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
2339 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
2340 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
2341 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
2342 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
2343 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
2344 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
2346 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
2347 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
2348 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
2351 @node Misc Group Stuff
2352 @section Misc Group Stuff
2355 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
2356 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
2357 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
2364 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
2365 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}). @xref{The
2370 @findex gnus-group-post-news
2371 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). The current
2372 group name will be used as the default.
2376 @findex gnus-group-mail
2377 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
2381 Variables for the group buffer:
2385 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
2386 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
2387 @code{gnus-group-mode-hook} is called after the group buffer has been
2390 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
2391 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
2392 @code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} is called after the group buffer is
2393 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
2396 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2397 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2398 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
2399 whether they are empty or not.
2404 @node Scanning New Messages
2405 @subsection Scanning New Messages
2406 @cindex new messages
2407 @cindex scanning new news
2413 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
2414 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
2415 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
2416 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
2417 command will force a total rereading of the active file(s) from the
2422 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
2423 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
2424 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
2425 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}). The
2426 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} variable controls whether
2427 this command is to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t}
2430 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
2431 @cindex activating groups
2433 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
2434 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
2439 @findex gnus-group-restart
2440 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}).
2444 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
2445 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
2447 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
2448 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
2452 @node Group Information
2453 @subsection Group Information
2454 @cindex group information
2455 @cindex information on groups
2461 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
2464 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
2465 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
2466 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
2467 remote machine. @code{ange-ftp} will be used for fetching the file.
2471 @cindex describing groups
2472 @cindex group description
2473 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
2474 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
2475 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
2479 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
2480 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
2481 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
2486 @findex gnus-version
2487 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
2491 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
2492 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
2495 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
2498 @findex gnus-info-find-node
2499 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
2504 @subsection File Commands
2505 @cindex file commands
2511 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
2512 @vindex gnus-init-file
2513 @cindex reading init file
2514 Read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
2515 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
2519 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
2520 @cindex saving .newsrc
2521 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
2522 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
2523 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
2526 @c @kindex Z (Group)
2527 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
2528 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
2533 @node The Summary Buffer
2534 @chapter The Summary Buffer
2535 @cindex summary buffer
2537 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
2538 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
2541 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
2542 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
2543 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
2544 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
2545 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
2546 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
2547 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
2548 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
2549 * Threading:: How threads are made.
2550 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
2551 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
2552 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
2553 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
2554 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
2555 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
2556 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
2557 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
2558 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
2559 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
2560 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
2561 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
2562 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
2563 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
2564 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
2565 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
2566 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
2570 @node Summary Buffer Format
2571 @section Summary Buffer Format
2572 @cindex summary buffer format
2575 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
2576 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
2577 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
2580 @findex mail-extract-address-components
2581 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
2582 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
2583 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
2584 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
2585 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined function exist:
2586 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
2587 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
2588 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
2589 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
2590 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead.
2592 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
2593 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
2594 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
2595 with those specs that require it. The default is @samp{}.
2598 @node Summary Buffer Lines
2599 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
2601 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
2602 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
2603 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
2604 lines a a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions.
2606 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
2608 The following format specification characters are understood:
2616 Subject if the article is the root, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject}
2619 Full @code{From} line.
2621 The name (from the @code{From} header).
2623 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
2624 spec in that it uses @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is
2625 slower, but may be more thorough.
2627 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
2630 Number of lines in the article.
2632 Number of characters in the article.
2634 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
2636 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
2637 pushes everything after it off the screen).
2639 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{\[}, but can also be @samp{<}
2640 for adopted articles.
2642 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{\]}, but can also be @samp{>}
2643 for adopted articles.
2645 One space for each thread level.
2647 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
2655 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
2656 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
2657 default level. If the difference between
2658 @code{gnus-summary-default-level} and the score is less than
2659 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
2671 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
2672 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
2674 A single character will be displayed if the article has any children.
2678 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
2679 be a letter. @sc{gnus} will call the function
2680 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
2681 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
2682 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
2683 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
2686 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
2687 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
2688 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
2689 that. This means that it is illegal to have these specs after a
2690 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
2691 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
2693 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
2694 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
2696 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
2699 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
2700 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
2702 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
2703 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar. Set
2704 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you like. Here are the
2705 elements you can play with:
2711 Unprefixed group name.
2713 Current article number.
2717 Number of unread articles in this group.
2719 Number of unselected articles in this group.
2721 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
2722 either as @samp{<%U(+%u) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
2723 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
2724 and no unselected ones.
2726 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
2727 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
2729 Subject of the current article.
2733 Name of the current score file.
2735 Number of dormant articles.
2737 Number of ticked articles.
2739 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
2741 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
2745 @node Summary Highlighting
2746 @subsection Summary Highlighting
2750 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
2751 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
2752 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
2753 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
2754 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
2756 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
2757 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
2758 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
2759 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
2761 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
2762 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
2763 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) that is used to
2764 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
2766 @item gnus-summary-highlight
2767 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
2768 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
2769 list where the elements are on the format @code{(FORM . FACE)}. If you
2770 would, for instance, like ticked articles to be italic and high-scored
2771 articles to be bold, you could set this variable to something like
2773 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
2774 ((> score default) . bold))
2776 As you may have guessed, if @var{FORM} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
2777 @var{FACE} will be applied to the line.
2781 @node Summary Maneuvering
2782 @section Summary Maneuvering
2783 @cindex summary movement
2785 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
2786 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
2788 None of these commands select articles.
2793 @kindex M-n (Summary)
2794 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
2795 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
2796 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
2797 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
2801 @kindex M-p (Summary)
2802 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
2803 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
2804 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
2805 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
2810 @kindex G j (Summary)
2811 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
2812 Ask for an article number and then go that article
2813 (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
2816 @kindex G g (Summary)
2817 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
2818 Ask for an article number and then go the summary line of that article
2819 (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
2822 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
2823 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
2824 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
2825 to the group buffer.
2827 Variables related to summary movement:
2831 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
2832 @item gnus-auto-select-next
2833 If you are at the end of the group and issue one of the movement
2834 commands, Gnus will offer to go to the next group. If this variable is
2835 @code{t} and the next group is empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and
2836 return to the group buffer. If this variable is neither @code{t} nor
2837 @code{nil}, Gnus will select the next group, no matter whether it has
2838 any unread articles or not. As a special case, if this variable is
2839 @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
2840 confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same will
2841 happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
2842 Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
2843 command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
2844 @pxref{Group Levels}.
2846 @item gnus-auto-select-same
2847 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
2848 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
2849 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
2850 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
2851 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) This variable is not
2852 particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
2854 @item gnus-summary-check-current
2855 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
2856 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
2857 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
2858 Instead, they will choose the current article.
2860 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
2861 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
2862 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
2863 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
2864 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
2865 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
2866 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
2867 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
2873 @node Choosing Articles
2874 @section Choosing Articles
2875 @cindex selecting articles
2877 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
2878 and they all select and display an article.
2882 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
2883 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
2884 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
2885 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
2890 @kindex G n (Summary)
2891 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
2892 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
2897 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
2898 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
2903 @kindex G N (Summary)
2904 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
2905 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
2910 @kindex G P (Summary)
2911 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
2912 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
2915 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
2916 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
2917 Go to the next article with the same subject
2918 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
2921 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
2922 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
2923 Go to the previous article with the same subject
2924 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
2928 @kindex G f (Summary)
2930 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
2931 Go to the first unread article
2932 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
2936 @kindex G b (Summary)
2938 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
2939 Go to the article with the highest score
2940 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
2945 @kindex G l (Summary)
2946 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
2947 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
2950 @kindex G p (Summary)
2951 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
2952 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
2953 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
2954 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
2955 history as you like.
2958 Some variables that are relevant for moving and selecting articles:
2961 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
2962 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
2963 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
2964 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
2965 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
2966 the server and display it in the article buffer.
2968 @item gnus-select-article-hook
2969 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
2970 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
2971 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
2973 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
2974 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
2975 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
2976 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
2977 @findex gnus-unread-mark
2978 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
2979 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
2980 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
2981 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
2982 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
2983 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
2984 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
2985 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
2986 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
2991 @node Paging the Article
2992 @section Scrolling the Article
2993 @cindex article scrolling
2998 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
2999 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3000 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
3001 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
3002 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3005 @kindex DEL (Summary)
3006 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
3007 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
3010 @kindex RET (Summary)
3011 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
3012 Scroll the current article one line forward
3013 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
3017 @kindex A g (Summary)
3019 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
3020 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
3021 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
3022 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
3023 the way it came from the server.
3028 @kindex A < (Summary)
3029 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
3030 Scroll to the beginning of the article
3031 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
3036 @kindex A > (Summary)
3037 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
3038 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
3041 @kindex A s (Summary)
3042 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
3043 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
3044 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
3049 @node Reply Followup and Post
3050 @section Reply, Followup and Post
3053 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
3054 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
3058 @node Summary Mail Commands
3059 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
3061 @cindex composing mail
3063 Commands for composing a mail message:
3069 @kindex S r (Summary)
3071 @findex gnus-summary-reply
3072 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
3073 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
3078 @kindex S R (Summary)
3079 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
3080 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
3081 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
3082 command uses the process/prefix convention.
3085 @kindex S o m (Summary)
3086 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
3087 Forward the current article to some other person
3088 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}).
3091 @kindex S o p (Summary)
3092 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
3093 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
3094 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
3099 @kindex S m (Summary)
3100 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
3101 Send a mail to some other person
3102 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
3105 @kindex S D b (Summary)
3106 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
3107 @cindex bouncing mail
3108 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
3109 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
3110 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
3111 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
3112 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
3113 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
3114 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
3115 very well fail, though.
3118 @kindex S D r (Summary)
3119 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
3120 Not to be confused with the previous command,
3121 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
3122 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
3123 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
3124 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
3125 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
3126 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
3127 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
3129 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
3130 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
3131 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
3132 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
3133 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
3136 @kindex S O m (Summary)
3137 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
3138 Digest the current series and forward the result using mail
3139 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
3140 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3143 @kindex S O p (Summary)
3144 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
3145 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
3146 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}).
3150 @node Summary Post Commands
3151 @subsection Summary Post Commands
3153 @cindex composing news
3155 Commands for posting an article:
3161 @kindex S p (Summary)
3162 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
3163 Post an article to the current group
3164 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
3169 @kindex S f (Summary)
3170 @findex gnus-summary-followup
3171 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
3175 @kindex S F (Summary)
3177 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
3178 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
3179 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
3180 process/prefix convention.
3183 @kindex S u (Summary)
3184 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
3185 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
3186 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
3190 @node Canceling and Superseding
3191 @section Canceling Articles
3192 @cindex canceling articles
3193 @cindex superseding articles
3195 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
3196 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
3198 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
3200 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
3202 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
3203 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
3204 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
3205 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
3207 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
3208 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
3211 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
3212 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
3213 your original article.
3215 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
3217 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
3218 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
3219 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
3222 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
3223 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
3224 have posted almost the same article twice.
3226 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
3227 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
3228 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
3229 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*post-buf*}). There you will
3230 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
3231 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
3232 header by substituting one of those words for @code{Message-ID}. Then
3233 just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as you would do normally.
3234 The previous article will be canceled/superseded.
3236 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
3239 @node Marking Articles
3240 @section Marking Articles
3241 @cindex article marking
3242 @cindex article ticking
3245 There are several marks you can set on an article.
3247 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
3248 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
3249 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
3251 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
3254 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
3255 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
3256 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
3260 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
3264 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
3265 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
3269 @node Unread Articles
3270 @subsection Unread Articles
3272 The following marks mark articles as unread, in one form or other.
3274 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
3275 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
3278 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
3279 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
3280 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
3281 tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an
3282 article forever, you'll have to save it. Ticked articles have a
3283 @samp{!} (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}) in the first column.
3286 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
3287 A @dfn{dormant} article is marked with a @samp{?}
3288 (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}), and will only appear in the summary buffer
3289 if there are followups to it.
3292 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
3293 An @dfn{unread} article is marked with a @samp{SPACE}
3294 (@code{gnus-unread-mark}). These are articles that haven't been read at
3300 @subsection Read Articles
3301 @cindex expirable mark
3303 All the following marks mark articles as read.
3308 @vindex gnus-del-mark
3309 Articles that are marked as read. They have a @samp{r}
3310 (@code{gnus-del-mark}) in the first column. These are articles that the
3311 user has marked as read more or less manually.
3314 @vindex gnus-read-mark
3315 Articles that are actually read are marked with @samp{R}
3316 (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
3319 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
3320 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions are now
3321 @dfn{old} and marked with @samp{O} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
3324 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
3325 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
3328 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
3329 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
3332 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
3333 Marked as read by having a too low score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
3336 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
3337 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
3340 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
3341 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
3344 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
3345 @sc{SOUP}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}).
3348 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
3349 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}).
3352 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
3353 They are interpreted differently by the adaptive scoring scheme,
3356 One more special mark, though:
3360 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
3361 You can also mark articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as
3362 such automatically). That doesn't make much sense in normal groups,
3363 because a user does not control the expiring of news articles, but in
3364 mail groups, for instance, articles that are marked as @dfn{expirable}
3365 can be deleted by Gnus at any time. Expirable articles are marked with
3366 @samp{E} (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
3371 @subsection Other Marks
3372 @cindex process mark
3375 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
3381 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
3382 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
3383 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
3384 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
3385 encounters the article.
3388 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
3389 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
3390 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
3391 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
3394 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
3395 Articles that are stored in the article cache will be marked with an
3396 @samp{*} in the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}).
3399 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
3400 Articles that are ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
3401 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
3402 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}.
3405 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
3406 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
3407 It the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
3408 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
3409 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
3412 @vindex gnus-process-mark
3413 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}. A
3414 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
3415 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
3416 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
3417 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
3421 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
3422 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
3423 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
3425 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
3426 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
3427 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
3431 @subsection Setting Marks
3432 @cindex setting marks
3434 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
3440 @kindex M t (Summary)
3441 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
3442 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
3447 @kindex M ? (Summary)
3448 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
3449 Mark the current article as dormant
3450 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}).
3454 @kindex M d (Summary)
3456 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
3457 Mark the current article as read
3458 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
3463 @kindex M k (Summary)
3464 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
3465 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
3466 and then select the next unread article
3467 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
3471 @kindex M K (Summary)
3472 @kindex C-k (Summary)
3473 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
3474 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
3475 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
3478 @kindex M C (Summary)
3479 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
3480 Mark all unread articles in the group as read
3481 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
3484 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
3485 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
3486 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
3487 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
3490 @kindex M H (Summary)
3491 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
3492 Catchup the current group to point
3493 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
3496 @kindex C-w (Summary)
3497 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
3498 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
3499 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
3502 @kindex M V k (Summary)
3503 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
3504 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
3505 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
3509 @kindex M c (Summary)
3510 @kindex M-u (Summary)
3511 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
3512 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
3513 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}).
3517 @kindex M e (Summary)
3519 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
3520 Mark the current article as expirable
3521 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
3524 @kindex M b (Summary)
3525 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
3526 Set a bookmark in the current article
3527 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
3530 @kindex M B (Summary)
3531 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
3532 Remove the bookmark from the current article
3533 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
3536 @kindex M V c (Summary)
3537 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
3538 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
3539 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
3542 @kindex M V u (Summary)
3543 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
3544 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
3545 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
3548 @kindex M V m (Summary)
3549 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
3550 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
3551 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
3552 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
3555 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
3556 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
3557 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
3558 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
3559 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
3560 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
3561 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
3562 The default is @code{t}.
3565 @node Setting Process Marks
3566 @subsection Setting Process Marks
3567 @cindex setting process marks
3574 @kindex M P p (Summary)
3575 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
3576 Mark the current article with the process mark
3577 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
3578 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
3582 @kindex M P u (Summary)
3583 @kindex M-# (Summary)
3584 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
3585 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
3588 @kindex M P U (Summary)
3589 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
3590 Remove the process mark from all articles
3591 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
3594 @kindex M P R (Summary)
3595 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
3596 Mark articles by a regular expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
3599 @kindex M P r (Summary)
3600 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
3601 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
3604 @kindex M P t (Summary)
3605 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
3606 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
3607 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
3610 @kindex M P T (Summary)
3611 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
3612 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
3613 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
3616 @kindex M P v (Summary)
3617 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
3618 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
3619 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
3622 @kindex M P s (Summary)
3623 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
3624 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
3627 @kindex M P S (Summary)
3628 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
3629 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
3630 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
3633 @kindex M P a (Summary)
3634 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
3635 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
3638 @kindex M P b (Summary)
3639 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
3640 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
3641 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
3649 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
3650 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
3651 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
3658 @kindex / / (Summary)
3659 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
3660 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
3661 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
3664 @kindex / a (Summary)
3665 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
3666 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
3667 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
3671 @kindex / u (Summary)
3673 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
3674 Limit the summary buffer to articles that are not marked as read
3675 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
3676 buffer to articles that are strictly unread. This means that ticked and
3677 dormant articles will also be excluded.
3680 @kindex / m (Summary)
3681 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
3682 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have not been marked
3683 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
3686 @kindex / n (Summary)
3687 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
3688 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
3689 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
3690 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3693 @kindex / w (Summary)
3694 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
3695 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
3696 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
3700 @kindex / v (Summary)
3701 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
3702 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
3703 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
3707 @kindex M S (Summary)
3708 @kindex / E (Summary)
3709 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
3710 Display all expunged articles
3711 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
3714 @kindex / D (Summary)
3715 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
3716 Display all dormant articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
3719 @kindex / d (Summary)
3720 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
3721 Hide all dormant articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
3724 @kindex / c (Summary)
3725 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
3726 Hide all dormant articles that have no children
3727 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
3730 @kindex / C (Summary)
3731 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
3732 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
3733 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
3734 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
3742 @cindex article threading
3744 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put replies to
3745 articles directly after the articles they reply to---in a hierarchical
3749 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
3750 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
3754 @node Customizing Threading
3755 @subsection Customizing Threading
3756 @cindex customizing threading
3762 @item gnus-show-threads
3763 @vindex gnus-show-threads
3764 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
3765 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
3766 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
3767 slower and more awkward.
3769 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
3770 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
3771 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
3772 more old headers---headers to articles that are marked as read. If you
3773 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
3774 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
3775 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
3776 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
3777 fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
3778 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
3779 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
3780 expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that.
3782 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
3783 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
3784 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
3785 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
3786 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
3787 articles that belong in the same thread together. This will leave
3788 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
3789 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
3790 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
3791 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
3792 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
3793 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
3794 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
3795 @code{nil} by default.
3797 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
3798 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
3799 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
3800 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
3801 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
3802 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
3803 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subjects lines. If
3804 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
3805 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
3806 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
3807 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
3809 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
3810 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
3811 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects.
3813 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
3814 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
3815 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
3816 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
3817 simplification is used.
3819 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
3820 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
3821 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
3822 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
3824 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
3826 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
3829 (mapconcat 'identity
3831 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
3832 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
3833 "answer" "reference" "announce"
3834 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
3839 (mapconcat 'identity
3840 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
3842 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
3845 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
3848 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
3849 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
3850 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
3851 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
3852 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
3853 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
3854 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process. The
3855 default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
3857 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
3858 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
3859 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
3860 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
3861 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
3862 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
3863 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever includes unrelated
3864 articles, but it's also means that people who have posted with broken
3865 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
3869 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
3870 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
3871 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
3872 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
3874 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
3875 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
3876 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
3879 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
3883 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
3884 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
3887 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
3888 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
3889 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
3890 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
3891 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
3892 read or killed the root in a previous session.
3894 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
3895 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
3896 There are four possible values:
3898 @cindex adopting articles
3903 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
3904 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
3905 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
3906 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
3909 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
3910 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
3911 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
3912 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
3913 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
3914 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
3915 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
3918 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
3919 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
3920 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
3924 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
3925 display them after one another.
3928 Don't gather loose threads.
3931 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
3932 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
3933 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
3936 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
3937 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
3938 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
3941 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
3942 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
3943 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
3944 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
3945 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
3948 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
3949 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
3950 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
3951 The default is @code{4}.
3955 @node Thread Commands
3956 @subsection Thread Commands
3957 @cindex thread commands
3963 @kindex T k (Summary)
3964 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
3965 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
3966 Mark all articles in the current sub-thread as read
3967 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
3968 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
3973 @kindex T l (Summary)
3974 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
3975 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
3976 Lower the score of the current thread
3977 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
3980 @kindex T i (Summary)
3981 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
3982 Increase the score of the current thread
3983 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
3986 @kindex T # (Summary)
3987 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
3988 Set the process mark on the current thread
3989 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
3992 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
3993 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
3994 Remove the process mark from the current thread
3995 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
3998 @kindex T T (Summary)
3999 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
4000 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
4003 @kindex T s (Summary)
4004 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
4005 Expose the thread hidden under the current article, if any
4006 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
4009 @kindex T h (Summary)
4010 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
4011 Hide the current (sub)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
4014 @kindex T S (Summary)
4015 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
4016 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
4019 @kindex T H (Summary)
4020 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
4021 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
4024 @kindex T t (Summary)
4025 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
4026 Re-thread the thread the current article is part of
4027 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
4028 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
4031 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
4032 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
4033 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
4034 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}.
4038 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
4039 understand the numeric prefix.
4044 @kindex T n (Summary)
4045 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
4046 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
4049 @kindex T p (Summary)
4050 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
4051 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
4054 @kindex T d (Summary)
4055 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
4056 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
4059 @kindex T u (Summary)
4060 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
4061 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
4064 @kindex T o (Summary)
4065 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
4066 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
4069 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
4070 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
4071 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
4072 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
4073 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
4074 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
4075 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If is
4076 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
4077 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
4078 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
4079 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
4080 that have subjects that are fuzzily equal will be included.
4086 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
4087 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
4088 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
4089 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
4090 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
4091 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
4092 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
4093 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
4094 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which is a list of functions.
4095 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
4096 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
4097 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
4098 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
4099 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
4101 Each function takes two threads and return non-@code{nil} if the first
4102 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
4103 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread. If you use
4104 more than one function, the primary sort key should be the last function
4105 in the list. You should probably always include
4106 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
4107 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
4108 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
4109 ascending article order.
4111 If you would like to sort by score, then by subject, and finally by
4112 number, you could do something like:
4115 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
4116 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
4117 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
4118 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
4121 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
4122 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
4123 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
4124 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
4125 which the articles arrived.
4127 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
4131 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
4133 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
4134 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
4137 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
4138 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
4139 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
4140 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
4143 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
4144 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
4145 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
4146 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
4147 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
4148 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
4149 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
4150 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
4151 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
4152 is uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
4153 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
4154 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
4155 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
4157 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
4161 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
4162 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
4163 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
4168 @node Asynchronous Fetching
4169 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
4170 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
4172 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
4173 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
4174 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
4175 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
4176 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
4178 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
4179 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
4181 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
4182 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
4183 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
4184 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
4185 connection is blocked.
4187 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
4188 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
4189 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
4190 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
4192 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
4193 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
4194 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
4195 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
4198 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
4201 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
4202 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
4203 happen automatically.
4205 @vindex nntp-async-number
4206 You can control how many articles that are to be pre-fetched by setting
4207 @code{nntp-async-number}. This is five by default, which means that when
4208 you read an article in the group, @code{nntp} will pre-fetch the next
4209 five articles. If this variable is @code{t}, @code{nntp} will pre-fetch
4210 all the articles that it can without bound. If it is @code{nil}, no
4211 pre-fetching will be made.
4213 @vindex gnus-asynchronous-article-function
4214 You may wish to create some sort of scheme for choosing which articles
4215 that @code{nntp} should consider as candidates for pre-fetching. For
4216 instance, you may wish to pre-fetch all articles with high scores, and
4217 not pre-fetch low-scored articles. You can do that by setting the
4218 @code{gnus-asynchronous-article-function}, which will be called with an
4219 alist where the keys are the article numbers. Your function should
4220 return an alist where the articles you are not interested in have been
4221 removed. You could also do sorting on article score and the like.
4224 @node Article Caching
4225 @section Article Caching
4226 @cindex article caching
4229 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
4230 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
4231 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
4232 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
4233 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
4235 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
4237 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
4238 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
4239 @vindex gnus-use-cache
4240 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
4241 all articles that are ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
4242 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
4243 cache is flat or hierarchal is controlled by the
4244 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
4246 When re-select a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
4247 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
4248 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
4249 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
4250 as dormant, and don't worry.
4252 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
4254 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
4255 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
4256 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
4257 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
4258 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
4259 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
4260 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
4261 articles that are marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
4262 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
4263 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
4265 @findex gnus-jog-cache
4266 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
4267 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
4268 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, and store them in
4269 the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this command if 1)
4270 your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really, really slow
4271 and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk. Seriously.
4273 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
4274 It is likely that you do not want caching on some groups. For instance,
4275 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
4276 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
4277 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space. To limit the caching,
4278 you could set the @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to
4279 @samp{^nnml}, for instance. This variable is @code{nil} by
4282 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
4283 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
4284 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
4285 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
4286 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
4287 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
4288 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
4289 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
4290 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
4294 @node Persistent Articles
4295 @section Persistent Articles
4296 @cindex persistent articles
4298 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
4299 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
4300 useful in my opinion.
4302 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
4303 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
4304 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
4305 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
4306 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
4307 the expiry going on at the news server.
4309 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
4310 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
4311 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
4317 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
4318 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
4321 @kindex M-* (Summary)
4322 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
4323 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
4324 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
4328 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
4330 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
4331 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
4332 interested in persistent articles:
4335 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
4339 @node Article Backlog
4340 @section Article Backlog
4342 @cindex article backlog
4344 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
4345 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
4346 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
4347 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
4348 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
4349 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
4350 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
4351 increase memory usage some.
4353 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
4354 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
4355 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
4356 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
4357 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
4358 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
4359 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
4361 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
4364 @node Saving Articles
4365 @section Saving Articles
4366 @cindex saving articles
4368 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
4369 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
4370 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
4371 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
4372 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
4374 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
4375 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
4376 unwanted headers before saving the article.
4378 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
4379 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
4380 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
4381 deleted before saving.
4387 @kindex O o (Summary)
4389 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
4390 Save the current article using the default article saver
4391 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
4394 @kindex O m (Summary)
4395 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
4396 Save the current article in mail format
4397 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
4400 @kindex O r (Summary)
4401 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
4402 Save the current article in rmail format
4403 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
4406 @kindex O f (Summary)
4407 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
4408 Save the current article in plain file format
4409 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
4412 @kindex O b (Summary)
4413 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
4414 Save the current article body in plain file format
4415 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
4418 @kindex O h (Summary)
4419 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
4420 Save the current article in mh folder format
4421 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
4424 @kindex O v (Summary)
4425 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
4426 Save the current article in a VM folder
4427 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
4430 @kindex O p (Summary)
4431 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
4432 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
4433 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
4436 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
4437 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
4438 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
4439 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
4440 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
4441 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
4442 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
4443 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
4444 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
4445 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
4446 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
4447 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
4451 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
4452 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
4453 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the four ready-made
4454 functions below, or you can create your own.
4458 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
4459 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
4460 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
4461 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
4462 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
4463 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
4464 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
4466 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
4467 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
4468 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
4469 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
4470 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
4471 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
4473 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
4474 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
4475 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
4476 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
4477 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
4478 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
4479 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
4481 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
4482 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
4483 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
4484 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
4485 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
4487 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
4488 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
4489 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
4490 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
4491 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
4494 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
4495 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
4496 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
4497 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
4498 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}. The former creates capitalized names, and
4499 the latter does not.
4501 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
4502 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
4503 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
4504 reader to use this setting.
4507 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
4508 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
4509 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
4510 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
4513 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
4514 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
4515 available functions that generate names:
4519 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
4520 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
4521 Generates file names that look like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
4523 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
4524 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
4525 Generates file names that look like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
4527 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
4528 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
4529 Generates file names that look like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
4531 @item gnus-plain-save-name
4532 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
4533 Generates file names that look like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
4536 @vindex gnus-split-methods
4537 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
4538 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
4539 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
4540 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
4544 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
4545 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
4546 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
4547 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
4550 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
4551 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
4552 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
4553 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
4554 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
4555 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
4556 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
4557 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
4558 called returns a string or a list of strings.
4560 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
4561 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
4562 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
4563 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
4565 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
4566 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
4567 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
4570 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
4571 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
4572 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
4573 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
4574 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
4575 all the files in the toplevel directory
4576 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
4577 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
4578 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
4579 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
4581 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
4582 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
4583 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
4584 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
4585 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
4588 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
4592 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
4593 (setq gnus-default-article-save 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
4596 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
4597 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
4598 the toplevel directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
4599 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
4602 @node Decoding Articles
4603 @section Decoding Articles
4604 @cindex decoding articles
4606 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
4607 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
4610 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
4611 * Shared Articles:: Unshar articles.
4612 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
4613 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
4614 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
4617 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
4618 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
4619 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
4620 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
4621 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
4623 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
4624 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
4625 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
4627 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
4628 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
4629 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
4631 Subjects that are nonstandard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
4632 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
4633 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
4636 @node Uuencoded Articles
4637 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
4639 @cindex uuencoded articles
4644 @kindex X u (Summary)
4645 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
4646 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
4649 @kindex X U (Summary)
4650 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
4651 Uudecodes and saves the current series
4652 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
4655 @kindex X v u (Summary)
4656 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
4657 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
4660 @kindex X v U (Summary)
4661 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
4662 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
4663 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
4666 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
4667 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
4668 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
4669 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
4670 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
4672 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
4673 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
4674 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
4675 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
4678 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
4679 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
4680 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
4681 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
4682 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
4683 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
4687 @node Shared Articles
4688 @subsection Shared Articles
4690 @cindex shared articles
4695 @kindex X s (Summary)
4696 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
4697 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
4700 @kindex X S (Summary)
4701 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
4702 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
4705 @kindex X v s (Summary)
4706 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
4707 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
4710 @kindex X v S (Summary)
4711 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
4712 Unshars, views and saves the current series
4713 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
4717 @node PostScript Files
4718 @subsection PostScript Files
4724 @kindex X p (Summary)
4725 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
4726 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
4729 @kindex X P (Summary)
4730 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
4731 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
4732 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
4735 @kindex X v p (Summary)
4736 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
4737 View the current PostScript series
4738 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
4741 @kindex X v P (Summary)
4742 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
4743 View and save the current PostScript series
4744 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
4748 @node Decoding Variables
4749 @subsection Decoding Variables
4751 Adjective, not verb.
4754 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
4755 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
4756 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
4760 @node Rule Variables
4761 @subsubsection Rule Variables
4762 @cindex rule variables
4764 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
4765 variables are on the form
4768 (list '(regexp1 command2)
4775 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
4776 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
4778 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
4779 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
4782 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
4783 (list '(\"\\\\.au$\" \"sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio\")))
4786 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
4787 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
4788 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
4789 user and default view rules.
4791 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
4792 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
4793 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
4798 @node Other Decode Variables
4799 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
4802 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
4804 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
4805 All functions in this list will be called right each file has been
4806 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
4807 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
4808 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
4812 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
4813 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
4816 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
4817 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
4818 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
4821 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
4822 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
4823 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
4825 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
4826 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
4827 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
4828 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
4829 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
4832 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
4833 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
4834 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
4836 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
4837 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
4838 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
4839 looking for files to display.
4841 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
4842 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
4843 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
4846 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
4847 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
4848 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
4851 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
4852 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
4853 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
4856 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
4857 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
4858 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
4861 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
4862 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
4863 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark articles that were
4864 unsuccessfully decoded as unread.
4866 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
4867 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
4868 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
4869 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
4871 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
4872 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
4874 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
4875 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
4876 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
4877 @code{metamail} for viewing.
4879 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
4880 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
4881 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
4882 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
4883 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
4884 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC1153---no easy way
4885 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
4886 simply dropped them.
4891 @node Uuencoding and Posting
4892 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
4896 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
4897 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
4898 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
4899 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
4900 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
4901 for you when you post the article.
4903 @item gnus-uu-post-length
4904 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
4905 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
4906 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
4908 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
4909 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
4910 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
4911 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen are able
4912 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
4913 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
4914 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
4916 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
4917 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
4918 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
4919 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
4920 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
4921 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
4922 Default is @code{t}.
4928 @subsection Viewing Files
4929 @cindex viewing files
4930 @cindex pseudo-articles
4932 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
4933 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
4934 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
4935 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
4936 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
4937 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
4938 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
4940 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
4941 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
4942 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
4943 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
4945 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
4946 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
4947 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
4949 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
4950 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
4951 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
4952 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
4953 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
4955 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
4956 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
4957 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
4958 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
4959 a list of parameters to that command.
4961 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
4962 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
4963 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
4965 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
4966 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
4967 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
4970 @node Article Treatment
4971 @section Article Treatment
4973 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
4974 object of newsreaders are to actually, like, read what people have
4975 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
4976 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
4977 these articles easier.
4980 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
4981 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
4982 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
4983 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
4984 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
4985 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
4989 @node Article Highlighting
4990 @subsection Article Highlighting
4993 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
4994 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
4999 @kindex W H a (Summary)
5000 @findex gnus-article-highlight
5001 Highlight the current article (@code{gnus-article-highlight}).
5004 @kindex W H h (Summary)
5005 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
5006 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
5007 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
5008 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
5009 variable, which is a list where each element has the form @var{(regexp
5010 name content)}. @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
5011 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name and
5012 @var{content} is the face for highlighting the header value. The first
5013 match made will be used. Note that @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^}
5014 prepended---Gnus will add one.
5017 @kindex W H c (Summary)
5018 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
5019 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
5021 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
5024 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
5026 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
5027 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
5028 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
5030 @item gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
5031 @vindex gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
5032 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
5034 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
5035 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
5036 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
5038 @item gnus-cite-face-list
5039 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
5040 List of faces used for highlighting citations. When there are citations
5041 from multiple articles in the same message, Gnus will try to give each
5042 citation from each article its own face. This should make it easier to
5045 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
5046 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
5047 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
5049 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
5050 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
5051 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
5053 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
5054 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
5055 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
5056 that it's a citation.
5058 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
5059 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
5060 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
5062 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
5063 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
5064 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
5066 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
5067 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
5068 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
5069 cited text belonging to the attribution.
5075 @kindex W H s (Summary)
5076 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
5077 @vindex gnus-signature-face
5078 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
5079 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
5080 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
5081 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
5082 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
5088 @node Article Hiding
5089 @subsection Article Hiding
5090 @cindex article hiding
5092 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
5093 too much cruft in most articles.
5098 @kindex W W a (Summary)
5099 @findex gnus-article-hide
5100 Do maximum hiding on the summary buffer (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}).
5103 @kindex W W h (Summary)
5104 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
5105 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
5109 @kindex W W b (Summary)
5110 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
5111 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
5112 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
5115 @kindex W W s (Summary)
5116 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
5117 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
5121 @kindex W W p (Summary)
5122 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
5123 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}).
5126 @kindex W W P (Summary)
5127 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
5128 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhavnced hessages) gruft
5129 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
5132 @kindex W W c (Summary)
5133 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
5134 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
5135 customizing the hiding:
5139 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
5140 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
5141 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
5142 50), hide the cited text.
5144 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
5145 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
5146 The cited text must be have at least this length (default 10) before it
5149 @item gnus-cited-text-button-line-format
5150 @vindex gnus-cited-text-button-line-format
5151 Gnus adds buttons show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
5152 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
5153 by this format-like variable. These specs are legal:
5157 Start point of the hidden text.
5159 End point of the hidden text.
5161 Length of the hidden text.
5164 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
5165 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
5166 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave shown.
5171 @kindex W W C (Summary)
5172 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
5173 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
5174 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
5175 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
5176 in @code{gnus-article-display-hook} (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
5180 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
5181 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
5182 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
5184 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
5185 citation customization.
5188 @node Article Washing
5189 @subsection Article Washing
5191 @cindex article washing
5193 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
5194 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
5196 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
5197 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
5203 @kindex W l (Summary)
5204 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
5205 Remove page breaks from the current article
5206 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}).
5209 @kindex W r (Summary)
5210 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
5211 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
5212 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
5215 @kindex W t (Summary)
5216 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
5217 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
5218 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
5221 @kindex W v (Summary)
5222 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
5223 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
5224 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
5227 @kindex W m (Summary)
5228 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
5229 Toggle whether to run the article through @sc{mime} before displaying
5230 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
5233 @kindex W o (Summary)
5234 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
5235 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
5238 @kindex W w (Summary)
5239 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
5240 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}). If you use this
5241 function in @code{gnus-article-display-hook}, it should be run fairly
5242 late and certainly after any highlighting.
5245 @kindex W c (Summary)
5246 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
5247 Remove CR (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
5250 @kindex W L (Summary)
5251 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
5252 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
5253 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
5256 @kindex W q (Summary)
5257 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
5258 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
5261 @kindex W f (Summary)
5263 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
5264 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
5265 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
5266 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
5267 Look for and display any X-Face headers
5268 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
5269 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
5270 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
5271 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
5272 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
5273 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
5274 The default action under Emacs is to fork off an @code{xv} to view the
5275 face; under XEmacs the default action is to display the face before the
5276 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
5277 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
5278 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
5279 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends.) If you
5280 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
5284 @kindex W b (Summary)
5285 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
5286 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
5289 @kindex W B (Summary)
5290 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
5291 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
5292 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
5297 @node Article Buttons
5298 @subsection Article Buttons
5301 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
5302 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
5303 with the minimum of fuzz.
5305 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
5306 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
5307 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
5312 @item gnus-button-alist
5313 @vindex gnus-button-alist
5314 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
5317 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
5323 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
5324 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that match embedded URLs:
5325 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
5328 Gnus has to know which parts of the match is to be highlighted. This is
5329 a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp that is to be
5330 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use @code{0} here.
5333 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
5334 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
5335 avoid false matches.
5338 This function will be called when you click on this button.
5341 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
5342 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
5346 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
5349 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
5352 @item gnus-header-button-alist
5353 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
5354 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
5355 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
5356 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
5359 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
5362 @var{header} is a regular expression.
5364 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
5365 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
5366 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
5367 default values of the variables above.
5369 @item gnus-article-button-face
5370 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
5371 Face used on bottons.
5373 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
5374 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
5375 Face is used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
5381 @subsection Article Date
5383 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
5384 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
5385 when the article was sent.
5390 @kindex W T u (Summary)
5391 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
5392 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
5393 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
5396 @kindex W T l (Summary)
5397 @findex gnus-article-date-local
5398 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
5401 @kindex W T e (Summary)
5402 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
5403 Say how much time has (e)lapsed between the article was posted and now
5404 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}).
5407 @kindex W T o (Summary)
5408 @findex gnus-article-date-original
5409 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
5410 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and is
5411 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
5412 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
5413 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
5418 @node Article Signature
5419 @subsection Article Signature
5421 @cindex article signature
5423 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
5424 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
5425 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
5426 that says what is to be considered a signature is
5427 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
5428 @samp{"^-- $"} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
5429 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
5430 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
5431 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
5434 (setq gnus-signature-separator
5435 '("^-- $" ; The standard
5436 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
5437 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
5438 ; line of dashes. Shame!
5439 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
5440 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
5441 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
5444 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
5447 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
5448 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
5453 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
5456 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
5459 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
5460 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
5462 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
5463 in question is not a signature.
5466 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
5470 @node Summary Sorting
5471 @section Summary Sorting
5472 @cindex summary sorting
5474 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
5475 can't really see why you'd want that.
5480 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
5481 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
5482 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
5485 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
5486 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
5487 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
5490 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
5491 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
5492 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
5495 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
5496 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
5497 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
5500 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
5501 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
5502 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
5505 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
5506 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
5507 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
5508 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
5509 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
5513 @node Finding the Parent
5514 @section Finding the Parent
5515 @cindex parent articles
5516 @cindex referring articles
5518 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
5520 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
5521 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
5522 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
5523 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
5524 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
5525 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
5526 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
5527 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
5529 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
5530 @kindex A R (Summary)
5531 You can have Gnus fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References}
5532 header of the article by pushing @kbd{A R}
5533 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
5535 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
5536 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
5537 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
5538 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
5539 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
5540 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long thingies that look
5541 something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You have to get
5542 it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
5544 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
5545 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
5546 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
5547 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
5548 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the same
5549 as the one that keeps the spool you are reading from updated, but that's
5550 not really necessary.
5552 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
5553 not do a particularly excellent job of it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
5554 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
5555 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
5556 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
5557 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
5560 @node Alternative Approaches
5561 @section Alternative Approaches
5563 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
5564 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
5567 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
5568 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
5573 @subsection Pick and Read
5574 @cindex pick and read
5576 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{nn}) use a two-phased
5577 reading interface. The user first marks the articles she wants to read
5578 from a summary buffer. Then she starts reading the articles with just
5579 an article buffer displayed.
5581 @findex gnus-pick-mode
5582 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
5583 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
5584 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
5585 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
5586 it makes one additional command for switching to the summary buffer
5589 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
5594 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
5595 Pick the article on the current line
5596 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}). If given a numerical prefix,
5597 go to the article on that line and pick that article. (The line number
5598 is normally displayed on the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
5601 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
5602 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
5603 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
5604 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
5608 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
5609 Unpick the article (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
5613 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
5614 Unpick all articles (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
5618 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5619 Pick the thread (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5623 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5624 Unpick the thread (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5628 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
5629 Pick the region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
5633 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
5634 Unpick the region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
5638 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
5639 Pick articles that match a regexp (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
5643 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
5644 Unpick articles that match a regexp (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
5648 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
5649 Pick the buffer (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
5653 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-buffer
5654 Unpick the buffer (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-buffer}).
5658 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
5659 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
5660 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
5661 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
5662 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
5663 will still be visible when you are reading.
5667 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
5670 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
5673 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
5674 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
5676 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
5677 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
5678 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
5680 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
5681 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different than the
5682 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
5683 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
5684 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
5685 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
5686 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
5690 @subsection Binary Groups
5691 @cindex binary groups
5693 @findex gnus-binary-mode
5694 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
5695 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
5696 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
5697 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
5698 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
5699 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
5702 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
5703 In fact, the only way to see the actual articles if you have turned this
5704 mode on is the @kbd{g} command (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
5706 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
5707 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
5711 @section Tree Display
5714 @vindex gnus-use-trees
5715 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
5716 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
5717 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
5720 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
5723 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
5724 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
5725 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
5727 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
5728 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
5729 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers. The default
5730 is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}. For a list of legal specs, @pxref{Summary
5733 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
5734 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
5735 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
5736 default is @code{modeline}.
5738 @item gnus-tree-line-format
5739 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
5740 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
5741 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
5742 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
5743 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
5744 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
5750 The name of the poster.
5752 The @code{From} header.
5754 The number of the article.
5756 The opening bracket.
5758 The closing bracket.
5763 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
5765 Variables related to the display are:
5768 @item gnus-tree-brackets
5769 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
5770 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
5771 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @var{((real-open . real-close)
5772 (sparse-open . sparse-close) (dummy-open . dummy-close))}, and the
5773 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}))}.
5775 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
5776 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
5777 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
5778 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
5782 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
5783 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
5784 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
5785 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
5786 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
5787 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}.
5789 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
5790 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
5791 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
5792 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
5793 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
5794 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
5795 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
5799 Here's and example from a horizontal tree buffer:
5802 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
5812 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
5816 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
5817 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
5819 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
5821 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
5827 @node Mail Group Commands
5828 @section Mail Group Commands
5829 @cindex mail group commands
5831 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
5832 illegal in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
5834 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
5835 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5840 @kindex B e (Summary)
5841 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
5842 Expire all expirable articles in the group
5843 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
5846 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
5847 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
5848 Expunge all the expirable articles in the group
5849 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
5850 articles that are eligible for expiry in the current group will
5851 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
5854 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
5855 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
5856 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
5857 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
5858 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
5861 @kindex B m (Summary)
5863 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
5864 Move the article from one mail group to another
5865 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
5868 @kindex B c (Summary)
5870 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
5871 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
5872 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}).
5875 @kindex B C (Summary)
5876 @cindex crosspost mail
5877 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
5878 Crosspost the current article to some other group
5879 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
5880 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
5881 be properly updated.
5884 @kindex B i (Summary)
5885 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
5886 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
5887 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
5888 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
5891 @kindex B r (Summary)
5892 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
5893 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
5897 @kindex B w (Summary)
5899 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
5900 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
5901 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
5902 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
5903 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}).
5906 @kindex B q (Summary)
5907 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
5908 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
5909 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
5910 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
5913 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
5914 @cindex moving articles
5915 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
5916 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
5917 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
5918 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
5919 suggestions you find reasonable.
5922 @node Various Summary Stuff
5923 @section Various Summary Stuff
5926 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
5927 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
5928 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
5932 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
5933 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
5934 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
5936 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
5937 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
5938 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
5939 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
5940 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
5941 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
5944 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
5945 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
5946 Is is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
5947 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
5948 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
5953 @node Summary Group Information
5954 @subsection Summary Group Information
5959 @kindex H f (Summary)
5960 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
5961 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
5962 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
5963 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
5964 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
5965 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
5966 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
5967 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} probably will be used for
5971 @kindex H d (Summary)
5972 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
5973 Give a brief description of the current group
5974 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
5975 rereading the description from the server.
5978 @kindex H h (Summary)
5979 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
5980 Give a very brief description of the most important summary keystrokes
5981 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
5984 @kindex H i (Summary)
5985 @findex gnus-info-find-node
5986 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
5990 @node Searching for Articles
5991 @subsection Searching for Articles
5996 @kindex M-s (Summary)
5997 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
5998 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
5999 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
6002 @kindex M-r (Summary)
6003 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
6004 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
6005 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
6009 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
6010 This command will prompt you for a header field, a regular expression to
6011 match on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
6012 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}).
6015 @kindex M-& (Summary)
6016 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
6017 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
6018 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
6022 @node Really Various Summary Commands
6023 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
6028 @kindex A D (Summary)
6029 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
6030 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
6031 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
6032 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
6033 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
6034 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
6035 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages on
6036 some format, you @kbd{A D} and read these messages in a more convenient
6040 @kindex C-t (Summary)
6041 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
6042 Toggle truncation of summary lines (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}).
6046 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
6047 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
6048 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
6052 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
6053 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
6054 @cindex summary exit
6055 @cindex exiting groups
6057 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
6058 group and return you to the group buffer.
6064 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
6066 @findex gnus-summary-exit
6067 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
6068 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
6069 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
6070 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
6071 called before doing much of the exiting, and calls
6072 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
6073 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exiting
6078 @kindex Z E (Summary)
6080 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
6081 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
6082 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
6086 @kindex Z c (Summary)
6088 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
6089 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
6090 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
6093 @kindex Z C (Summary)
6094 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
6095 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
6096 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
6099 @kindex Z n (Summary)
6100 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
6101 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
6102 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
6105 @kindex Z R (Summary)
6106 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
6107 Exit this group, and then enter it again
6108 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
6109 all articles, both read and unread.
6113 @kindex Z G (Summary)
6114 @kindex M-g (Summary)
6115 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
6116 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
6117 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
6118 articles, both read and unread.
6121 @kindex Z N (Summary)
6122 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
6123 Exit the group and go to the next group
6124 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
6127 @kindex Z P (Summary)
6128 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
6129 Exit the group and go to the previous group
6130 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
6133 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
6134 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current
6137 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
6138 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
6139 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
6140 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
6141 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
6142 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
6143 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
6144 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
6145 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
6146 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
6147 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
6148 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
6150 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
6152 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
6153 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
6154 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
6155 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
6156 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
6157 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
6158 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
6159 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
6160 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
6163 @node Crosspost Handling
6164 @section Crosspost Handling
6168 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
6169 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
6170 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
6171 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
6172 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
6173 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
6176 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
6177 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
6178 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs.
6180 @cindex cross-posting
6183 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
6184 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
6185 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
6186 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
6187 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
6188 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
6189 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
6190 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
6191 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
6192 the cross reference mechanism.
6194 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
6195 @cindex overview.fmt
6196 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
6197 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
6198 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
6199 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
6200 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
6201 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
6204 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
6205 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
6206 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
6211 For an alternative approach, @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
6214 @node Duplicate Suppression
6215 @section Duplicate Suppression
6217 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
6218 article more than once by utilizing the crossposing mechanism
6219 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
6220 approach may not work satisfactorily for some users for various
6225 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
6226 is evil and not very common.
6229 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
6230 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
6233 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
6234 different @sc{nntp} servers.
6237 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
6240 I'm sure there are other situations that @code{Xref} handling fails as
6241 well, but these four are the most common situations.
6243 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
6244 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
6245 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
6246 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
6247 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
6248 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
6249 so. It's certainly preferrable to reading the same articles more than
6253 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
6254 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
6255 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
6257 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
6258 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
6259 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
6260 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
6261 However, this means that only duplicate articles that is read in a
6262 single Gnus session are suppressed.
6264 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
6265 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
6266 This variables says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
6267 suppression list. The default is 10000.
6269 @item gnus-duplicate-file
6270 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
6271 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list. The
6272 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
6275 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
6276 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
6277 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
6278 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
6279 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
6280 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
6281 to you to figure out, I think.
6284 @node The Article Buffer
6285 @chapter The Article Buffer
6286 @cindex article buffer
6288 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
6289 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
6290 tell Gnus otherwise.
6293 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
6294 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
6295 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
6296 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer
6297 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
6301 @node Hiding Headers
6302 @section Hiding Headers
6303 @cindex hiding headers
6304 @cindex deleting headers
6306 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
6307 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
6309 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
6310 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
6311 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
6312 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
6313 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
6314 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
6315 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
6316 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
6317 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
6319 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
6323 @item gnus-visible-headers
6324 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
6325 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
6326 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
6327 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
6329 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
6330 the article and the subject, you'd say:
6333 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
6336 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers that are to
6339 @item gnus-ignored-headers
6340 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
6341 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
6342 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
6343 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
6344 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
6346 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
6347 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
6350 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
6353 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers that are to
6356 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
6357 variable will have no effect.
6361 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
6362 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
6363 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
6364 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
6365 the headers are to be displayed.
6367 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
6368 and then the subject, you might say something like:
6371 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
6374 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
6375 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers that
6376 are listed in this variable.
6378 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
6379 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
6380 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
6381 You can hide further boring headers by entering
6382 @code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers} into
6383 @code{gnus-article-display-hook}. What this function does depends on
6384 the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a list, but this
6385 list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is lists various
6386 @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove from sight.
6388 These conditions are:
6391 Remove all empty headers.
6393 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
6396 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
6397 @code{Newsgroups} header.
6399 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
6402 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
6406 To include the four first elements, you could say something like;
6409 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
6410 '(empty newsgroups followup-to reply-to))
6413 This is also the default value for this variable.
6417 @section Using @sc{mime}
6420 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
6421 while people stand around yawning.
6423 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
6424 while all newsreaders die of fear.
6426 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
6427 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
6428 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
6430 @vindex gnus-show-mime
6431 @vindex gnus-show-mime-method
6432 @vindex gnus-strict-mime
6433 @findex metamail-buffer
6434 Gnus handles @sc{mime} by shoving the articles through
6435 @code{gnus-show-mime-method}, which is @code{metamail-buffer} by
6436 default. Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
6437 @sc{mime} all the time. However, if @code{gnus-strict-mime} is
6438 non-@code{nil}, the @sc{mime} method will only be used if there are
6439 @sc{mime} headers in the article.
6441 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the summary
6442 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
6443 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
6444 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
6445 comes streaming out out your speakers, and you can't find the volume
6446 button, because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you,
6447 and you try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the
6448 program to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly
6449 decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
6451 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
6454 @node Customizing Articles
6455 @section Customizing Articles
6456 @cindex article customization
6458 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
6459 The @code{gnus-article-display-hook} is called after the article has
6460 been inserted into the article buffer. It is meant to handle all
6461 treatment of the article before it is displayed.
6463 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
6464 By default it contains @code{gnus-article-hide-headers},
6465 @code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}, and
6466 @code{gnus-article-maybe-highlight}, but there are thousands, nay
6467 millions, of functions you can put in this hook. For an overview of
6468 functions @pxref{Article Highlighting}, @pxref{Article Hiding},
6469 @pxref{Article Washing}, @pxref{Article Buttons} and @pxref{Article
6472 You can, of course, write your own functions. The functions are called
6473 from the article buffer, and you can do anything you like, pretty much.
6474 There is no information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can
6475 change everything. However, you shouldn't delete any headers. Instead
6476 make them invisible if you want to make them go away.
6479 @node Article Keymap
6480 @section Article Keymap
6482 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
6483 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
6484 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
6485 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
6488 A few additional keystrokes are available:
6493 @kindex SPACE (Article)
6494 @findex gnus-article-next-page
6495 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
6498 @kindex DEL (Article)
6499 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
6500 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
6503 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
6504 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
6505 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
6506 @kbd{r}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
6507 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
6510 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
6511 @findex gnus-article-mail
6512 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
6513 given a prefix, include the mail.
6517 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
6518 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
6519 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
6523 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
6524 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
6525 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
6528 @kindex TAB (Article)
6529 @findex gnus-article-next-button
6530 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}. This
6531 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
6534 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
6535 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
6536 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}.
6542 @section Misc Article
6546 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
6547 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
6548 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
6549 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
6552 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
6553 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
6554 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
6555 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
6556 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
6557 the contents of the article buffer.
6559 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
6560 @item gnus-article-display-hook
6561 This hook is called as the last thing when displaying an article, and is
6562 intended for modifying the contents of the buffer, doing highlights,
6563 hiding headers, and the like.
6565 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
6566 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
6567 Hook called in article mode buffers.
6569 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
6570 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
6571 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
6572 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. It accepts the same
6573 format specifications as that variable, with one extension:
6577 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
6578 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
6582 @vindex gnus-break-pages
6584 @item gnus-break-pages
6585 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
6586 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
6587 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
6588 paging will not be done.
6590 @item gnus-page-delimiter
6591 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
6592 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
6597 @node Composing Messages
6598 @chapter Composing Messages
6603 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
6604 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
6605 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the article
6606 by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The Message
6607 Manual}. If you are in a foreign news group, and you wish to post the
6608 article using the foreign server, you can give a prefix to @kbd{C-c C-c}
6609 to make Gnus try to post using the foreign server.
6612 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
6613 * Post:: Posting and following up.
6614 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
6615 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
6616 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
6617 @c * Posting Styles:: An easier way to configure some key elements.
6618 @c * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
6619 @c * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
6622 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
6623 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
6629 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
6632 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
6633 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
6634 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
6635 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
6643 Variables for composing news articles:
6646 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-file
6647 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-file
6648 Gnus will keep a @code{Message-ID} history file of all the mails it has
6649 sent. If it discovers that it has already sent a mail, it will ask the
6650 user whether to re-send the mail. (This is primarily useful when
6651 dealing with @sc{soup} packets and the like where one is apt to sent the
6652 same packet multiple times.) This variable says what the name of this
6653 history file is. It is @file{~/News/Sent-Message-IDs} by default. Set
6654 this variable to @code{nil} if you don't want Gnus to keep a history
6657 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-length
6658 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-length
6659 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the history
6660 file. It is 1000 by default.
6665 @node Posting Server
6666 @section Posting Server
6668 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
6669 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
6671 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
6673 @vindex gnus-post-method
6675 It can be quite complicated. Normally, Gnus will use the same native
6676 server. However. If your native server doesn't allow posting, just
6677 reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
6678 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
6679 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
6682 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
6685 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
6686 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
6687 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
6688 the ``current'' server for posting.
6690 If you give a zero prefix (i. e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
6691 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
6693 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
6694 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
6699 @section Mail and Post
6701 Here's a list of variables that are relevant to both mailing and
6705 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
6706 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
6707 @cindex mailing lists
6709 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists that are
6710 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
6711 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
6712 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
6713 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
6714 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that match the groups that
6715 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
6716 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
6717 still a pain, though.
6721 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
6722 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
6723 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
6726 @findex ispell-message
6728 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
6732 @node Archived Messages
6733 @section Archived Messages
6734 @cindex archived messages
6735 @cindex sent messages
6737 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail you send.
6738 The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to store
6739 the mail. If you want to disable this completely, you should set
6740 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil}.
6742 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
6743 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
6744 use to store sent messages. It is @code{(nnfolder "archive"
6745 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive/"))} by default, but you can use any
6746 mail select method (@code{nnml}, @code{nnmbox}, etc.). However,
6747 @code{nnfolder} is a quite likeable select method for doing this sort of
6748 thing. If you don't like the default directory chosen, you could say
6752 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
6753 '(nnfolder "archive"
6754 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
6755 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
6756 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
6759 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
6761 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
6762 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
6763 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
6765 This variable can be:
6769 Messages will be saved in that group.
6770 @item a list of strings
6771 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
6772 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
6773 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
6775 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
6780 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
6782 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
6785 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
6787 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
6790 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
6792 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
6793 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
6794 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
6795 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
6800 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
6801 '((if (message-news-p)
6806 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
6807 messages in one file per month:
6810 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
6811 '((if (message-news-p)
6813 (concat "mail." (format-time-string
6814 "%Y-%m" (current-time))))))
6817 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
6818 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
6819 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
6820 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
6821 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
6822 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
6823 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
6824 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
6825 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
6826 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
6828 That's the default method of archiving sent mail. Gnus also offers two
6829 other variables for the people who don't like the default method. In
6830 that case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to
6831 @code{nil}; this will disable archiving.
6833 XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
6834 use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.
6838 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
6839 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
6840 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
6841 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
6842 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
6845 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
6846 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
6847 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
6852 @c @node Posting Styles
6853 @c @section Posting Styles
6854 @c @cindex posting styles
6857 @c All them variables, they make my head swim.
6859 @c So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
6860 @c on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
6861 @c and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
6864 @c @vindex gnus-posting-styles
6865 @c One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
6866 @c variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
6867 @c came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
6868 @c a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
6873 @c (signature . "Peace and happiness")
6874 @c (organization . "What me?"))
6876 @c (signature . "Death to everybody"))
6877 @c ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
6878 @c (organization . "Emacs is it")))
6881 @c As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
6882 @c @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
6883 @c ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
6884 @c over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
6885 @c applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
6886 @c the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
6887 @c @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
6888 @c signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
6890 @c The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
6891 @c string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
6892 @c If it's a function symbol, that function will be called with no
6893 @c arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
6894 @c referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
6895 @c any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
6898 @c Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
6899 @c attribute consists of a @var{(name . value)} pair. The attribute name
6900 @c can be one of @code{signature}, @code{organization} or @code{from}. The
6901 @c attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
6902 @c a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
6905 @c The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function (the
6906 @c return value will be used), a variable (its value will be used) or a
6907 @c list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value will be used).
6909 @c So here's a new example:
6912 @c (setq gnus-posting-styles
6914 @c (signature . "~/.signature")
6915 @c (from . "user@@foo (user)")
6916 @c ("X-Home-Page" . (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
6917 @c (organization . "People's Front Against MWM"))
6919 @c (signature . my-funny-signature-randomizer))
6920 @c ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
6921 @c (signature . my-quote-randomizer))
6922 @c (posting-from-work-p
6923 @c (signature . "~/.work-signature")
6924 @c (from . "user@@bar.foo (user)")
6925 @c (organization . "Important Work, Inc"))
6927 @c (signature . "~/.mail-signature"))))
6934 @c If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
6935 @c you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
6936 @c craazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save the
6937 @c message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some other
6938 @c day, and send it when you feel its finished.
6940 @c Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
6941 @c some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
6942 @c automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
6943 @c If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
6944 @c article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
6948 @c @vindex gnus-draft-group-directory
6949 @c The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
6950 @c @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
6951 @c @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{gnus-draft-group-directory}
6952 @c controls both the name of the group and the location---the leaf element
6953 @c in the path will be used as the name of the group. What makes this
6954 @c group special is that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any
6955 @c articles as read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
6957 @c If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
6960 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
6961 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
6962 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
6963 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
6964 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
6965 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
6966 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
6967 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
6968 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
6969 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
6970 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
6971 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
6972 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
6973 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
6975 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
6976 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
6977 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
6979 @c @findex gnus-summary-send-draft
6980 @c @kindex S D c (Summary)
6981 @c When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
6982 @c draft group and push @kbd{S D c} (@code{gnus-summary-send-draft}) to do
6983 @c that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
6985 @c Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
6988 @c @findex gnus-summary-send-all-drafts
6989 @c If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
6990 @c doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{S D a} command
6991 @c (@code{gnus-summary-send-all-drafts}). This command understands the
6992 @c process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6995 @c @node Rejected Articles
6996 @c @section Rejected Articles
6997 @c @cindex rejected articles
6999 @c Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
7000 @c doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
7001 @c @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
7002 @c Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
7004 @c These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
7005 @c (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
7006 @c fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
7007 @c you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
7008 @c articles until some later time when the server feels better.
7010 @c The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
7011 @c (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
7012 @c typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
7015 @node Select Methods
7016 @chapter Select Methods
7017 @cindex foreign groups
7018 @cindex select methods
7020 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group that is not read by the usual (or
7021 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
7022 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
7023 personal mail group.
7025 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
7026 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
7027 list where the first element says what backend to use (eg. @code{nntp},
7028 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
7029 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
7030 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
7032 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
7033 we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
7035 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
7038 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
7039 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
7040 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group, in
7041 all circumstances, @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the
7042 @code{nntp} backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
7044 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
7047 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
7048 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
7049 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
7050 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
7051 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
7055 @node The Server Buffer
7056 @section The Server Buffer
7058 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
7059 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
7060 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
7061 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
7062 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
7063 backend represents a virtual server.
7065 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
7066 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
7067 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
7068 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
7070 These select methods specifications can sometimes become quite
7071 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
7072 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number @code{13}, which
7073 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
7074 Anyways, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
7075 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
7076 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
7078 To enter the server buffer, user the @kbd{^}
7079 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
7082 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
7083 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
7084 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
7085 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
7086 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
7087 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
7090 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
7091 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
7094 @node Server Buffer Format
7095 @subsection Server Buffer Format
7096 @cindex server buffer format
7098 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
7099 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
7100 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
7101 variable, with some simple extensions:
7106 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
7109 The name of this server.
7112 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
7115 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
7118 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
7119 The mode line can also be customized by using the
7120 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable. The following specs are
7131 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
7134 @node Server Commands
7135 @subsection Server Commands
7136 @cindex server commands
7142 @findex gnus-server-add-server
7143 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
7147 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
7148 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
7151 @kindex SPACE (Server)
7152 @findex gnus-server-read-server
7153 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
7157 @findex gnus-server-exit
7158 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
7162 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
7163 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
7167 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
7168 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
7172 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
7173 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
7177 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
7178 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
7183 @node Example Methods
7184 @subsection Example Methods
7186 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
7189 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
7192 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
7198 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
7199 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
7202 After these two elements, there may be a arbitrary number of
7203 @var{(variable form)} pairs.
7205 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
7206 port @code{15} from that machine. This is what the select method should
7210 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
7213 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
7214 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example.
7216 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
7217 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
7218 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
7222 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
7225 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
7228 Here's the method for a public spool:
7232 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
7233 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
7237 @node Creating a Virtual Server
7238 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
7240 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
7241 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
7243 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
7244 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
7245 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
7247 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
7249 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
7250 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
7251 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
7252 will contain the following:
7262 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
7263 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
7264 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
7267 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
7268 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
7269 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
7272 @node Servers and Methods
7273 @subsection Servers and Methods
7275 Wherever you would normally use a select method
7276 (eg. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
7277 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
7278 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
7282 @node Unavailable Servers
7283 @subsection Unavailable Servers
7285 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
7286 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
7287 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
7288 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
7289 actually the case or not.
7291 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
7292 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to the server
7293 @samp{nepholococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
7294 away from you, the machine is quite, so it takes 1 minute just to find
7295 out that it refuses connection from you today. If Gnus were to attempt
7296 to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't attempt to do
7297 that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'', it will
7298 regard that server as ``down''.
7300 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
7301 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
7303 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke it
7304 with the following commands:
7310 @findex gnus-server-open-server
7311 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
7312 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
7316 @findex gnus-server-close-server
7317 Close the connection (if any) to the server
7318 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
7322 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
7323 Mark the current server as unreachable
7324 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
7328 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
7329 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from all servers
7330 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
7336 @section Getting News
7337 @cindex reading news
7338 @cindex news backends
7340 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
7341 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
7342 or it can read from a local spool.
7345 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
7346 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
7351 @subsection @sc{nntp}
7354 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
7355 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
7356 server as the, uhm, address.
7358 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
7359 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
7360 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
7361 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
7363 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
7364 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
7365 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
7367 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
7372 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
7373 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
7374 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
7376 @cindex authentification
7377 @cindex nntp authentification
7378 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
7379 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
7380 @code{nntp-server-opened-hook} is run after a connection has been made.
7381 It can be used to send commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has
7382 been contacted. By default is sends the command @code{MODE READER} to
7383 the server with the @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. Another
7384 popular function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which will prompt you for
7385 an @sc{nntp} password and stuff.
7387 @item nntp-server-action-alist
7388 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
7389 This is an list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
7390 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
7391 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
7394 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
7398 You probably don't want to do that, though.
7400 The default value is
7403 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
7404 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook nntp-send-mode-reader)))
7407 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
7408 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
7410 @item nntp-maximum-request
7411 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
7412 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
7413 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
7414 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
7415 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
7416 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
7417 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
7419 @item nntp-connection-timeout
7420 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
7421 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
7422 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
7423 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
7424 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
7425 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
7426 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
7427 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
7428 no timeouts are done.
7430 @item nntp-command-timeout
7431 @vindex nntp-command-timeout
7432 @cindex PPP connections
7433 @cindex dynamic IP addresses
7434 If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
7435 address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
7436 changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
7437 waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
7438 unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
7439 then, if it sits waiting longer than that number of seconds for a reply
7440 from the server, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
7441 the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
7442 likely number is 30 seconds.
7444 @item nntp-retry-on-break
7445 @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
7446 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
7447 hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
7450 @item nntp-server-hook
7451 @vindex nntp-server-hook
7452 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
7455 @findex nntp-open-rlogin
7456 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
7457 @item nntp-open-server-function
7458 @vindex nntp-open-server-function
7459 This function is used to connect to the remote system. Two pre-made
7460 functions are @code{nntp-open-network-stream}, which is the default, and
7461 simply connects to some port or other on the remote system. The other
7462 is @code{nntp-open-rlogin}, which does an rlogin on the remote system,
7463 and then does a telnet to the @sc{nntp} server available there.
7465 @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
7466 @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
7467 If you use @code{nntp-open-rlogin} as the
7468 @code{nntp-open-server-function}, this list will be used as the
7469 parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
7471 @item nntp-end-of-line
7472 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
7473 String to use as end-of-line markers when talking to the @sc{nntp}
7474 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
7475 using @code{rlogin} to talk to the server.
7477 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
7478 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
7479 User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
7483 @vindex nntp-address
7484 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
7486 @item nntp-port-number
7487 @vindex nntp-port-number
7488 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
7491 @item nntp-buggy-select
7492 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
7493 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
7495 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
7496 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
7497 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
7498 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks whether @sc{nov}
7499 can be used automatically.
7501 @item nntp-xover-commands
7502 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
7505 List of strings that are used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
7506 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
7510 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
7511 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
7512 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
7513 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
7514 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
7515 lines that you do not want, and will not use. This variable says how
7516 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
7517 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
7518 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
7519 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
7520 @code{nntp} will never split requests.
7522 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
7523 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
7524 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
7526 @item nntp-async-number
7527 @vindex nntp-async-number
7528 How many articles should be pre-fetched when in asynchronous mode. If
7529 this variable is @code{t}, @code{nntp} will pre-fetch all the articles
7530 that it can without bound. If it is @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be
7533 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
7534 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
7535 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
7536 server closes connection.
7542 @subsection News Spool
7546 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
7547 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups like
7548 @samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}.
7550 Anyways, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @samp{} (or
7551 anything else) as the address.
7553 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
7554 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
7555 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
7556 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
7560 @item nnspool-inews-program
7561 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
7562 Program used to post an article.
7564 @item nnspool-inews-switches
7565 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
7566 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
7568 @item nnspool-spool-directory
7569 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
7570 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
7571 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
7573 @item nnspool-nov-directory
7574 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
7575 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
7576 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
7578 @item nnspool-lib-dir
7579 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
7580 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
7582 @item nnspool-active-file
7583 @vindex nnspool-active-file
7584 The path of the active file.
7586 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
7587 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
7588 The path of the group descriptions file.
7590 @item nnspool-history-file
7591 @vindex nnspool-history-file
7592 The path of the news history file.
7594 @item nnspool-active-times-file
7595 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
7596 The path of the active date file.
7598 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
7599 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
7600 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
7603 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
7604 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
7606 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
7607 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
7608 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
7614 @section Getting Mail
7615 @cindex reading mail
7618 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
7622 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
7623 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
7624 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
7625 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
7626 * Mail and Procmail:: Reading mail groups that procmail create.
7627 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
7628 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
7629 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
7630 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
7631 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
7635 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
7636 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
7638 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
7639 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
7640 and things will happen automatically.
7642 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a one file per
7643 mail backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
7646 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
7647 '((nnml "private")))
7650 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
7651 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
7652 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
7653 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
7654 like any other group.
7656 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
7659 (setq nnmail-split-methods
7660 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
7661 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
7665 This will result in three new mail groups being created:
7666 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
7667 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
7670 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
7671 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though,
7672 especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
7675 @node Splitting Mail
7676 @subsection Splitting Mail
7677 @cindex splitting mail
7678 @cindex mail splitting
7680 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
7681 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
7682 to be split into groups.
7685 (setq nnmail-split-methods
7686 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
7687 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
7691 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
7692 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
7693 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
7694 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
7695 determine if it belongs in this mail group.
7697 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
7698 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
7699 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
7700 mail belongs in that group.
7702 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
7703 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any
7704 mails that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps.
7706 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
7707 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
7708 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
7709 message. The function should return a list of groups names that it
7710 thinks should carry this mail message.
7712 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent
7713 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
7714 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
7715 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
7717 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
7718 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
7719 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
7720 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
7721 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
7723 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
7726 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
7727 the crossposted articles. However, not all files systems support hard
7728 links. If that's the case for you, set
7729 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
7730 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
7732 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
7733 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
7734 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
7735 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
7736 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
7737 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
7738 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
7739 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
7743 @node Mail Backend Variables
7744 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
7746 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
7750 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
7751 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
7752 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
7753 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
7755 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
7756 @item nnmail-spool-file
7760 @vindex nnmail-pop-password
7761 @vindex nnmail-pop-password-required
7762 The backends will look for new mail in this file. If this variable is
7763 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
7764 themselves. If you are using a POP mail server and your name is
7765 @samp{larsi}, you should set this variable to @samp{po:larsi}. If
7766 your name is not @samp{larsi}, you should probably modify that
7767 slightly, but you may have guessed that already, you smart & handsome
7768 devil! You can also set this variable to @code{pop}, and Gnus will try
7769 to figure out the POP mail string by itself. In any case, Gnus will
7770 call @code{movemail} which will contact the POP server named in the
7771 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable. If the POP server needs a
7772 password, you can either set @code{nnmail-pop-password-required} to
7773 @code{t} and be prompted for the password, or set
7774 @code{nnmail-pop-password} to the password itself.
7776 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
7777 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
7778 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
7779 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
7780 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
7781 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
7783 @vindex nnmail-use-procmail
7784 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
7785 @item nnmail-use-procmail
7786 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will look in
7787 @code{nnmail-procmail-directory} for incoming mail. All the files in
7788 that directory that have names ending in @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix}
7789 will be considered incoming mailboxes, and will be searched for new
7792 @vindex nnmail-crash-box
7793 @item nnmail-crash-box
7794 When the mail backends read a spool file, it is first moved to this
7795 file, which is @file{~/.gnus-crash-box} by default. If this file
7796 already exists, it will always be read (and incorporated) before any
7799 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
7800 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
7801 This is run in a buffer that holds all the new incoming mail, and can be
7802 used for, well, anything, really.
7804 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
7805 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
7806 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
7807 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
7808 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
7809 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
7810 starting to handle the new mail) and
7811 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
7812 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
7813 default file modes the new mail files get:
7816 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
7817 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
7819 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
7820 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
7823 @item nnmail-tmp-directory
7824 @vindex nnmail-tmp-directory
7825 This variable says where to move the incoming mail to while processing
7826 it. This is usually done in the same directory that the mail backend
7827 inhabits (i.e., @file{~/Mail/}), but if this variable is non-@code{nil},
7828 it will be used instead.
7830 @item nnmail-movemail-program
7831 @vindex nnmail-movemail-program
7832 This program is executed to move mail from the user's inbox to her home
7833 directory. The default is @samp{movemail}.
7835 @item nnmail-delete-incoming
7836 @vindex nnmail-delete-incoming
7837 @cindex incoming mail files
7838 @cindex deleting incoming files
7839 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will delete the temporary incoming
7840 file after splitting mail into the proper groups. This is @code{t} by
7841 default for reasons of security.
7843 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
7844 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
7845 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
7846 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories like
7847 @file{mail.misc/}. If it is @code{nil}, the same group will end up in
7850 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
7851 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
7853 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
7858 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
7859 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
7860 @cindex mail splitting
7861 @cindex fancy mail splitting
7863 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
7864 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
7865 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
7866 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
7867 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
7868 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
7870 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
7873 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
7874 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
7875 ;; from real errors.
7876 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
7878 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
7879 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
7880 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
7881 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
7882 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
7883 ;; Other mailing lists...
7884 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
7885 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
7887 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen"))
7888 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
7892 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
7893 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
7894 the four possible split syntaxes:
7899 If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group name.
7901 @item (FIELD VALUE SPLIT)
7902 If the split is a list, and the first element is a string, then that
7903 means that if header FIELD (a regexp) contains VALUE (also a regexp),
7904 then store the message as specified by SPLIT.
7907 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{|} (vertical
7908 bar), then process each SPLIT until one of them matches. A SPLIT is
7909 said to match if it will cause the mail message to be stored in one or
7913 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{&}, then process
7914 all SPLITs in the list.
7917 In these splits, FIELD must match a complete field name. VALUE must
7918 match a complete word according to the fundamental mode syntax table.
7919 You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial field names or
7922 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
7923 FIELD and VALUE can also be lisp symbols, in that case they are expanded
7924 as specified by the variable @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is
7925 an alist of cons cells, where the car of the cells contains the key, and
7926 the cdr contains a string.
7928 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
7929 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
7930 when all this splitting is performed.
7933 @node Mail and Procmail
7934 @subsection Mail and Procmail
7939 Many people use @code{procmail} (or some other mail filter program or
7940 external delivery agent---@code{slocal}, @code{elm}, etc) to split
7941 incoming mail into groups. If you do that, you should set
7942 @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{procmail} to ensure that the mail
7943 backends never ever try to fetch mail by themselves.
7945 This also means that you probably don't want to set
7946 @code{nnmail-split-methods} either, which has some, perhaps, unexpected
7949 When a mail backend is queried for what groups it carries, it replies
7950 with the contents of that variable, along with any groups it has figured
7951 out that it carries by other means. None of the backends (except
7952 @code{nnmh}) actually go out to the disk and check what groups actually
7953 exist. (It's not trivial to distinguish between what the user thinks is
7954 a basis for a newsgroup and what is just a plain old file or directory.)
7956 This means that you have to tell Gnus (and the backends) what groups
7959 Let's take the @code{nnmh} backend as an example.
7961 The folders are located in @code{nnmh-directory}, say, @file{~/Mail/}.
7962 There are three folders, @file{foo}, @file{bar} and @file{mail.baz}.
7964 Go to the group buffer and type @kbd{G m}. When prompted, answer
7965 @samp{foo} for the name and @samp{nnmh} for the method. Repeat
7966 twice for the two other groups, @samp{bar} and @samp{mail.baz}. Be sure
7967 to include all your mail groups.
7969 That's it. You are now set to read your mail. An active file for this
7970 method will be created automatically.
7972 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
7973 @vindex nnmail-procmail-directory
7974 If you use @code{nnfolder} or any other backend that store more than a
7975 single article in each file, you should never have procmail add mails to
7976 the file that Gnus sees. Instead, procmail should put all incoming mail
7977 in @code{nnmail-procmail-directory}. To arrive at the file name to put
7978 the incoming mail in, append @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix} to the group
7979 name. The mail backends will read the mail from these files.
7981 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
7982 When Gnus reads a file called @file{mail.misc.spool}, this mail will be
7983 put in the @code{mail.misc}, as one would expect. However, if you want
7984 Gnus to split the mail the normal way, you could set
7985 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to @code{t}.
7987 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
7988 If you use @code{procmail} to split things directory into an @code{nnmh}
7989 directory (which you shouldn't do), you should set
7990 @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} to non-@code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
7991 ever expiring the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is quite,
7995 @node Incorporating Old Mail
7996 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
7998 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
7999 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
8000 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
8003 Doing so can be quite easy.
8005 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
8006 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
8007 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
8008 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
8009 your @code{nnml} groups.
8015 Go to the group buffer.
8018 Type `G f' and give the path of the mbox file when prompted to create an
8019 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
8022 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
8025 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group (@pxref{Setting
8029 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
8030 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
8033 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
8034 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
8035 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
8036 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
8037 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
8039 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
8040 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
8041 using the new mail backend.
8045 @subsection Expiring Mail
8046 @cindex article expiry
8048 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
8049 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
8050 different approach to mail reading.
8052 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
8053 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
8054 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
8055 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
8056 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
8057 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
8060 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
8061 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
8062 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
8063 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
8064 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
8065 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
8066 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
8067 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
8069 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
8070 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
8071 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
8072 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
8073 articles that are marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
8074 column in the summary buffer.
8076 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
8077 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
8080 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
8081 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
8084 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
8085 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
8087 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
8088 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
8089 expirable article has to live. The default is seven days.
8091 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
8092 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
8093 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
8094 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
8097 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
8099 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
8101 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
8103 ((string= group "mail.junk")
8105 ((string= group "important")
8111 The group names that this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
8112 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
8114 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
8115 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can be either a number (not
8116 necessarily an integer) or the symbols @code{immediate} or
8119 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
8120 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
8122 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
8123 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
8124 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
8125 easier for procmail users.
8127 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
8128 By the way, that line up there about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
8129 articles is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
8130 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
8131 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
8132 caution. Even more dangerous is the
8133 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
8134 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
8135 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
8136 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
8137 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
8138 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
8139 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
8144 @subsection Duplicates
8146 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
8147 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
8148 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
8149 @cindex duplicate mails
8150 If you are a member of a couple of mailing list, you will sometime
8151 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
8152 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
8153 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s -
8154 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
8155 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
8156 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
8157 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
8158 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
8159 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
8160 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
8161 will generate a brand new @code{Message-ID} for the mail and insert a
8162 warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks that this is a
8163 duplicate of a different message.
8165 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
8166 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
8167 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
8168 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
8170 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
8173 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
8174 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
8178 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
8179 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
8180 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
8181 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
8182 (any mail "mail.misc")
8189 (setq nnmail-split-methods
8190 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
8195 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
8196 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
8197 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
8198 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
8199 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
8202 @node Not Reading Mail
8203 @subsection Not Reading Mail
8205 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
8206 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
8207 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
8209 If you set @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{nil}, none of the backends
8210 will ever attempt to read incoming mail, which should help.
8212 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
8213 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
8214 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
8215 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
8216 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
8217 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
8218 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
8219 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
8220 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
8221 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
8222 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
8224 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
8225 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
8229 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
8230 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
8232 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
8233 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
8234 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
8237 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
8238 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
8239 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
8240 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
8241 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
8246 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
8248 @cindex unix mail box
8250 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
8251 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
8252 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
8253 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
8254 which group it belongs in.
8256 Virtual server settings:
8259 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
8260 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
8261 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory.
8263 @item nnmbox-active-file
8264 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
8265 The name of the active file for the mail box.
8267 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
8268 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
8269 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
8275 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
8279 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
8280 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
8281 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
8282 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each mail
8283 article to say which group it belongs in.
8285 Virtual server settings:
8288 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
8289 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
8290 The name of the rmail mbox file.
8292 @item nnbabyl-active-file
8293 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
8294 The name of the active file for the rmail box.
8296 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
8297 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
8298 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail.
8303 @subsubsection Mail Spool
8305 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
8307 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
8308 format. It should be used with some caution.
8310 @vindex nnml-directory
8311 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files;
8312 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the correct
8313 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
8314 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
8316 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
8319 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
8320 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
8321 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
8322 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
8323 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
8324 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
8325 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
8326 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
8328 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
8329 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
8330 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes is the fastest
8331 backend when it comes to reading mail.
8333 Virtual server settings:
8336 @item nnml-directory
8337 @vindex nnml-directory
8338 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
8340 @item nnml-active-file
8341 @vindex nnml-active-file
8342 The active file for the @code{nnml} server.
8344 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
8345 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
8346 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
8349 @item nnml-get-new-mail
8350 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
8351 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail.
8353 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
8354 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
8355 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
8357 @item nnml-nov-file-name
8358 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
8359 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
8361 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
8362 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
8363 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
8367 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
8368 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
8369 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
8370 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
8371 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
8372 might take a while to complete.
8376 @subsubsection MH Spool
8378 @cindex mh-e mail spool
8380 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
8381 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
8382 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
8383 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
8385 Virtual server settings:
8388 @item nnmh-directory
8389 @vindex nnmh-directory
8390 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory.
8392 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
8393 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
8394 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail.
8397 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
8398 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
8399 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
8400 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
8401 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
8402 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
8403 to set this variable to @code{t}.
8408 @subsubsection Mail Folders
8410 @cindex mbox folders
8411 @cindex mail folders
8413 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
8414 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
8415 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
8418 Virtual server settings:
8421 @item nnfolder-directory
8422 @vindex nnfolder-directory
8423 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
8425 @item nnfolder-active-file
8426 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
8427 The name of the active file.
8429 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
8430 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
8431 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File Format}.
8433 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
8434 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
8435 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail.
8438 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
8439 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
8440 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
8441 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
8442 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
8443 @code{nnfolder-directory}.
8447 @section Other Sources
8449 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
8450 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
8454 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
8455 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
8456 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
8457 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{SOUP} packets ``offline''.
8461 @node Directory Groups
8462 @subsection Directory Groups
8464 @cindex directory groups
8466 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
8467 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
8470 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp}, that most
8471 wonderful of all wonderful Emacs packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I
8472 didn't think much about it---a backend to read directories. Big deal.
8474 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
8475 enter @file{"/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/"} as the the
8476 directory name, ange-ftp will actually allow you to read this directory
8477 over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
8479 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
8481 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
8482 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
8483 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
8484 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
8487 @node Anything Groups
8488 @subsection Anything Groups
8491 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
8492 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
8493 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
8496 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
8497 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
8498 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
8499 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're
8500 forgetting. @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it
8501 snoops each file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e.,
8502 the first few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head.
8503 If this is just some arbitrary file without a head (eg. a C source
8504 file), @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It
8505 will use file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
8508 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
8509 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
8510 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
8511 in the article buffer, just as usual.
8513 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
8514 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
8515 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
8516 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
8518 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
8519 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
8520 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
8521 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
8522 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
8523 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
8524 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
8525 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
8530 @item nneething-map-file-directory
8531 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
8532 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
8533 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
8535 @item nneething-exclude-files
8536 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
8537 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
8538 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
8540 @item nneething-map-file
8541 @vindex nneething-map-file
8542 Name of the map files.
8546 @node Document Groups
8547 @subsection Document Groups
8549 @cindex documentation group
8552 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
8553 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
8560 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
8565 The standard Unix mbox file.
8567 @cindex MMDF mail box
8569 The MMDF mail box format.
8572 Several news articles appended into a file.
8575 @cindex rnews batch files
8576 The rnews batch transport format.
8577 @cindex forwarded messages
8586 @cindex RFC 1153 digest
8587 @cindex RFC 341 digest
8588 MIME (RFC 1341) digest format.
8590 @item standard-digest
8591 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
8594 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
8597 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
8598 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
8599 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
8602 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
8603 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
8604 group. And that's it.
8606 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
8607 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
8608 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
8609 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
8610 @code{nndoc}, set the process mark on all the articles in the buffer
8611 (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r}) using
8612 @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL} file is
8613 now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can delete
8614 that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
8616 Virtual server variables:
8619 @item nndoc-article-type
8620 @vindex nndoc-article-type
8621 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
8622 @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{news}, @code{rnews},
8623 @code{mime-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, or @code{guess}.
8625 @item nndoc-post-type
8626 @vindex nndoc-post-type
8627 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
8628 a mail group. There are two legal values: @code{mail} (the default)
8633 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
8637 @node Document Server Internals
8638 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
8640 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
8641 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
8642 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
8643 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
8645 First, here's an example document type definition:
8649 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
8650 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
8653 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
8654 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
8655 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
8656 types can be defined with very few settings:
8660 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
8661 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
8665 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
8666 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
8668 @item head-begin-function
8669 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
8672 @item nndoc-head-begin
8673 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
8676 @item nndoc-head-end
8677 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
8678 @samp{"^$"}---the empty line.
8680 @item body-begin-function
8681 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
8685 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
8688 @item body-end-function
8689 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
8693 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
8695 @item nndoc-file-end
8696 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
8697 regexp will be totally ignored.
8701 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
8702 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
8703 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
8704 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
8705 something that's palatable for Gnus:
8708 @item prepare-body-function
8709 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
8710 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
8711 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
8713 @item article-transform-function
8714 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
8715 meant to be used how more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
8716 body of the article.
8718 @item generate-head-function
8719 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
8720 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
8721 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
8722 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
8726 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
8731 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
8732 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
8733 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
8734 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
8736 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
8737 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
8738 (subtype digest guess))
8741 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
8742 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
8743 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
8744 the head from the body may contain a single spcae; and that the body is
8745 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
8747 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
8748 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
8749 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
8750 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
8751 traversed sequentially, and @code{nndoc-TYPE-type-p} is called for each
8752 type. So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document
8753 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
8754 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
8755 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
8756 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
8757 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest legal number.
8765 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
8766 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
8767 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
8769 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
8770 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
8771 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
8774 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something a that's a bit
8775 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
8776 that interested in doing things properly.
8778 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
8779 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
8785 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
8786 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie, or you can use Gnus to create the
8787 packet with the @kbd{O s} command.
8790 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
8793 You put the packet in your home directory.
8796 You fire up Gnus using the @code{nnsoup} backend as the native server.
8799 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
8803 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
8807 You transfer this packet to the server.
8810 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
8813 You then repeat until you die.
8817 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
8818 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
8821 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
8822 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
8823 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
8828 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
8832 @kindex G s b (Group)
8833 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
8834 Pack all unread articles in the current group
8835 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
8836 process/prefix convention.
8839 @kindex G s w (Group)
8840 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
8841 Save all data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
8844 @kindex G s s (Group)
8845 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
8846 Send all replies from the replies packet
8847 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
8850 @kindex G s p (Group)
8851 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
8852 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
8855 @kindex G s r (Group)
8856 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
8857 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
8860 @kindex O s (Summary)
8861 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
8862 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
8863 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
8869 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
8874 @item gnus-soup-directory
8875 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
8876 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
8877 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
8879 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
8880 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
8881 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
8882 reply packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/}.
8884 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
8885 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
8886 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
8889 @item gnus-soup-packer
8890 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
8891 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
8892 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
8894 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
8895 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
8896 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
8897 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
8899 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
8900 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
8901 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
8903 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
8904 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
8905 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
8906 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
8912 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
8915 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
8916 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
8917 you can read them at leisure.
8919 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
8923 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
8924 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
8925 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
8926 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
8928 @item nnsoup-directory
8929 @vindex nnsoup-directory
8930 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
8931 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
8933 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
8934 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
8935 All replies will stored in this directory before being packed into a
8936 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
8938 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
8939 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
8940 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
8941 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
8942 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
8944 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
8945 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
8946 The index type of the replies packet. The is @samp{?n}, which means
8947 ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
8949 @item nnsoup-active-file
8950 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
8951 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
8952 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
8953 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
8954 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
8957 @vindex nnsoup-packer
8958 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
8959 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
8961 @item nnsoup-unpacker
8962 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
8963 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
8964 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
8966 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
8967 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
8968 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
8971 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
8972 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
8973 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
8980 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
8982 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
8983 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
8984 more for that to happen.
8986 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
8987 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
8988 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
8991 In specific, this is what it does:
8994 (setq gnus-inews-article-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
8995 (setq send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
8998 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
8999 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
9000 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
9003 @node Combined Groups
9004 @section Combined Groups
9006 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
9010 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
9011 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
9015 @node Virtual Groups
9016 @subsection Virtual Groups
9018 @cindex virtual groups
9020 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
9023 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small group, you can
9024 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
9025 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
9027 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
9028 regexp to match component groups.
9030 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
9031 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
9032 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
9033 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
9036 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
9037 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
9040 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
9043 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
9044 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
9046 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
9047 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
9048 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
9049 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
9052 "^nntp+some.server.jp:soc.motss$\\|^nntp+some.server.no:soc.motss$"
9055 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
9056 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
9057 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
9058 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
9059 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}.
9061 One limitation, however---all groups that are included in a virtual
9062 group has to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
9063 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
9065 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
9066 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
9067 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
9068 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
9069 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
9070 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
9071 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
9072 effect if you have two virtual groups that contain the same component
9073 group. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
9074 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
9075 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
9078 @node Kibozed Groups
9079 @subsection Kibozed Groups
9083 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
9084 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
9085 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
9086 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
9089 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
9092 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
9093 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
9094 @code{nnkiboze} group. There most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
9095 and @code{nnvirtual} ends.
9097 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
9098 must have a score file to say what articles that are to be included in
9099 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
9101 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
9102 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
9103 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
9104 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
9105 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
9106 all the articles in all the components groups and run them through the
9107 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
9108 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
9110 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
9111 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
9112 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
9113 Stranger things have happened.
9115 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
9116 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
9118 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
9119 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
9120 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
9121 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
9122 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
9123 on what groups that have been searched through to find component
9126 Articles that are marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have their
9127 @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
9134 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
9135 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
9136 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
9139 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
9140 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
9141 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
9142 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
9143 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
9145 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
9146 before generating the summary buffer.
9148 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
9149 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
9150 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
9152 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
9153 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
9154 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
9155 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
9158 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
9159 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
9160 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
9161 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
9162 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
9163 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus @emph{knows} what you read.
9164 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
9165 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
9166 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
9167 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
9168 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
9169 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
9170 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
9174 @node Summary Score Commands
9175 @section Summary Score Commands
9176 @cindex score commands
9178 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
9179 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
9180 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
9181 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
9182 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
9184 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
9185 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
9186 some other score file (eg. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
9187 score file the current one.
9189 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
9194 @kindex V s (Summary)
9195 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
9196 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
9199 @kindex V S (Summary)
9200 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
9201 Display the score of the current article
9202 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
9205 @kindex V t (Summary)
9206 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
9207 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
9208 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
9211 @cindex V R (Summary)
9212 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
9213 Run the current summary through the scoring process
9214 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
9215 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
9216 effect you're having.
9219 @kindex V a (Summary)
9220 @findex gnus-summary-score-entry
9221 Add a new score entry, and allow specifying all elements
9222 (@code{gnus-summary-score-entry}).
9225 @kindex V c (Summary)
9226 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
9227 Make a different score file the current
9228 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
9231 @kindex V e (Summary)
9232 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
9233 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
9234 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
9238 @kindex V f (Summary)
9239 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
9240 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
9241 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
9244 @kindex V F (Summary)
9245 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
9246 Flush the score cahe (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
9247 after editing score files.
9250 @kindex V C (Summary)
9251 @findex gnus-score-customize
9252 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
9253 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
9256 @kindex I C-i (Summary)
9257 @findex gnus-summary-raise-score
9258 Increase the score of the current article
9259 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-score}).
9262 @kindex L C-l (Summary)
9263 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
9264 Lower the score of the current article
9265 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-score}).
9268 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
9273 @kindex V m (Summary)
9274 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
9275 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
9276 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
9279 @kindex V x (Summary)
9280 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
9281 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
9282 expunge all articles below this score
9283 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
9286 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
9287 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
9292 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
9293 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
9295 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
9300 Score on the author name.
9303 Score on the subject line.
9306 Score on the Xref line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
9309 Score on thread---the References line.
9315 Score on the number of lines.
9318 Score on the Message-ID.
9331 The third key is the match type. Which match types are legal depends on
9332 what headers you are scoring on.
9376 Greater than number.
9381 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
9382 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
9383 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
9387 Temporary score entry.
9390 Permanent score entry.
9393 Immediately scoring.
9398 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
9399 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
9400 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
9401 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
9403 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
9404 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
9405 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
9406 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
9407 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
9409 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
9410 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
9411 pretend they are keymaps or not.
9414 @node Group Score Commands
9415 @section Group Score Commands
9416 @cindex group score commands
9418 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
9424 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
9425 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
9426 all the time. This command will flush the cache
9427 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
9432 @node Score Variables
9433 @section Score Variables
9434 @cindex score variables
9438 @item gnus-use-scoring
9439 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
9440 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
9441 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
9443 @item gnus-kill-killed
9444 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
9445 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
9446 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
9447 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
9448 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
9449 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
9450 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
9452 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
9453 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
9454 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
9455 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
9456 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
9458 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
9459 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
9460 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
9461 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
9463 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
9464 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
9466 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
9467 score files. However, if this might make you Emacs grow big and
9468 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files that are
9469 unlikely to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
9470 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
9471 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
9472 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
9475 @item gnus-save-score
9476 @vindex gnus-save-score
9477 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
9478 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
9479 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
9481 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
9482 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
9483 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
9484 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
9485 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
9486 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
9487 manually entered data.
9489 @item gnus-summary-default-score
9490 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
9491 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
9493 @item gnus-score-over-mark
9494 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
9495 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
9496 default. Default is @samp{+}.
9498 @item gnus-score-below-mark
9499 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
9500 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
9501 default. Default is @samp{-}.
9503 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
9504 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
9505 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
9506 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
9508 Predefined functions available are:
9511 @item gnus-score-find-single
9512 @findex gnus-score-find-single
9513 Only apply the group's own score file.
9515 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
9516 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
9517 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
9518 default. For instance, if the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus},
9519 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
9520 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
9521 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
9522 then a regexp match is done.
9524 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
9525 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
9527 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
9528 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
9529 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
9530 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE} or @file{all.emacs.SCORE},
9531 but you can have @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and
9532 @file{comp.emacs.SCORE}.
9535 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
9536 functions will be called, and all the returned lists of score files will
9537 be applied. These functions can also return lists of score alists
9538 directly. In that case, the functions that return these non-file score
9539 alists should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file
9540 functions, to ensure that the last score file returned is the local
9543 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
9544 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
9545 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
9546 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
9547 are expired. It's 7 by default.
9549 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
9550 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
9551 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
9552 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
9553 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
9554 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
9555 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
9558 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
9559 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
9560 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
9565 @node Score File Format
9566 @section Score File Format
9567 @cindex score file format
9569 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
9570 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
9571 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
9573 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
9577 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
9579 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
9581 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
9583 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
9588 (mark-and-expunge -10)
9592 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
9593 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
9594 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
9595 (gnus-summary-make-false-root 'empty))
9599 This example demonstrates absolutely everything about a score file.
9601 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
9602 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
9603 has to be legal syntactically, if not semantically.
9605 Six keys are supported by this alist:
9610 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
9611 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
9612 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
9613 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
9614 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
9615 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
9616 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
9617 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
9618 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
9619 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
9620 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
9621 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
9622 to articles that matches these score entries.
9624 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
9625 score entry has one to four elements.
9629 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
9630 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
9634 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
9635 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
9636 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
9637 is successful. If this element is not present, the
9638 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
9639 instead. This is 1000 by default.
9642 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
9643 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
9644 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
9645 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
9646 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 ce.
9649 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
9650 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
9651 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
9652 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
9655 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
9656 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp) as
9657 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types and @code{e} and
9658 @code{E} (exact match) types. If this element is not present, Gnus will
9659 assume that substring matching should be used. @code{R} and @code{S}
9660 differ from the other two in that the matches will be done in a
9661 case-sensitive manner. All these one-letter types are really just
9662 abbreviations for the @code{regexp}, @code{string} and @code{exact}
9663 types, which you can use instead, if you feel like.
9666 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
9667 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
9670 For the Date header we have three match types: @code{before}, @code{at}
9671 and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this ever being useful, but,
9672 like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide this function. Just in
9673 case. You never know. Better safe than sorry. Once burnt, twice shy.
9674 Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have sex on a first date.
9675 (I have been told that at least one person, and I quote, ``found this
9676 function indispensable'', however.)
9678 @item Head, Body, All
9679 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
9683 This match key will add a score entry on all articles that followup to
9684 some author. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header uses.
9687 This match key will add a score entry on all articles that are part of
9688 a thread. Uses the same match types as the @code{References} header
9694 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
9695 lower than this number will be marked as read.
9698 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
9699 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
9701 @item mark-and-expunge
9702 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
9703 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
9706 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
9707 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
9708 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
9709 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
9710 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
9713 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
9714 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
9718 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. This files will
9719 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
9723 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
9724 ignored when handling global score files.
9727 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
9728 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}).
9731 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
9732 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
9733 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
9734 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
9736 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
9740 (mark-and-expunge -100)
9743 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
9744 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
9745 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
9746 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
9747 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
9749 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where there
9750 exist a few interesting threads which can't be found automatically by
9751 ordinary scoring rules.
9754 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
9755 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
9756 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
9757 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
9758 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
9759 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
9760 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
9761 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
9762 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
9763 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
9764 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
9768 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
9769 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
9770 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
9771 file for a number of groups.
9774 @cindex local variables
9775 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
9776 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
9777 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
9778 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
9783 @node Score File Editing
9784 @section Score File Editing
9786 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
9787 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
9788 with a mode for that.
9790 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
9791 additional commands:
9796 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
9797 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
9798 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
9799 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
9802 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
9803 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
9804 Insert the current date in numerical format
9805 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
9809 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
9810 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
9811 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
9812 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
9813 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
9818 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
9820 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
9821 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
9823 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
9824 e} to begin editing score files.
9827 @node Adaptive Scoring
9828 @section Adaptive Scoring
9829 @cindex adaptive scoring
9831 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
9832 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
9833 stupidity, to be precise.
9835 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
9836 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
9837 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
9838 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
9839 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
9842 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
9843 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
9844 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
9845 might look something like this:
9848 (defvar gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
9849 '((gnus-unread-mark)
9850 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
9851 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
9852 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
9853 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
9854 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
9855 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
9856 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
9858 (gnus-low-score-mark)
9859 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
9862 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
9863 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
9864 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
9865 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
9866 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
9867 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
9870 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
9871 will be applied to each article.
9873 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
9874 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
9875 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
9876 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
9878 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
9879 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
9880 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
9881 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
9883 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
9884 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
9885 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
9886 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
9887 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
9888 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
9890 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
9891 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
9892 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
9893 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
9894 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
9895 aspirins afterwards.)
9897 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
9898 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
9899 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
9901 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
9902 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
9903 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
9905 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
9906 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
9907 let you use different rules in different groups.
9909 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
9910 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
9911 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
9914 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
9915 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
9916 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
9917 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
9918 the length of the match is less than
9919 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
9920 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
9924 @node Followups To Yourself
9925 @section Followups To Yourself
9927 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
9928 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
9929 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
9930 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
9931 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
9932 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
9936 @item gnus-score-followup-article
9937 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
9938 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
9941 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
9942 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
9943 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
9947 @vindex gnus-inews-article-hook
9948 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
9949 @code{message-send-hook}.
9952 @section Scoring Tips
9953 @cindex scoring tips
9959 @cindex scoring crossposts
9960 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
9961 the @code{Xref} header.
9963 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
9966 @item Multiple crossposts
9967 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
9968 more than, say, 3 groups:
9970 ("xref" ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
9973 @item Matching on the body
9974 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
9975 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
9976 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
9977 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
9978 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
9979 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
9980 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
9983 @item Marking as read
9984 You will probably want to mark articles that has a score below a certain
9985 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
9986 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
9990 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
9992 @item Negated character classes
9993 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
9994 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
9995 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
9999 @node Reverse Scoring
10000 @section Reverse Scoring
10001 @cindex reverse scoring
10003 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
10004 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
10005 like this in your score file:
10009 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
10014 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
10015 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
10018 @node Global Score Files
10019 @section Global Score Files
10020 @cindex global score files
10022 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
10023 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
10024 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
10026 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
10027 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
10028 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
10030 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
10031 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
10032 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
10033 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
10034 files are applicable to which group.
10036 Say you want to use all score files in the
10037 @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory and the single score
10038 file @file{/ftp@@ftp.ifi.uio.no:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE}:
10041 (setq gnus-global-score-files
10042 '("/ftp@@ftp.ifi.uio.no:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
10043 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
10046 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
10047 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
10048 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
10049 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
10050 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
10052 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
10053 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
10055 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
10056 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
10057 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
10058 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
10059 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
10060 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
10062 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
10068 Articles that are heavily crossposted are probably junk.
10070 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
10072 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
10074 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
10075 lowered out of existence.
10077 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
10078 articles completely.
10081 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
10082 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
10083 old articles for a long time.
10086 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
10087 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
10088 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
10089 holding our breath yet?
10093 @section Kill Files
10096 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
10097 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
10098 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
10100 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
10101 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
10102 files into score files.
10104 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
10105 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
10106 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
10107 that isn't a very good idea.
10109 XCNormal kill files look like this:
10112 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
10113 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
10117 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove them from
10118 the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
10120 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
10121 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
10124 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
10129 @kindex M-k (Summary)
10130 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
10131 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
10134 @kindex M-K (Summary)
10135 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
10136 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
10139 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
10144 @kindex M-k (Group)
10145 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
10146 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
10149 @kindex M-K (Group)
10150 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
10151 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
10154 Kill file variables:
10157 @item gnus-kill-file-name
10158 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
10159 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
10160 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
10161 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
10162 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
10163 course) is called just @file{KILL}.
10165 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
10166 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
10167 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
10168 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
10171 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
10172 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
10173 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
10174 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
10175 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
10176 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
10177 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
10178 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
10179 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
10181 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
10182 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
10183 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
10192 GroupLens is a collaborative filtering system that helps you work
10193 together with other people to find the quality news articles out of the
10194 huge volume of news articles generated every day.
10196 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
10197 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
10198 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
10199 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
10200 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
10201 Once it has found for you some people you agree with it tells you, in
10202 the form of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use
10203 this prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
10207 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
10208 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
10209 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
10210 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
10214 @node Using GroupLens
10215 @subsection Using GroupLens
10217 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
10218 Bit Bureau (BBB). At the moment the only better bit in town is at
10219 @samp{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html}.
10221 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
10225 @item gnus-use-grouplens
10226 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
10227 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
10228 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
10230 @item grouplens-pseudonym
10231 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
10232 This variable should be set to the pseudonum you got when registering
10233 with the Better Bit Bureau.
10235 @item grouplens-newsgroups
10236 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
10237 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
10241 Thats the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
10242 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
10243 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
10244 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
10245 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
10246 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
10249 @node Rating Articles
10250 @subsection Rating Articles
10252 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
10253 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
10254 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
10255 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
10258 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
10263 @kindex r (GroupLens)
10264 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
10265 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
10268 @kindex k (GroupLens)
10269 @findex grouplens-score-thread
10270 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
10271 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
10272 threads in rec.humor.
10276 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
10277 the score of the article you're reading.
10282 @kindex n (GroupLens)
10283 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
10284 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
10287 @kindex , (GroupLens)
10288 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
10289 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
10293 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
10294 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
10297 @node Displaying Predictions
10298 @subsection Displaying Predictions
10300 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
10301 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
10302 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
10303 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
10304 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
10306 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
10307 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
10308 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
10309 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
10310 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
10311 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
10312 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
10313 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
10314 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
10315 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
10316 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
10317 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
10318 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
10320 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
10321 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
10322 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
10323 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
10325 The following are legal values for that variable.
10328 @item prediction-spot
10329 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
10332 @item confidence-interval
10333 A numeric confidence interval.
10335 @item prediction-bar
10336 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
10338 @item confidence-bar
10339 Numerical confidence.
10341 @item confidence-spot
10342 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
10344 @item prediction-num
10345 Plain-old numeric value.
10347 @item confidence-plus-minus
10348 Prediction +/i confidence.
10353 @node GroupLens Variables
10354 @subsection GroupLens Variables
10358 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
10359 The summary line format used in summary buffers that are GroupLens
10360 enhanced. It accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format
10361 (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}). The default is
10362 @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
10364 @item grouplens-bbb-host
10365 Host running the bbbd server. The default is
10366 @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu}.
10368 @item grouplens-bbb-port
10369 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
10371 @item grouplens-score-offset
10372 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
10373 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
10376 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
10377 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
10378 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
10383 @node Advanced Scoring
10384 @section Advanced Scoring
10386 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
10387 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
10388 about a particular subject? Or what about if you really don't want to
10389 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
10390 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
10392 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
10396 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
10397 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
10398 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
10402 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
10403 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
10405 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
10406 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
10407 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
10408 non-@code{nil} value.
10410 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
10411 operator, and various match operators.
10418 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
10419 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
10420 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
10425 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
10426 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
10427 then this operator will return @code{false}.
10432 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
10433 inverse of the value of its argument.
10437 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
10438 apply to the ancenstors of the current article being scored. For
10439 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
10440 current article. @code{2-} will make score fules apply to the
10441 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
10442 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) say how far back into
10443 the ancestry you want to go.
10445 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
10446 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
10447 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
10448 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
10449 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
10452 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
10453 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
10455 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
10456 when he's talking about Gnus:
10460 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
10461 ("subject" "Gnus"))
10467 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
10471 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
10478 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
10479 really don't want to read what he's written:
10483 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
10484 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
10488 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
10489 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
10490 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
10497 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
10498 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
10499 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
10500 ("body" "white.*socks"))
10504 The possibilities are endless.
10507 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
10508 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
10510 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
10511 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
10512 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
10513 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
10514 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
10515 (@samp{body}, @code{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
10516 @samp{subject}) first.
10518 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
10519 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
10530 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
10531 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
10537 ("subject" "Gnus")))
10544 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
10545 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
10554 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
10555 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
10556 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
10557 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
10558 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
10559 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
10560 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
10561 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
10562 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
10563 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
10564 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
10565 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
10569 @node Process/Prefix
10570 @section Process/Prefix
10571 @cindex process/prefix convention
10573 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
10574 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
10576 This is a method for figuring out what articles that the user wants the
10577 command to be performed on.
10581 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
10582 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
10583 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
10584 with the current one.
10586 @vindex transient-mark-mode
10587 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
10588 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
10590 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
10591 process mark, perform the operation on the articles that are marked with
10594 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
10595 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
10597 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
10600 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
10601 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
10602 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
10603 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
10604 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
10605 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
10606 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
10607 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
10611 @section Interactive
10612 @cindex interaction
10616 @item gnus-novice-user
10617 @vindex gnus-novice-user
10618 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
10619 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
10620 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
10621 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
10624 @item gnus-expert-user
10625 @vindex gnus-expert-user
10626 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will never ever be asked any
10627 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
10628 matter how strange.
10630 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
10631 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
10632 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
10633 is @code{t} by default.
10635 @item gnus-interactive-exit
10636 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
10637 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
10642 @node Formatting Variables
10643 @section Formatting Variables
10644 @cindex formatting variables
10646 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables that
10647 are called things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
10648 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
10649 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
10650 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
10653 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
10654 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
10655 lots of percentages everywhere.
10657 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
10658 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
10659 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''. Just like a
10660 normal format spec, almost.
10662 You can also say @samp{%6,4y}, which means that the field will never be
10663 more than 4 characters wide and never less than 6 characters wide.
10665 There are also specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the
10666 format variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers
10667 will get the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it
10668 will be highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse
10671 Text inside the @samp{%[} and @samp{%]} specifiers will have their
10672 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
10673 default. If you say @samp{%1[} instead, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1}
10674 instead, and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes
10675 for the @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
10676 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
10678 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
10681 ;; Create three face types.
10682 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
10683 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
10685 ;; We want the article count to be in
10686 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
10687 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
10688 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
10690 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
10691 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
10693 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
10694 (setq gnus-group-line-format
10695 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
10698 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
10699 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
10701 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
10702 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
10703 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
10704 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
10705 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
10706 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
10707 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
10708 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
10710 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
10711 mode-line variables.
10713 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
10714 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
10716 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
10717 @findex gnus-update-format
10718 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
10719 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
10720 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
10721 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
10724 @node Windows Configuration
10725 @section Windows Configuration
10726 @cindex windows configuration
10728 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
10730 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
10731 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
10732 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
10733 @code{t} by default.
10735 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
10736 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
10737 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
10740 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
10741 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
10742 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
10746 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
10747 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
10748 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
10749 possible names is listed below.
10751 The @dfn{value} (i. e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
10752 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
10755 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
10759 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
10760 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
10761 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
10762 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
10763 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
10764 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
10765 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
10766 size spec per split.
10768 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
10771 Here's a more complicated example:
10774 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
10775 (summary 0.25 point)
10776 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
10780 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
10781 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
10782 occupy, not a percentage.
10784 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
10785 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
10786 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
10787 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
10788 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
10791 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
10794 (article (horizontal 1.0
10799 (summary 0.25 point)
10804 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
10805 @code{horizontal} thingie?
10807 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
10808 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
10809 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
10810 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
10811 the screen is to be given to this strip.
10813 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
10814 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
10815 lines from the splits.
10817 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a legal split
10821 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
10822 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
10823 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
10824 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
10825 buffer = "(" buffer-name " " size *[ "point" ] ")"
10826 size = number | frame-params
10827 buffer-name = group | article | summary ...
10830 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
10831 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
10832 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
10833 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
10835 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
10836 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
10837 @cindex window height
10838 @cindex window width
10839 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
10840 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
10841 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
10842 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
10843 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
10844 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
10846 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
10847 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
10848 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
10849 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
10851 @findex gnus-configure-frame
10852 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
10853 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
10854 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
10855 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
10856 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
10857 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
10858 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
10859 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
10860 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
10861 configuration list.
10864 (gnus-configure-frame
10868 (article 0.3 point))
10876 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
10877 @code{frame} split:
10880 (gnus-configure-frame
10883 (summary 0.25 point)
10885 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
10886 (user-position . t)
10887 (left . -1) (top . 1))
10892 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
10893 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
10894 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
10895 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
10896 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
10897 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
10900 Here's a list of all possible keys for
10901 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration}:
10903 @code{group}, @code{summary}, @code{article}, @code{server},
10904 @code{browse}, @code{message}, @code{pick}, @code{info},
10905 @code{summary-faq}, @code{edit-group}, @code{edit-server},
10906 @code{edit-score}, @code{post}, @code{reply}, @code{forward},
10907 @code{reply-yank}, @code{mail-bounce}, @code{draft},
10908 @code{pipe}, @code{bug}, @code{compose-bounce}.
10910 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
10911 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
10912 it is desireable to distinguish between the two, something like this
10916 (message (horizontal 1.0
10917 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
10919 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
10924 @findex gnus-add-configuration
10925 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
10926 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
10927 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
10928 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
10931 (gnus-add-configuration
10932 '(article (vertical 1.0
10934 (summary .25 point)
10938 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
10939 @file{.gnus} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
10940 Gnus has been loaded.
10944 @section Compilation
10945 @cindex compilation
10946 @cindex byte-compilation
10948 @findex gnus-compile
10950 Remember all those line format specification variables?
10951 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
10952 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
10953 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
10954 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
10955 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
10958 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
10959 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
10960 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
10961 you'll get top speed again.
10965 @section Mode Lines
10968 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
10969 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
10970 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
10971 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
10972 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
10973 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
10974 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
10977 @cindex display-time
10979 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
10980 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
10981 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
10982 to display (eg. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
10983 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
10984 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
10985 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
10986 additional elements on the mode line (eg. a clock), you should modify
10989 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
10991 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
10992 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
10994 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
10995 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
10996 (length display-time-string)))))
10999 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
11000 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either.
11003 @node Highlighting and Menus
11004 @section Highlighting and Menus
11006 @cindex highlighting
11009 @vindex gnus-visual
11010 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the prettifying Gnus
11011 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
11012 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
11015 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
11016 following elements are legal, and are all included by default:
11019 @item group-highlight
11020 Do highlights in the group buffer.
11021 @item summary-highlight
11022 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
11023 @item article-highlight
11024 Do highlights in the article buffer.
11026 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
11028 Create menus in the group buffer.
11030 Create menus in the summary buffers.
11032 Create menus in the article buffer.
11034 Create menus in the browse buffer.
11036 Create menus in the server buffer.
11038 Create menus in the score buffers.
11040 Create menus in all buffers.
11043 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
11044 buffers, you could say something like:
11047 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
11050 If you want only highlighting and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
11053 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
11056 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
11057 in all Gnus buffers.
11059 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
11062 @item gnus-mouse-face
11063 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
11064 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
11065 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
11067 @item gnus-display-type
11068 @vindex gnus-display-type
11069 This variable is symbol indicating the display type Emacs is running
11070 under. The symbol should be one of @code{color}, @code{grayscale} or
11071 @code{mono}. If Gnus guesses this display attribute wrongly, either set
11072 this variable in your @file{~/.emacs} or set the resource
11073 @code{Emacs.displayType} in your @file{~/.Xdefaults}.
11075 @item gnus-background-mode
11076 @vindex gnus-background-mode
11077 This is a symbol indicating the Emacs background brightness. The symbol
11078 should be one of @code{light} or @code{dark}. If Gnus guesses this
11079 frame attribute wrongly, either set this variable in your @file{~/.emacs} or
11080 set the resource @code{Emacs.backgroundMode} in your @file{~/.Xdefaults}.
11081 `gnus-display-type'.
11084 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
11088 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
11089 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
11090 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
11092 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
11093 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
11094 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
11096 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
11097 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
11098 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
11100 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
11101 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
11102 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
11104 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
11105 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
11106 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
11108 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
11109 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
11110 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
11121 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
11122 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
11123 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
11124 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
11125 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
11129 @vindex gnus-carpal
11130 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
11131 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
11132 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
11137 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
11138 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
11139 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
11141 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
11142 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
11143 Face used on buttons.
11145 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
11146 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
11147 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
11149 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
11150 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
11151 Buttons in the group buffer.
11153 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
11154 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
11155 Buttons in the summary buffer.
11157 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
11158 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
11159 Buttons in the server buffer.
11161 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
11162 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
11163 Buttons in the browse buffer.
11166 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
11167 is either a cons cell where the car contains a text to be displayed and
11168 the cdr contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
11176 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
11177 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
11178 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
11179 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
11180 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
11182 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
11183 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
11184 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
11186 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
11187 been idle for thirty minutes:
11190 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
11193 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
11197 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
11200 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter works together
11201 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
11202 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
11204 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
11205 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
11206 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
11207 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
11209 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
11210 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
11211 @var{idle} minutes.
11213 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
11214 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
11217 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
11218 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
11219 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
11221 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
11222 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
11223 seconds. This is @code{60} by default. If you change that variable,
11224 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
11226 @vindex gnus-use-demon
11227 To set the whole thing in motion, though, you have to set
11228 @code{gnus-use-demon} to @code{t}.
11230 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
11231 your @file{.gnus} file:
11233 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
11235 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
11238 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
11239 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
11240 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
11241 Some ready-made functions to do this has been created:
11242 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection}, and
11243 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
11244 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
11246 @findex gnus-demon-init
11247 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
11248 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
11249 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
11250 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
11251 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
11253 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you overdo it. Adding
11254 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
11255 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
11264 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
11265 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
11267 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
11268 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
11269 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
11270 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
11273 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
11274 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
11275 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
11276 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
11278 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
11279 this will make spam disappear.
11281 There are some variables to customize, of course:
11284 @item gnus-use-nocem
11285 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
11286 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
11289 @item gnus-nocem-groups
11290 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
11291 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
11292 default is @code{("alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
11294 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
11295 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
11296 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
11297 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
11298 "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;" "jem@@xpat.com;" "red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us
11299 (Richard E. Depew)")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
11301 Known despammers that you can put in this list include:
11304 @item clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;
11305 @cindex Chris Lewis
11306 Chris Lewis---Major Canadian despammer who has probably canceled more
11307 usenet abuse than anybody else.
11310 @cindex CancelMoose[tm]
11311 The CancelMoose[tm] on autopilot. The CancelMoose[tm] is reputed to be
11312 Norwegian, and was the person(s) who invented NoCeM.
11314 @item jem@@xpat.com;
11316 Jem---Korean despammer who is getting very busy these days.
11318 @item red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us (Richard E. Depew)
11319 Richard E. Depew---lone American despammer. He mostly cancels binary
11320 postings to non-binary groups and removes spews (regurgitated articles).
11323 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
11324 ones you want to listen to.
11326 @item gnus-nocem-directory
11327 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
11328 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
11329 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
11331 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
11332 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
11333 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
11334 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
11335 might then see old spam.
11343 So... You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
11344 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
11345 over your shoulder as you read news.
11348 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
11349 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
11350 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
11351 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
11352 * Picon Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
11357 @subsection Picon Basics
11359 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site
11360 (@samp{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}):
11363 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
11364 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
11365 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
11366 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
11367 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
11368 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
11369 @code{GIF} formats.
11372 Please see the above mentioned web site for instructions on obtaining
11373 and installing the picons databases, or the following ftp site:
11374 @samp{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}.
11376 @vindex gnus-picons-database
11377 Gnus expects picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
11378 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
11381 @node Picon Requirements
11382 @subsection Picon Requirements
11384 To use have Gnus display Picons for you, you must be running XEmacs
11385 19.13 or greater since all other versions of Emacs aren't yet able to
11388 Additionally, you must have @code{xpm} support compiled into XEmacs.
11390 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
11391 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you must have
11392 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
11393 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
11397 @subsection Easy Picons
11399 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
11400 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
11403 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
11404 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
11405 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-prepare-hook 'gnus-group-display-picons t)
11406 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-picons-article-display-x-face)
11411 @subsection Hard Picons
11413 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
11414 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
11415 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
11416 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
11417 feature, you need to first decide where to display them.
11421 @item gnus-picons-display-where
11422 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
11423 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
11424 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
11425 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
11426 @samp{"*scratch*"} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
11427 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
11428 routines---@xref{Windows Configuration}.
11432 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
11433 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
11435 Now that you've made that decision, you need to add the following
11436 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get
11437 displayed at the right time.
11439 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
11440 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
11442 @item gnus-article-display-picons
11443 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
11444 Looks up and display the picons for the author and the author's domain
11445 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer. Should be added to
11446 the @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
11448 @item gnus-group-display-picons
11449 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
11450 Displays picons representing the current group. This function should
11451 be added to the @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook} or to the
11452 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} if @code{gnus-picons-display-where}
11453 is set to @code{article}.
11455 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
11456 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
11457 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present. This function
11458 should be added to @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
11462 Note: You must append them to the hook, so make sure to specify 't'
11463 to the append flag of @code{add-hook}:
11466 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
11470 @node Picon Configuration
11471 @subsection Picon Configuration
11473 The following variables offer further control over how things are
11474 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
11475 don't need to worry about.
11478 @item gnus-picons-database
11479 @vindex gnus-picons-database
11480 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
11481 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
11482 subdirectories. Defaults to @file{/usr/local/faces}.
11484 @item gnus-picons-news-directory
11485 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directory
11486 Sub-directory of the faces database containing the icons for
11489 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
11490 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
11491 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
11492 faces. Defaults to @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc/MISC")}.
11494 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
11495 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
11496 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
11497 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
11498 want to add @samp{unknown} to this list.
11500 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
11501 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
11502 The command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
11503 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
11504 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
11505 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
11507 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
11508 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
11509 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
11510 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
11512 @item gnus-picons-buffer
11513 @vindex gnus-picons-buffer
11514 The name of the buffer that @code{picons} points to. Defaults to
11515 @samp{*Icon Buffer*}.
11520 @node Various Various
11521 @section Various Various
11528 @vindex gnus-verbose
11529 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
11530 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
11531 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
11532 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
11533 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
11535 @item gnus-verbose-backends
11536 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
11537 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
11538 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
11540 @item nnheader-max-head-length
11541 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
11542 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
11543 as little as possible. This variable (default @code{4096}) specifies
11544 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
11545 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
11546 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
11547 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
11548 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
11551 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
11552 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
11554 @cindex illegal characters in file names
11555 @cindex characters in file names
11556 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
11557 For instance, if @samp{:} is illegal as a file character in file names
11558 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
11561 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
11565 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
11566 Windows (phooey) systems.
11568 @item gnus-hidden-properties
11569 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
11570 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
11571 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
11572 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
11574 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
11575 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
11576 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
11577 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
11578 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
11580 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
11581 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
11582 String used to separate to shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
11591 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
11592 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
11594 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
11596 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
11601 Not because of victories @*
11604 but for the common sunshine,@*
11606 the largess of the spring.
11609 but for the day's work done@*
11610 as well as I was able;@*
11611 not for a seat upon the dais@*
11612 but at the common table.@*
11617 @chapter Appendices
11620 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
11621 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
11622 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
11623 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
11624 * A Programmers Guide to Gnus:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
11625 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
11626 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
11634 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
11635 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
11637 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage, you
11638 can point your (feh!) web browser to
11639 @file{http://www.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/}. This is also the primary
11640 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is known
11641 as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
11643 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
11644 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)}, is, of course, short for
11645 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
11646 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
11647 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
11648 appropriate name, don't you think?)
11650 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
11651 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
11652 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
11653 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
11655 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
11656 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution.
11658 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'') was
11659 released under the name ``Gnus 5.2''.
11661 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun.
11664 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
11665 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
11666 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
11667 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
11668 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
11669 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
11670 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
11677 What's the point of Gnus?
11679 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
11680 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
11681 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
11682 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
11683 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
11684 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
11685 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
11686 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
11687 keep track of millions of people who post?
11689 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
11690 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
11691 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
11692 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
11693 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
11694 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
11695 everywhere I could imagine useful. By doing so, I'm inviting every one
11696 of you to explore and invent.
11698 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x hail-emacs}.
11701 @node Compatibility
11702 @subsection Compatibility
11704 @cindex compatibility
11705 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
11706 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
11707 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
11712 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
11716 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
11719 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @pxref{Decoding
11722 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
11723 buffers. All variables that are relevant while reading a group are
11724 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
11725 important variables have their values copied into their global
11726 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
11727 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
11729 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
11730 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
11731 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
11732 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
11733 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
11737 @cindex highlighting
11738 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
11739 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
11740 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
11741 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
11742 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
11743 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
11746 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
11747 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
11748 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
11749 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
11751 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
11752 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
11753 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
11754 to stop doing it the old way.
11756 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
11758 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
11760 @cindex reporting bugs
11762 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
11763 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
11764 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
11768 @subsection Conformity
11770 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
11771 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
11778 There are no known breaches of this standard.
11782 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
11784 @item Good Net-Keeping Seal of Approval
11785 @cindex Good Net-Keeping Seal of Approval
11786 Gnus has been through the Seal process and failed. I think it'll pass
11787 the next inspection.
11789 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
11790 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
11791 We do have some breaches to this one.
11796 Gnus does no MIME handling, and this standard-to-be seems to think that
11797 MIME is the bees' knees, so we have major breakage here.
11800 This is considered to be a ``vanity header'', while I consider it to be
11801 consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted articles
11802 coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use either of
11803 those for posting articles. I would not have known that if it wasn't
11804 for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
11807 Gnus does line breaking on this header. I infer from RFC1036 that being
11808 conservative in what you output is not creating 5000-character lines, so
11809 it seems like a good idea to me. However, this standard-to-be says that
11810 whitespace in the @code{References} header is to be preserved, so... It
11811 doesn't matter one way or the other to Gnus, so if somebody tells me
11812 what The Way is, I'll change it. Or not.
11817 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliantly with regards to the texts
11818 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
11823 @subsection Emacsen
11829 Gnus should work on :
11834 Emacs 19.30 and up.
11837 XEmacs 19.13 and up.
11840 Mule versions based on Emacs 19.30 and up.
11844 Gnus will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than that. Not
11845 reliably, at least.
11847 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various platforms:
11852 The mouse-face on Gnus lines under Emacs and Mule is delimited to
11853 certain parts of the lines while they cover the entire line under
11857 The same with current-article marking---XEmacs puts an underline under
11858 the entire summary line while Emacs and Mule are nicer and kinder.
11861 XEmacs features more graphics---a logo and a toolbar.
11864 Citation highlighting us better under Emacs and Mule than under XEmacs.
11867 Emacs 19.26-19.28 have tangible hidden headers, which can be a bit
11874 @subsection Contributors
11875 @cindex contributors
11877 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
11878 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
11879 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
11880 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
11881 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
11882 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
11883 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
11884 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
11885 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
11886 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
11888 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
11893 @item Masanobu @sc{Umeda}
11894 The writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
11896 @item Per Abrahamsen
11897 Custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as well as numerous
11900 @item Luis Fernandes
11901 Design and graphics.
11904 @file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on @dfn{picons}
11908 @file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section (@pxref{GroupLens}).
11910 @item Sudish Joseph
11911 Innumerable bug fixes.
11914 @file{gnus-topic.el}.
11916 @item Steven L. Baur
11917 Lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
11919 @item Vladimir Alexiev
11920 The refcard and reference booklets.
11922 @item Felix Lee & JWZ
11923 I stole some pieces from the XGnus distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
11926 @file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
11928 @item Peter Mutsaers
11929 Orphan article scoring code.
11934 @item Hallvard B Furuseth
11935 Various bits and pieces, especially dealing with .newsrc files.
11937 @item Brian Edmonds
11938 @file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
11940 @item Ricardo Nassif and Mark Borges
11943 @item Kevin Davidson
11944 Came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
11948 Peter Arius, Stainless Steel Rat, Ulrik Dickow, Jack Vinson, Daniel
11949 Quinlan, Frank D. Cringle, Geoffrey T. Dairiki, Fabrice Popineau and
11950 Andrew Eskilsson have all contributed code and suggestions.
11954 @subsection New Features
11955 @cindex new features
11960 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
11961 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
11964 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
11965 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
11968 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
11971 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
11972 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
11973 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
11976 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
11977 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
11978 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
11979 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
11982 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
11983 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
11986 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
11987 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
11988 (@pxref{The Active File}).
11991 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
11992 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
11995 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
11996 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
11997 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
12000 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
12001 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
12002 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
12005 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
12006 the @file{.emacs} file.
12009 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
12010 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
12013 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
12014 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
12017 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
12018 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
12021 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
12022 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
12025 Gnus can fetch articles asynchronously on a second connection to the
12026 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
12029 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
12032 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
12033 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
12036 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
12037 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
12040 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
12041 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
12044 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
12047 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
12048 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
12051 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
12055 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
12059 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
12060 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
12063 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
12067 Gnus can use NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
12071 This is, of course, just a @emph{short} overview of the @emph{most}
12072 important new features. No, really. There are tons more. Yes, we have
12073 feeping creaturism in full effect, but nothing too gratuitous, I would
12077 @node Newest Features
12078 @subsection Newest Features
12081 Also known as the @dfn{todo list}. Sure to be implemented before the
12084 Be afraid. Be very afraid.
12088 Native @sc{mime} support is something that should be done.
12090 A better and simpler method for specifying mail composing methods.
12092 Allow posting through mail-to-news gateways.
12094 Really do unbinhexing.
12097 And much, much, much more. There is more to come than has already been
12098 implemented. (But that's always true, isn't it?)
12100 @code{<URL:http://www.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/sgnus/todo>} is where the actual
12101 up-to-the-second todo list is located, so if you're really curious, you
12102 could point your Web browser over that-a-way.
12106 @section Terminology
12108 @cindex terminology
12113 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
12114 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
12115 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
12116 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
12117 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
12121 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
12122 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
12123 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
12124 not posting, and replying is not following up.
12128 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
12132 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
12137 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
12138 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
12139 is all done by the backends.
12143 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
12144 default, way of getting news.
12148 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
12149 These are groups that use different backends for getting news.
12153 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
12154 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
12158 A nessage that has been posted as news.
12161 @cindex mail message
12162 A message that has been mailed.
12166 A mail message or news article
12170 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
12175 The rest of an article. Everything that is not in the head is in the
12180 A line from the head of an article.
12184 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
12185 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
12189 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
12190 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
12191 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
12192 normal @sc{head} format.
12196 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
12197 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
12198 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
12199 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
12200 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
12201 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
12203 @item killed groups
12204 @cindex killed groups
12205 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
12206 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
12208 @item zombie groups
12209 @cindex zombie groups
12210 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
12213 @cindex active file
12214 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
12215 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
12216 is rather large, as you might surmise.
12219 @cindex bogus groups
12220 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
12221 server (i. e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
12222 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
12226 A machine than one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
12228 @item select method
12229 @cindex select method
12230 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
12233 @item virtual server
12234 @cindex virtual server
12235 A named select method. Since a select methods defines all there is to
12236 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the who things as a
12237 whole is a virtual server.
12242 @node Customization
12243 @section Customization
12244 @cindex general customization
12246 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
12247 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
12248 for some quite common situations.
12251 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
12252 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
12253 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
12254 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
12258 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
12259 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
12261 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
12262 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
12263 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
12267 @item gnus-read-active-file
12268 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
12269 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
12270 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-news} and
12271 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
12272 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
12274 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
12275 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
12276 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
12277 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
12281 @node Slow Terminal Connection
12282 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
12284 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that
12285 runs Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce the
12286 amount of data that is sent over the wires as much as possible.
12290 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
12291 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
12292 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
12293 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
12294 horizontal and vertical recentering.
12296 @item gnus-visible-headers
12297 Cut down on the headers that are included in the articles to the
12298 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
12299 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
12300 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
12302 @item gnus-article-display-hook
12303 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
12305 (setq gnus-article-display-hook
12306 '(gnus-article-hide-headers gnus-article-hide-signature
12307 gnus-article-hide-citation))
12310 @item gnus-use-full-window
12311 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
12312 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
12313 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
12314 want to read them anyway.
12316 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
12317 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
12320 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
12321 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
12322 lines, which might save some time.
12326 @node Little Disk Space
12327 @subsection Little Disk Space
12330 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
12331 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
12335 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
12336 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
12337 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
12338 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
12341 @item gnus-save-killed-list
12342 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
12343 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
12344 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
12345 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
12351 @subsection Slow Machine
12352 @cindex slow machine
12354 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
12355 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
12357 Set@code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
12358 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
12360 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
12361 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
12362 summary buffer faster.
12364 Set @code{gnus-article-display-hook} to @code{nil} to make article
12365 processing a bit faster.
12368 @node Troubleshooting
12369 @section Troubleshooting
12370 @cindex troubleshooting
12372 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
12380 Make sure your computer is switched on.
12383 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
12384 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
12388 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
12389 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
12390 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
12391 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
12394 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
12398 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
12401 @cindex reporting bugs
12403 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
12405 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
12406 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
12407 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
12408 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
12410 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
12411 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
12412 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
12413 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
12416 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
12417 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you send back
12418 just ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
12419 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
12420 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
12421 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
12423 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
12424 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
12425 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
12428 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
12429 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
12431 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
12432 @cindex ding mailing list
12433 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@ifi.uio.no}.
12434 Write to @samp{ding-request@@ifi.uio.no} to subscribe.
12437 @node A Programmers Guide to Gnus
12438 @section A Programmer's Guide to Gnus
12440 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
12441 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
12442 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
12443 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
12446 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
12447 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
12448 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
12449 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
12450 and general method of operations.
12453 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
12454 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
12455 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
12456 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
12457 * Group Info:: The group info format.
12458 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
12459 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
12463 @node Backend Interface
12464 @subsection Backend Interface
12466 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
12467 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
12468 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
12469 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
12470 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
12471 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
12473 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
12474 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
12475 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
12476 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
12477 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
12478 been opened, the function should fail.
12480 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
12481 name. Take this example:
12485 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
12486 (nntp-port-number 4324))
12489 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
12490 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
12492 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
12493 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
12494 server environments that it pulls down/pushes up when needed.
12496 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
12497 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
12498 always check whether are present before attempting to call.
12500 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
12501 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
12502 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
12503 ``resulting data'', I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
12504 talk about ``return value'', I talk about the function value returned by
12507 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
12508 some might be said to not be. The latter are backends that generally
12509 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
12510 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
12513 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
12516 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
12519 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
12520 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
12521 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
12525 @node Required Backend Functions
12526 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
12530 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
12532 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
12533 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
12534 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
12535 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
12537 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
12538 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
12539 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
12540 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
12542 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try to fetch "extra
12543 headers, in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
12544 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
12545 article number in @code{articles}, and fill in the gaps as well. The
12546 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
12547 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
12548 number, do maximum fetches.
12550 Here's an example HEAD:
12553 221 1056 Article retrieved.
12554 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
12555 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
12556 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
12557 Subject: Re: Something very droll
12558 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
12559 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
12561 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
12562 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
12563 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
12567 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
12568 these in the data buffer.
12570 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
12574 head = error / valid-head
12575 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
12576 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
12577 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
12578 header = <text> eol
12581 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
12582 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
12586 nov-buffer = *nov-line
12587 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
12588 field = <text except TAB>
12591 For a closer explanation what should be in those fields,
12595 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
12597 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
12598 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that defines this virtual server.
12600 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
12601 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
12602 server. In fact, it should do so.
12604 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
12605 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
12608 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
12610 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
12611 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
12614 There should be no data returned.
12617 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
12619 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
12620 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
12621 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
12622 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
12624 There should be no data returned.
12627 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
12629 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
12630 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
12631 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
12632 attempt to reconnect to a server that is has lost connection to.
12634 There should be no data returned.
12637 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
12639 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
12641 There should be no data returned.
12644 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
12646 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
12647 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
12648 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
12649 it would be nice if that were possible.
12651 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
12652 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
12653 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
12654 another, and Gnus mainly request articles to be inserted directly into
12655 its article buffer.
12657 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
12658 the car is the group name the article was fetched from, and the cdr is
12659 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
12660 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
12661 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
12662 on successful article retrievement.
12665 @item (nnchoke-open-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
12667 Make @var{group} the current group.
12669 There should be no data returned by this function.
12672 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
12674 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
12675 making @var{group} the current group.
12677 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
12680 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
12683 The first number is the status, which should be @code{211}. Next is the
12684 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
12685 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
12686 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
12687 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
12688 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
12689 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
12690 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
12693 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
12694 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
12695 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
12699 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
12701 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
12702 a no-op on most backends.
12704 There should be no data returned.
12707 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
12709 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
12712 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
12715 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
12716 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
12719 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
12720 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
12723 active-file = *active-line
12724 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
12726 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
12729 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
12730 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
12731 (@samp{=other-group} or none of the above (@samp{y}).
12734 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
12736 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
12737 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
12738 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
12739 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
12740 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
12741 clear if the posting could not be completed.
12743 There should be no result data from this function.
12748 @node Optional Backend Functions
12749 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
12753 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
12755 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
12756 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
12757 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
12759 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
12760 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
12761 former is in the same format as the data from
12762 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
12763 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
12766 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
12770 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
12772 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
12773 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
12774 information (as is the case with virtual an imap groups). This function
12775 may alter the info in any manner it sees fit, and should return the
12776 (altered) group info. This function may alter the group info
12777 destructively, so no copying is needed before boogeying.
12779 There should be no result data from this function.
12782 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
12784 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
12785 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
12786 user is following up is news or mail. This function should return
12787 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
12788 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
12789 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
12790 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.)
12792 There should be no result data from this function.
12795 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
12797 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
12798 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
12799 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
12800 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
12801 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
12803 The only use for this that I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
12804 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
12805 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
12808 There should be no result data from this function.
12811 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
12813 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
12814 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
12815 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
12816 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
12817 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
12818 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
12819 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
12821 There should be no result data from this function.
12824 @item (nnchoke-request-asynchronous GROUP &optional SERVER ARTICLES)
12826 This is a request to fetch articles asynchronously later.
12827 @var{articles} is an alist of @var{(article-number line-number)}. One
12828 would generally expect that if one later fetches article number 4, for
12829 instance, some sort of asynchronous fetching of the articles after 4
12830 (which might be 5, 6, 7 or 11, 3, 909 depending on the order in that
12831 alist) would be fetched asynchronously, but that is left up to the
12832 backend. Gnus doesn't care.
12834 There should be no result data from this function.
12837 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
12839 The result data from this function should be a description of
12843 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
12845 description = <text>
12848 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
12850 The result data from this function should be the description of all
12851 groups available on the server.
12854 description-buffer = *description-line
12858 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
12860 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
12861 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
12862 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
12865 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
12867 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
12869 There should be no return data.
12872 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
12874 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
12875 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
12876 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
12877 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
12878 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
12881 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
12884 There should be no result data returned.
12887 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
12890 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
12891 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
12893 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
12894 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
12895 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
12896 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
12897 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
12898 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
12900 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
12901 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
12904 The function should return a cons where the car is the group name and
12905 the cdr is the article number that the article was entered as.
12907 There should be no data returned.
12910 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
12912 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
12913 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
12914 this function in short order.
12916 The function should return a cons where the car is the group name and
12917 the cdr is the article number that the article was entered as.
12919 There should be no data returned.
12922 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
12924 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
12925 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
12927 There should be no data returned.
12930 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
12932 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
12933 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
12934 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
12936 There should be no data returned.
12939 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
12941 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
12942 articles that are in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
12944 There should be no data returned.
12949 @node Writing New Backends
12950 @subsubsection Writing New Backends
12952 The various backends share many similarities. @code{nnml} is just like
12953 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
12954 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
12955 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
12956 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
12959 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
12960 backends when writing new backends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
12961 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
12963 All the backends declare their public variables and functions by using a
12964 package called @code{nnoo}.
12966 To inherit functions from other backends (and allow other backends to
12967 inherit functions from the current backend), you should use the
12974 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
12975 parameters. For instance:
12978 (nnoo-declare nndir
12982 @code{nndir} has here declared that it intends to inherit functions from
12983 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
12986 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
12987 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
12988 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
12990 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
12991 variables in the parent backends to map the variable to when executing
12992 a function in those backends.
12995 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
12996 "Where nndir will look for groups."
12997 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
13000 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
13001 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
13002 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
13004 @item nnoo-define-basics
13005 This macro defines some common functions that almost all backends should
13009 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
13013 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
13014 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
13015 function as being public so that other backends can inherit it.
13017 @item nnoo-map-functions
13018 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current backend to
13019 functions from the parent backends.
13022 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
13023 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
13024 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
13027 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
13028 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
13029 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
13030 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
13033 This macro allows importing functions from backends. It should be the
13034 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
13035 haven't already been defined.
13041 nnmh-request-newgroups)
13045 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
13046 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
13047 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
13052 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} backend.
13055 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
13056 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
13060 (require 'nnheader)
13064 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
13066 (nnoo-declare nndir
13069 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
13070 "Where nndir will look for groups."
13071 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
13073 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
13074 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
13077 (defvoo nndir-current-group "" nil nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
13078 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
13079 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
13081 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
13082 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
13084 ;;; Interface functions.
13086 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
13088 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
13089 (setq nndir-directory
13090 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
13092 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
13093 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
13094 (push `(nndir-current-group
13095 ,(file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
13097 (push `(nndir-top-directory
13098 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
13100 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
13102 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
13103 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
13104 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
13105 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
13106 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
13110 nnmh-status-message
13112 nnmh-request-newgroups))
13119 @node Score File Syntax
13120 @subsection Score File Syntax
13122 Score files are meant to be easily parsable, but yet extremely
13123 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
13124 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
13126 Here's a typical score file:
13130 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
13137 BNF definition of a score file:
13140 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
13141 element = rule / atom
13142 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
13143 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
13144 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
13145 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
13147 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
13148 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
13149 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
13150 date-header = "date"
13151 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
13152 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
13153 score = "nil" / <integer>
13154 date = "nil" / <natural number>
13155 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
13156 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
13157 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
13158 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
13159 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
13160 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
13161 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
13162 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
13163 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
13164 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
13165 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
13166 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
13167 exclude-files / read-only / touched
13168 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
13169 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
13170 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
13171 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
13172 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
13173 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
13174 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
13175 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
13176 adapt = "adapt" [ space "nil" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
13177 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
13178 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
13179 eval = "eval" space <form>
13180 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
13183 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
13186 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
13187 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
13188 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
13189 one looong line, then that's ok.
13191 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
13196 @subsection Headers
13198 Gnus uses internally a format for storing article headers that
13199 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
13200 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
13201 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
13203 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
13204 RFC1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (eg.,
13205 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
13206 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
13207 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
13208 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
13209 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
13211 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
13212 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
13213 @code{xref}. There are macros for accessing and setting these
13214 slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
13215 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
13217 The @code{xref} slot is really a @code{misc} slot. Any extra info will
13224 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
13225 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
13227 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
13228 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
13229 that you want to callify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
13230 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
13232 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
13236 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
13239 is transformed into
13242 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
13245 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
13246 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
13249 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
13252 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
13253 is slightly tricky:
13256 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
13262 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
13265 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
13271 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
13278 and is equal to the previous range.
13280 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
13281 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
13282 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
13286 range = simple-range / normal-range
13287 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
13288 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
13289 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
13290 number *[ " " contents ]
13293 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
13294 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
13295 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
13296 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
13297 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
13302 @subsection Group Info
13304 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
13305 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
13306 describes the group.
13308 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
13309 second is a more complex one:
13312 ("no.group" 5 (1 . 54324))
13314 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
13315 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
13317 (auto-expire (to-address "ding@@ifi.uio.no")))
13320 The first element is the group name as Gnus knows the group; the second
13321 is the group level; the third is the read articles in range format; the
13322 fourth is a list of article marks lists; the fifth is the select method;
13323 and the sixth contains the group parameters.
13325 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
13328 info = "(" group space level space read
13329 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
13330 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
13331 group = quote <string> quote
13332 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
13334 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
13335 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
13336 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
13337 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
13340 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
13341 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
13345 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
13346 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
13350 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
13351 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
13352 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
13354 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
13355 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
13356 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
13357 Gnus, that's very useful.
13359 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
13360 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
13361 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
13362 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
13363 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
13364 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
13365 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
13366 following function:
13369 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
13373 (,function ,@@args))
13377 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
13378 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
13379 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
13382 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
13383 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
13384 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
13387 @node Various File Formats
13388 @subsection Various File Formats
13391 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
13392 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
13396 @node Active File Format
13397 @subsubsection Active File Format
13399 The active file lists all groups that are available on the server in
13400 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
13403 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
13406 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
13407 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
13408 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
13409 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
13410 no.general 1000 900 y
13413 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
13416 active = *group-line
13417 group-line = group space high-number space low-number space flag <NEWLINE>
13418 group = <non-white-space string>
13420 high-number = <non-negative integer>
13421 low-number = <positive integer>
13422 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
13426 @node Newsgroups File Format
13427 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
13429 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
13430 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
13431 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
13434 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
13435 Here's the definition:
13439 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
13440 group = <non-white-space string>
13442 description = <string>
13446 @node Emacs for Heathens
13447 @section Emacs for Heathens
13449 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
13450 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
13451 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
13452 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
13453 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
13454 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
13455 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
13459 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
13460 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
13465 @subsection Keystrokes
13469 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
13472 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
13475 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
13476 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
13477 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
13478 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
13479 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
13480 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
13482 The shift key is normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
13483 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
13484 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
13485 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
13486 keyboards. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
13487 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
13488 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
13490 Now, us Emacs people doesn't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
13491 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
13492 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
13493 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
13494 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
13495 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
13496 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
13498 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
13499 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
13500 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
13501 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
13502 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
13508 @subsection Emacs Lisp
13510 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
13511 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
13512 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
13513 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
13515 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
13516 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
13517 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
13518 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
13519 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
13520 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
13521 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
13524 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
13525 write the following:
13528 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
13531 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
13532 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
13533 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
13536 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
13537 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
13538 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
13539 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
13540 previous ``form'', which here is a simple @code{setq} statement.
13542 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
13543 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
13544 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
13548 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
13552 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
13555 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
13556 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
13559 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
13562 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
13563 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
13566 @include gnus-faq.texi