10 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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287 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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296 Copyright \copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
298 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
301 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
302 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
303 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
304 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
305 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
306 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
307 License'' in the Emacs manual.
309 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
310 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
311 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
313 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
314 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
315 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
316 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
324 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
326 Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003
327 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
329 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
330 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
331 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
332 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
333 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
334 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
335 License'' in the Emacs manual.
337 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
338 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
339 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
341 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
342 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
343 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
344 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
352 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
355 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
356 Copyright @copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
358 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
360 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
361 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
362 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
363 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
364 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
365 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
366 License'' in the Emacs manual.
368 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
369 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
370 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
372 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
373 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
374 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
375 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
384 @top The Gnus Newsreader
388 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
389 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@acronym{NNTP}, local
390 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
393 This manual corresponds to Gnus v5.10.2.
404 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
405 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
407 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
408 being accused of plagiarism:
410 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
411 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
412 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
413 can even read news with it!
415 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
416 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
417 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
418 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
419 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
425 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
426 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
427 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
428 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
429 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
430 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
431 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
432 * Various:: General purpose settings.
433 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
434 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, @acronym{FAQ}, History, Internals.
435 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
436 * Key Index:: Key Index.
438 Other related manuals
440 * Message:(message). Composing messages.
441 * Emacs-MIME:(emacs-mime). Composing messages; @acronym{MIME}-specific parts.
442 * Sieve:(sieve). Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
443 * PGG:(pgg). @acronym{PGP/MIME} with Gnus.
446 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
450 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
451 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
452 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
453 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
454 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
455 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
456 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
457 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
458 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
459 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
460 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
464 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
465 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
466 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
470 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
471 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
472 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
473 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
474 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
475 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
476 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
477 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
478 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
479 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
480 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
481 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
482 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
483 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
484 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
485 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
486 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
490 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
491 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
492 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
496 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
497 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
498 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
499 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
500 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
504 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
505 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
506 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
507 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
508 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
512 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
513 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
514 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
515 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
516 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
517 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
518 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
519 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
520 * Threading:: How threads are made.
521 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
522 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
523 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
524 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
525 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
526 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
527 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
528 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
529 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
530 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
531 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
532 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
533 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
534 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
535 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
536 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
537 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
538 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
539 or reselecting the current group.
540 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
541 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
542 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
543 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
545 Summary Buffer Format
547 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
548 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
549 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
550 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
554 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
555 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
557 Reply, Followup and Post
559 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
560 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
561 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
562 * Canceling and Superseding::
566 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
567 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
568 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
570 * Generic Marking Commands::
571 * Setting Process Marks::
575 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
576 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
577 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
581 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
582 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
584 Customizing Threading
586 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
587 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
588 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
589 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
593 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
594 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
595 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
596 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
597 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
598 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
602 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
603 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
604 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
608 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
609 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
610 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
611 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
612 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
613 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
614 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
615 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
616 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
617 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
618 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
620 Alternative Approaches
622 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
623 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
625 Various Summary Stuff
627 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
628 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
629 * Summary Generation Commands::
630 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
634 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
635 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
636 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
637 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
638 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
642 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
643 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
644 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
645 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
646 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
647 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
648 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
649 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
653 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
654 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
655 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
656 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
657 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @acronym{IMAP} client.
658 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
659 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
660 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
664 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
665 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
666 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
667 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
668 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
669 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
670 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
674 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
675 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
679 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
680 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
681 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
685 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
686 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
687 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
688 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
689 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
690 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
691 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
692 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
693 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
694 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
695 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
696 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
697 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
701 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
702 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
703 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
705 Choosing a Mail Back End
707 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
708 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the Rmail Babyl format.
709 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
710 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
711 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
712 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
713 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
718 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
719 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
720 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
721 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
722 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
723 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
727 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
728 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
729 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
730 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
731 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use @acronym{IMAP} namespace in Gnus.
735 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
736 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
737 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
738 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
739 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
743 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
747 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
748 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
749 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
753 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
754 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
758 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
759 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
760 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
761 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
762 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
763 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
764 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
765 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
766 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
767 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
768 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
769 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
770 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
774 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
775 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
776 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
780 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
781 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
782 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
786 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
787 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
788 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
789 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
790 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
791 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
792 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
793 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
794 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
795 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
796 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
797 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
798 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
799 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
800 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
801 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
802 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
806 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
807 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
808 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
809 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
813 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
814 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
815 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
819 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
820 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
821 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
822 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
823 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
824 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
825 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
826 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
827 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
828 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
829 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
830 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
831 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
832 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
833 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
834 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
835 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
836 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
837 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
841 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
842 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
843 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
844 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
845 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
846 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
847 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
848 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
852 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
853 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
854 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
855 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
859 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
860 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
861 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
862 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
863 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
864 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
868 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
869 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
870 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
871 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
872 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
873 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
874 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
875 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
876 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ.
880 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
881 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
882 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
883 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
884 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
885 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
886 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
887 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
888 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
892 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
893 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
894 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
895 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
896 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
897 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10.
901 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
902 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
903 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
904 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
908 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
909 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
910 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
911 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
912 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
913 * Group Info:: The group info format.
914 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
915 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
916 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
920 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
921 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
922 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
923 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
924 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
925 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
929 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
930 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
934 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
935 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
941 @chapter Starting Gnus
946 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
947 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
950 @findex gnus-other-frame
951 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
952 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
953 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
955 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
956 variables in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file. This file is similar to
957 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
959 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
960 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
963 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
964 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
965 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
966 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
967 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
968 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
969 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
970 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
971 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
972 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
973 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
977 @node Finding the News
978 @section Finding the News
981 @vindex gnus-select-method
983 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
984 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
985 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
986 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
989 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @acronym{NNTP} server is where
990 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
993 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
996 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
999 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
1002 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
1003 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
1004 server is running Leafnode; in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
1006 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
1008 @cindex @acronym{NNTP} server
1009 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
1010 @env{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
1011 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
1012 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter.
1013 If that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs
1014 as an @acronym{NNTP} server. That's a long shot, though.
1016 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1017 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
1018 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
1019 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
1021 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
1022 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1023 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
1024 @acronym{NNTP} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
1025 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
1026 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
1027 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
1028 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
1029 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
1032 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1034 However, if you use one @acronym{NNTP} server regularly and are just
1035 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1036 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1037 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1038 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1039 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1041 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1043 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1044 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1045 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1046 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1047 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1048 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1051 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1052 you would typically set this variable to
1055 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1059 @node The First Time
1060 @section The First Time
1061 @cindex first time usage
1063 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
1064 be subscribed by default.
1066 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1067 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
1068 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1069 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1072 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1073 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1074 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1076 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
1077 help you with most common problems.
1079 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
1080 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1084 @node The Server is Down
1085 @section The Server is Down
1086 @cindex server errors
1088 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
1089 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1090 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
1092 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1093 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1094 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1095 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1096 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1097 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1098 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1100 @findex gnus-no-server
1101 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1103 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1104 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1105 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
1106 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1107 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1108 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1109 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1113 @section Slave Gnusae
1116 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
1117 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1118 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
1119 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1121 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1122 @file{.newsrc} file.
1124 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
1125 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1126 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1127 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1128 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1129 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1130 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1133 Anyway, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1134 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
1135 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1136 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1137 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
1138 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1139 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1140 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1142 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1143 information in the normal (i.e., master) @file{.newsrc} file.
1145 If the @file{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
1146 slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
1147 file. If you answer ``yes'', the unsaved changes to the master will be
1148 incorporated into the slave. If you answer ``no'', the slave may see some
1149 messages as unread that have been read in the master.
1151 @node Fetching a Group
1152 @section Fetching a Group
1153 @cindex fetching a group
1155 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1156 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1157 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
1158 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1159 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1160 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1166 @cindex subscription
1168 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1169 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1170 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1171 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1172 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1173 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1174 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1175 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1176 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1179 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1180 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1181 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1185 @node Checking New Groups
1186 @subsection Checking New Groups
1188 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1189 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1190 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1191 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
1192 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1193 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1194 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1195 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1196 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1197 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1199 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1200 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1201 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1202 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1203 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1204 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
1205 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1206 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1207 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1208 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1209 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1211 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
1212 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1213 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1214 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1215 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1216 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1219 @node Subscription Methods
1220 @subsection Subscription Methods
1222 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1223 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1224 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1226 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1227 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1229 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1233 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1234 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1235 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1236 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1237 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1239 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1240 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1241 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1242 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1244 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1245 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1246 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1248 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1249 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1250 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1251 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1252 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1253 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1254 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1255 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1256 up. Or something like that.
1258 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1259 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1260 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
1261 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1262 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1264 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1265 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1266 Kill all new groups.
1268 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1269 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1270 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1271 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1272 topic parameter that looks like
1278 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1281 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1286 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1287 A closely related variable is
1288 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1289 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
1290 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1291 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1294 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1295 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1296 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1297 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1300 @node Filtering New Groups
1301 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1303 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1304 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1305 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1308 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1311 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1312 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1313 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1314 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1315 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1316 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1317 subscribing these groups.
1318 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1319 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1321 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1322 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1323 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1324 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1325 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1326 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1327 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1328 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1330 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1331 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1332 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1333 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
1334 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
1335 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
1336 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
1337 that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1338 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, and @code{nnmaildir})
1339 subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this variable to
1342 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1343 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1346 @node Changing Servers
1347 @section Changing Servers
1348 @cindex changing servers
1350 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another.
1351 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1352 very flaky and you want to use another.
1354 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1355 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1359 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1360 @acronym{NNTP} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1361 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1362 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1365 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1366 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1367 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1368 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1370 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1371 @findex gnus-change-server
1372 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1373 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1374 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1375 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1376 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1378 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1379 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1380 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1381 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1382 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1384 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1385 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1386 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1387 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1388 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1389 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1391 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
1392 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1393 Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
1394 list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1396 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1397 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1398 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1399 @code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
1400 to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
1401 can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
1402 cache for all groups).
1406 @section Startup Files
1407 @cindex startup files
1412 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1413 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1415 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1416 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1417 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1418 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1419 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1420 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1421 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1423 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1424 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1425 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1426 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1427 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1428 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1430 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1431 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1432 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1433 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1434 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
1435 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1436 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1437 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
1438 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1439 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1441 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1442 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1443 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1444 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1445 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1446 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1447 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1448 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1449 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1450 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1451 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1452 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1454 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1455 @vindex gnus-backup-startup-file
1456 @vindex version-control
1457 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1458 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1459 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1460 If you want version control for this file, set
1461 @code{gnus-backup-startup-file}. It respects the same values as the
1462 @code{version-control} variable.
1464 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1465 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1466 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1467 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1468 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1469 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1470 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1471 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1472 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1473 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1476 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1477 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1479 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1480 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1483 @vindex gnus-init-file
1484 @vindex gnus-site-init-file
1485 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1486 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1487 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1488 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1489 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1490 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1491 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1492 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1493 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1499 @cindex dribble file
1502 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
1503 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1504 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1505 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1506 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1509 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1510 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1513 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1514 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
1515 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1517 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1518 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1519 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
1520 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1521 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1522 file permissions as the @file{.newsrc} file.
1524 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1525 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1526 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1529 @node The Active File
1530 @section The Active File
1532 @cindex ignored groups
1534 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1535 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1536 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1538 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1539 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
1540 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1541 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
1542 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1543 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1544 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1547 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1548 @c if you set it to anything else.
1550 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1552 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1553 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
1554 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1556 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1557 you actually subscribe to.
1559 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1560 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1561 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1562 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1564 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1565 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1566 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1567 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1568 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1569 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1571 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1572 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1573 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1576 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1577 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1578 @acronym{NNTP} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1579 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1580 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1581 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1583 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1584 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1586 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1587 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1589 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1590 secondary select methods.
1593 @node Startup Variables
1594 @section Startup Variables
1598 @item gnus-load-hook
1599 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1600 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1601 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1602 times you start Gnus.
1604 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1605 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1606 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1608 @item gnus-startup-hook
1609 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1610 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1612 @item gnus-started-hook
1613 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1614 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1617 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1618 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1619 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1620 generating the group buffer.
1622 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1623 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1624 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1625 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1626 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1627 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1628 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1629 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1631 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1632 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1633 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1634 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1635 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1636 @file{~/.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @file{.emacs} instead.
1638 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1639 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1640 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1642 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1643 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1644 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1646 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1647 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1648 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1649 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1655 @chapter Group Buffer
1656 @cindex group buffer
1658 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1660 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1661 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1662 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1663 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1664 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1665 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1666 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1667 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1668 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1669 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1670 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1671 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1672 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1673 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1674 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1675 @c human rights at 9...
1678 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1679 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1680 long as Gnus is active.
1684 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1685 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1686 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1687 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1688 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1689 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1690 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1691 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1697 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1698 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1699 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1700 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1701 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1702 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1703 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1704 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1705 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1706 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1707 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1708 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1709 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1710 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1711 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1712 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1713 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1717 @node Group Buffer Format
1718 @section Group Buffer Format
1721 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1722 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
1723 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1727 @node Group Line Specification
1728 @subsection Group Line Specification
1729 @cindex group buffer format
1731 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1732 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1734 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1737 25: news.announce.newusers
1738 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1743 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1744 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1745 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1746 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1748 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1749 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1750 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1751 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1752 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1753 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1755 @samp{%M%S%5y:%B%(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1757 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1758 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1759 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1760 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1761 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1763 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1764 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1765 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1767 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1772 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1775 Whether the group is subscribed.
1778 Level of subscribedness.
1781 Number of unread articles.
1784 Number of dormant articles.
1787 Number of ticked articles.
1790 Number of read articles.
1793 Number of unseen articles.
1796 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1797 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1799 Gnus uses this estimation because the @acronym{NNTP} protocol provides
1800 efficient access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting
1801 the true unread message count is not possible efficiently. For
1802 hysterical raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of
1803 unread messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1804 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the back
1805 end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job. If you
1806 want to work on this, please contact the Gnus mailing list.
1809 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1812 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1821 Group comment (@pxref{Group Parameters}) or group name if there is no
1822 comment element in the group parameters.
1825 Newsgroup description. You need to read the group descriptions
1826 before these will appear, and to do that, you either have to set
1827 @code{gnus-read-active-file} or use the group buffer @kbd{M-d}
1831 @samp{m} if moderated.
1834 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1840 If the summary buffer for the group is open or not.
1846 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1850 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1853 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1854 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1855 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1856 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1857 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1860 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1862 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1866 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1869 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1873 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1874 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1875 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1876 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1877 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1878 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1883 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1884 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1885 group, or a bogus native group.
1888 @node Group Mode Line Specification
1889 @subsection Group Mode Line Specification
1890 @cindex group mode line
1892 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1893 The mode line can be changed by setting
1894 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1895 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1899 The native news server.
1901 The native select method.
1905 @node Group Highlighting
1906 @subsection Group Highlighting
1907 @cindex highlighting
1908 @cindex group highlighting
1910 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1911 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1912 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1913 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1914 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1916 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1920 (cond (window-system
1921 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1922 (defface my-group-face-1
1923 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1924 (defface my-group-face-2
1925 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t)))
1926 "Second group face")
1927 (defface my-group-face-3
1928 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1929 (defface my-group-face-4
1930 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1931 (defface my-group-face-5
1932 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1934 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1935 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1936 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1937 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1938 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1939 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1942 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1944 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1951 The number of unread articles in the group.
1955 Whether the group is a mail group.
1957 The level of the group.
1959 The score of the group.
1961 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1963 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather,
1964 @var{max-number} minus @var{min-number} plus one.
1966 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1967 topic being inserted.
1970 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1971 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1972 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1974 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1975 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1976 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1977 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1978 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1981 @node Group Maneuvering
1982 @section Group Maneuvering
1983 @cindex group movement
1985 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1986 expected, hopefully.
1992 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1993 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1994 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
2000 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
2001 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
2002 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
2006 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2007 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2011 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2012 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2016 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
2017 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
2018 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
2022 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
2023 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
2024 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
2027 Three commands for jumping to groups:
2033 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
2034 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
2035 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
2040 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
2041 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
2042 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
2046 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
2047 Jump to the first group with unread articles
2048 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
2051 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
2052 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
2053 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
2054 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
2058 @node Selecting a Group
2059 @section Selecting a Group
2060 @cindex group selection
2065 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2066 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2067 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2068 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2069 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2070 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2071 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{n}, @var{n}
2072 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{n} is
2073 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{n} newest articles, if @var{n} is
2074 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{n})} oldest articles.
2076 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2077 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2078 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2080 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2081 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2086 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2087 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2088 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2089 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2090 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2094 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2095 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2096 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2097 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2098 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2099 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2100 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2101 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2102 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2103 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2106 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2107 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2108 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2109 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2110 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2113 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2114 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2115 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2116 doing any processing of its contents
2117 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2118 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2119 manner will have no permanent effects.
2123 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2124 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should
2125 consider to be a big group. If it is @code{nil}, no groups are
2126 considered big. The default value is 200. If the group has more
2127 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
2128 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many
2129 articles should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a
2130 negative number (@var{-n}), the @var{n} oldest articles will be
2131 fetched. If it is positive, the @var{n} articles that have arrived
2132 most recently will be fetched.
2134 @vindex gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup
2135 @code{gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup} is the same as
2136 @code{gnus-large-newsgroup}, but is only used for ephemeral
2139 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2140 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2141 @vindex gnus-auto-select-subject
2142 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2143 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2144 Which article this is is controlled by the
2145 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2151 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2154 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2157 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2159 @item unseen-or-unread
2160 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article, and if
2161 there is no such article, place point on the subject line of the first
2165 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2169 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2170 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2172 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2173 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2174 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2175 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2179 @node Subscription Commands
2180 @section Subscription Commands
2181 @cindex subscription
2189 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2190 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2191 Toggle subscription to the current group
2192 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2198 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2199 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2200 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2201 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2207 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2208 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2209 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2215 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2216 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2219 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2220 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2221 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2222 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2223 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2229 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2230 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2234 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2235 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2238 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2239 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2240 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2241 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2242 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2243 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2244 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2245 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2246 @file{.newsrc} file.
2250 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2260 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2261 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2262 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2263 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2264 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2265 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2270 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2271 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2272 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2276 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2277 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2278 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2280 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2281 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2282 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2283 If you have switched from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another, all your marks
2284 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2285 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2292 @section Group Levels
2296 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2297 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2298 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2299 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2300 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2302 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2308 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2309 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2310 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2311 prompted for a level.
2314 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2315 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2316 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2317 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2318 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2319 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2320 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2321 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2322 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2323 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2324 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2325 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2326 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2327 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2328 reasons of efficiency.
2330 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2331 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2333 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2334 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2335 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2336 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2337 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2338 groups are hidden, in a way.
2340 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2341 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2342 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2343 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2344 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2345 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2347 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2348 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2349 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2350 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2351 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2352 list of killed groups.)
2354 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2355 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2356 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2358 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2359 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2360 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2361 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2362 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2363 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2364 relevant valid ranges.
2366 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2367 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2368 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2369 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2370 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2371 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2374 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2375 one with the best level.
2377 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2378 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2379 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2382 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2383 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2384 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2385 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2388 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2389 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2390 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2391 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2393 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2394 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2395 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2396 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2397 to 5. The default is 6.
2401 @section Group Score
2406 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2407 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2408 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2411 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2412 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2413 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2414 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2415 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2416 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2417 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2418 least significant part.))
2420 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2421 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2422 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2423 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2424 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2425 action after each summary exit, you can add
2426 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2427 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2428 slow things down somewhat.
2431 @node Marking Groups
2432 @section Marking Groups
2433 @cindex marking groups
2435 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2436 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2437 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2438 bidding on those groups.
2440 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2441 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2442 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2450 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2451 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2457 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2458 Remove the mark from the current group
2459 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2463 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2464 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2468 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2469 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2473 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2474 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2478 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2479 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2480 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2483 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2485 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2486 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2487 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2488 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2489 the command to be executed.
2492 @node Foreign Groups
2493 @section Foreign Groups
2494 @cindex foreign groups
2496 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2497 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2498 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2499 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2506 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2507 @cindex making groups
2508 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2509 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2510 to subscribe to @acronym{NNTP} groups (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
2514 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2515 @cindex renaming groups
2516 Rename the current group to something else
2517 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2518 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2524 @findex gnus-group-customize
2525 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2529 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2530 @cindex renaming groups
2531 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2532 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2536 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2537 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2538 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2542 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2543 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2544 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2548 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2550 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2551 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2556 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2557 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2561 @cindex (ding) archive
2562 @cindex archive group
2563 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2564 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2565 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2566 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2567 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2568 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2569 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2573 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2575 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2576 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2577 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2578 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2582 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2584 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2585 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2586 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2590 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2591 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2593 Make a group based on some file or other
2594 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2595 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2596 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2597 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2598 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2599 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2600 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2601 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2602 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2606 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2607 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2608 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2609 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2613 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2617 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2618 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2619 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2620 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2621 include @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}.
2622 @xref{Web Searches}.
2624 If you use the @code{google} search engine, you can limit the search
2625 to a particular group by using a match string like
2626 @samp{shaving group:alt.sysadmin.recovery}.
2629 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2630 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2631 This function will delete the current group
2632 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2633 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2634 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2635 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2636 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
2640 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2641 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2642 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2646 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2647 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2648 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2651 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2654 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2655 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2656 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2657 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2658 groups from different @acronym{NNTP} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2659 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2663 @node Group Parameters
2664 @section Group Parameters
2665 @cindex group parameters
2667 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2668 Here's an example group parameter list:
2671 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2675 We see that each element consists of a ``dotted pair''---the thing before
2676 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2677 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2678 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2680 Some parameters have correspondent customizable variables, each of which
2681 is an alist of regexps and values.
2683 The following group parameters can be used:
2688 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2691 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2694 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2695 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2696 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2697 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2698 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2700 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2701 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2702 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2703 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2704 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2705 list address instead.
2707 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2711 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2714 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2717 It is totally ignored
2718 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2719 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2721 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2722 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2723 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2724 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2725 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2727 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2728 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2729 sending the message.
2731 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2732 @cindex mail list groups
2733 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2734 entering summary buffer.
2736 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2741 If this parameter is set to @code{t}, Gnus will consider the
2742 to-address and to-list parameters for this group as addresses of
2743 mailing lists you are subscribed to. Giving Gnus this information is
2744 (only) a first step in getting it to generate correct Mail-Followup-To
2745 headers for your posts to these lists. @xref{Mailing Lists, ,Mailing
2746 Lists, message, The Message Manual}, for a complete treatment of
2747 available MFT support.
2749 See also @code{gnus-find-subscribed-addresses}, the function that
2750 directly uses this group parameter.
2754 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2755 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2756 of whether it has any unread articles.
2758 @item broken-reply-to
2759 @cindex broken-reply-to
2760 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2761 headers in this group are to be ignored, and for the header to be hidden
2762 if @code{reply-to} is part of @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}. This
2763 can be useful if you're reading a mailing list group where the listserv
2764 has inserted @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv
2765 itself. That is broken behavior. So there!
2769 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2770 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2774 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2775 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2776 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2781 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2782 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2783 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2784 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2785 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2786 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2787 (@pxref{Archived Messages}). CAVEAT:: It yields an error putting
2788 @code{(gcc-self . t)} in groups of a @code{nntp} server or so, because
2789 a @code{nntp} server doesn't accept articles.
2793 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2794 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2795 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2797 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2800 @cindex total-expire
2801 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2802 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2803 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2804 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2807 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2811 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2812 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2813 @code{(expiry-wait . 10)}, this value will override any
2814 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function}
2815 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}) when expiring expirable messages. The value
2816 can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or the
2817 symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2820 @cindex score file group parameter
2821 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2822 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2823 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2826 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2827 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2828 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2829 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2832 @cindex admin-address
2833 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2834 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2835 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2836 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2840 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2841 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2845 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2848 Display the last @var{integer} articles in the group. This is the same as
2849 entering the group with @kbd{C-u @var{integer}}.
2852 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2856 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2858 Here are some examples:
2862 Display only unread articles.
2865 Display everything except expirable articles.
2867 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2868 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
2872 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
2873 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
2874 @code{unread}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
2875 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
2876 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{unseen} and @code{recent}.
2880 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
2881 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
2882 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
2886 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
2887 arbitrary comments on the group. You can display comments in the
2888 group line (@pxref{Group Line Specification}).
2892 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2893 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2894 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2896 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2898 @item ignored-charsets
2899 @cindex ignored-charset
2900 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
2901 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
2902 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
2904 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
2907 @cindex posting-style
2908 You can store additional posting style information for this group
2909 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2910 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2911 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2912 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2914 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2915 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2916 like this in the group parameters:
2921 ("X-My-Header" "Funky Value")
2922 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2927 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
2928 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
2932 An item like @code{(banner . @var{regexp})} causes any part of an article
2933 that matches the regular expression @var{regexp} to be stripped. Instead of
2934 @var{regexp}, you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
2935 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
2936 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
2940 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
2941 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
2942 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
2943 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
2945 For example, if the INBOX.list.sieve group has the @code{(sieve
2946 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
2947 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
2948 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
2951 if address \"sender\" \"sieve-admin@@extundo.com\" @{
2952 fileinto \"INBOX.list.sieve\";
2956 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, , Top, sieve,
2959 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
2960 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2961 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2962 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2963 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2964 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2965 @code{eval}ed there.
2967 Note that this feature sets the variable locally to the summary buffer.
2968 But some variables are evaluated in the article buffer, or in the
2969 message buffer (of a reply or followup or otherwise newly created
2970 message). As a workaround, it might help to add the variable in
2971 question to @code{gnus-newsgroup-variables}. @xref{Various Summary
2972 Stuff}. So if you want to set @code{message-from-style} via the group
2973 parameters, then you may need the following statement elsewhere in your
2974 @file{~/.gnus} file:
2976 (add-to-list 'gnus-newsgroup-variables 'message-from-style)
2979 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
2980 A use for this feature is to remove a mailing list identifier tag in
2981 the subject fields of articles. E.g. if the news group
2983 nntp+news.gnus.org:gmane.text.docbook.apps
2985 has the tag @samp{DOC-BOOK-APPS:} in the subject of all articles, this
2986 tag can be removed from the article subjects in the summary buffer for
2987 the group by putting @code{(gnus-list-identifiers "DOCBOOK-APPS:")}
2988 into the group parameters for the group.
2990 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2991 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2992 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2993 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2994 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2998 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
2999 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
3000 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
3001 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
3002 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
3004 @vindex gnus-parameters
3005 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
3006 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect. For
3010 (setq gnus-parameters
3012 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3013 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
3014 (gnus-summary-line-format
3015 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
3019 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
3023 (gnus-use-scoring t))
3027 (broken-reply-to . t))))
3030 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
3031 the @code{to-group} example shows.
3034 @node Listing Groups
3035 @section Listing Groups
3036 @cindex group listing
3038 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
3046 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
3047 List all groups that have unread articles
3048 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
3049 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
3050 only lists groups of level five (i.e.,
3051 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
3058 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
3059 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
3060 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
3061 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
3062 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
3063 unsubscribed groups).
3067 @findex gnus-group-list-level
3068 List all unread groups on a specific level
3069 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
3070 with no unread articles.
3074 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
3075 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
3076 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
3077 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
3082 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
3083 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
3087 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
3088 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
3089 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
3093 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
3094 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
3098 @findex gnus-group-list-active
3099 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
3100 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
3101 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
3102 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
3103 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
3104 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
3105 Take the output with some grains of salt.
3109 @findex gnus-group-apropos
3110 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
3111 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3115 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3116 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3117 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3121 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3122 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3126 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3127 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3131 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3132 List groups limited within the current selection
3133 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3137 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3138 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3142 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3143 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3147 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3148 @cindex visible group parameter
3149 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3150 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3151 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3152 get the same effect.
3154 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3155 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3156 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3157 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3158 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3161 @node Sorting Groups
3162 @section Sorting Groups
3163 @cindex sorting groups
3165 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3166 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3167 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3168 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3169 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3170 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3175 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3176 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3177 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3179 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3180 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3181 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3183 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3184 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3185 Sort by group level.
3187 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3188 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3189 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3191 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3192 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3193 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3194 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3196 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3197 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3198 Sort by number of unread articles.
3200 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3201 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3202 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3204 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3205 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3206 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3211 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3212 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3216 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3217 some sorting criteria:
3221 @kindex G S a (Group)
3222 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3223 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3224 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3227 @kindex G S u (Group)
3228 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3229 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3230 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3233 @kindex G S l (Group)
3234 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3235 Sort the group buffer by group level
3236 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3239 @kindex G S v (Group)
3240 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3241 Sort the group buffer by group score
3242 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3245 @kindex G S r (Group)
3246 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3247 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3248 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3251 @kindex G S m (Group)
3252 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3253 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name@*
3254 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3257 @kindex G S n (Group)
3258 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name
3259 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3260 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name}).
3264 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3265 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3267 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3268 commands will sort in reverse order.
3270 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3274 @kindex G P a (Group)
3275 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3276 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3277 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3280 @kindex G P u (Group)
3281 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3282 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3283 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3286 @kindex G P l (Group)
3287 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3288 Sort the groups by group level
3289 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3292 @kindex G P v (Group)
3293 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3294 Sort the groups by group score
3295 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3298 @kindex G P r (Group)
3299 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3300 Sort the groups by group rank
3301 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3304 @kindex G P m (Group)
3305 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3306 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name@*
3307 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3310 @kindex G P n (Group)
3311 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name
3312 Sort the groups alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3313 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name}).
3316 @kindex G P s (Group)
3317 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups
3318 Sort the groups according to @code{gnus-group-sort-function}.
3322 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3326 @node Group Maintenance
3327 @section Group Maintenance
3328 @cindex bogus groups
3333 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3334 Find bogus groups and delete them
3335 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3339 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3340 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3341 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3342 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3343 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3347 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3348 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3349 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3350 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3351 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3352 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3355 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3356 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3357 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3358 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3363 @node Browse Foreign Server
3364 @section Browse Foreign Server
3365 @cindex foreign servers
3366 @cindex browsing servers
3371 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3372 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3373 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3374 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3377 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3378 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3379 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3380 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3382 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3387 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3388 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3392 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3393 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3396 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3397 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3398 Enter the current group and display the first article
3399 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3402 @kindex RET (Browse)
3403 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3404 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3408 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3409 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3410 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3416 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3417 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3421 @findex gnus-browse-describe-group
3422 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-browse-describe-group}).
3426 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3427 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3428 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3433 @section Exiting Gnus
3434 @cindex exiting Gnus
3436 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
3441 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3442 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
3443 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3444 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3448 @findex gnus-group-exit
3449 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3450 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3454 @findex gnus-group-quit
3455 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3456 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3459 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3460 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3461 @vindex gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook
3462 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
3463 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
3464 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3470 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3471 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3472 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3478 @section Group Topics
3481 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3482 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3483 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3484 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3485 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3486 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3490 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3491 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3502 2: alt.religion.emacs
3505 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3507 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3508 13: comp.sources.unix
3511 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3513 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3514 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3515 is a toggling command.)
3517 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3518 dum@dots{} Nice tune, that@dots{} la la la@dots{} What, you're back?
3519 Yes, and now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed
3520 under @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy?
3523 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3524 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3525 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
3528 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3532 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3533 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3534 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3535 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3536 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3540 @node Topic Commands
3541 @subsection Topic Commands
3542 @cindex topic commands
3544 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3545 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3546 definitions slightly.
3548 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3549 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3550 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3551 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3552 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3553 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3555 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3562 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3563 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3564 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3568 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3570 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3571 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3572 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3573 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3576 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3577 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3578 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3579 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3583 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3584 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3585 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3586 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3592 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3593 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3594 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3598 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3599 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3600 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3603 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3604 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the ``cut'' part of cut and paste. Then,
3605 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the ``Gnus''
3606 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the ``paste'' part of cut and
3607 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3609 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3610 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3614 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3615 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3622 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3624 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3625 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3626 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3627 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3628 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3629 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3633 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3639 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3640 Move the current group to some other topic
3641 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3642 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3646 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3647 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3651 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3652 Copy the current group to some other topic
3653 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3654 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3658 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3659 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3660 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3664 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3665 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3666 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3670 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3671 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3672 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3673 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3674 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3675 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3676 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3679 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3680 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3684 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3685 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3686 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3690 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3691 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3692 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3696 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3697 Toggle hiding empty topics
3698 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3702 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3703 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3704 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3705 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3708 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3709 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3710 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3711 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3712 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3715 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3716 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3717 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3718 expiry process (if any)
3719 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3723 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3724 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3727 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3728 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3729 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3733 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3734 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3735 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3738 @kindex T M-n (Topic)
3739 @findex gnus-topic-goto-next-topic
3740 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-next-topic}).
3743 @kindex T M-p (Topic)
3744 @findex gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic
3745 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic}).
3749 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3750 @cindex group parameters
3751 @cindex topic parameters
3753 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3754 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3759 @node Topic Variables
3760 @subsection Topic Variables
3761 @cindex topic variables
3763 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
3764 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
3766 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3767 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3768 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3781 Number of groups in the topic.
3783 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3785 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3788 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3789 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3790 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3793 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3794 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3796 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3797 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3798 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3802 @subsection Topic Sorting
3803 @cindex topic sorting
3805 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3811 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3812 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3813 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3814 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3817 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3818 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3819 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3820 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3823 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3824 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3825 Sort the current topic by group level
3826 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3829 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3830 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3831 Sort the current topic by group score
3832 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3835 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3836 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3837 Sort the current topic by group rank
3838 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3841 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3842 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3843 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
3844 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3847 @kindex T S e (Topic)
3848 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
3849 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
3850 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
3854 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups
3855 Sort the current topic according to the function(s) given by the
3856 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable
3857 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups}).
3861 When given a prefix argument, all these commands will sort in reverse
3862 order. @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group
3866 @node Topic Topology
3867 @subsection Topic Topology
3868 @cindex topic topology
3871 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3878 2: alt.religion.emacs
3881 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3883 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3884 13: comp.sources.unix
3888 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3889 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3890 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3895 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3896 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3900 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3901 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3902 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3903 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3904 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3905 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3907 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3908 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3909 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3912 @node Topic Parameters
3913 @subsection Topic Parameters
3914 @cindex topic parameters
3916 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
3917 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
3918 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
3920 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3925 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3926 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3927 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3930 @item subscribe-level
3931 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
3932 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
3933 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
3937 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3938 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
3939 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
3940 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
3946 2: alt.religion.emacs
3950 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3952 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3953 13: comp.sources.unix
3957 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
3958 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
3959 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
3960 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
3961 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
3962 . "religion.SCORE")}.
3964 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
3965 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
3966 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
3967 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
3968 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
3970 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
3971 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
3972 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
3973 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
3974 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
3975 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
3976 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
3977 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
3980 @node Misc Group Stuff
3981 @section Misc Group Stuff
3984 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
3985 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
3986 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
3987 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
3988 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
3995 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3996 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3997 @xref{Server Buffer}.
4001 @findex gnus-group-post-news
4002 Start composing a message (a news by default)
4003 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
4004 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
4005 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
4006 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
4007 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
4011 @findex gnus-group-mail
4012 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
4013 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
4014 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
4015 @xref{Composing Messages}.
4019 @findex gnus-group-news
4020 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
4021 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
4022 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
4024 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
4025 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
4026 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
4027 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
4028 for this to work though.
4032 Variables for the group buffer:
4036 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
4037 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
4038 is called after the group buffer has been
4041 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
4042 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4043 is called after the group buffer is
4044 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
4047 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
4048 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4049 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
4050 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
4052 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4053 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4054 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
4055 whether they are empty or not.
4057 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4058 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4059 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
4060 non-@acronym{ASCII} group names.
4064 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4065 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
4068 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4069 @cindex UTF-8 group names
4070 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4071 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names. It
4072 is used to show non-@acronym{ASCII} group names. @code{((".*"
4073 utf-8))} is the default value if UTF-8 is supported, otherwise the
4074 default is @code{nil}.
4078 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4079 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
4084 @node Scanning New Messages
4085 @subsection Scanning New Messages
4086 @cindex new messages
4087 @cindex scanning new news
4093 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
4094 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
4095 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
4096 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
4097 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
4098 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
4103 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
4104 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
4105 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
4106 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
4107 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
4108 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
4109 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
4111 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
4112 @cindex activating groups
4114 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
4115 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
4120 @findex gnus-group-restart
4121 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
4122 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
4123 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
4127 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
4128 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
4130 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
4131 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
4135 @node Group Information
4136 @subsection Group Information
4137 @cindex group information
4138 @cindex information on groups
4145 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
4146 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
4149 Try to fetch the @acronym{FAQ} for the current group
4150 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the @acronym{FAQ}
4151 from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on
4152 a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
4153 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
4154 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be
4155 used for fetching the file.
4157 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
4158 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
4162 @findex gnus-group-fetch-charter
4163 @vindex gnus-group-charter-alist
4165 Try to open the charter for the current group in a web browser
4166 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-charter}). Query for a group if given a
4169 Gnus will use @code{gnus-group-charter-alist} to find the location of
4170 the charter. If no location is known, Gnus will fetch the control
4171 messages for the group, which in some cases includes the charter.
4175 @findex gnus-group-fetch-control
4176 @vindex gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url
4177 @cindex control message
4178 Fetch the control messages for the group from the archive at
4179 @code{ftp.isc.org} (@code{gnus-group-fetch-control}). Query for a
4180 group if given a prefix argument.
4182 If @code{gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url} is non-@code{nil},
4183 Gnus will open the control messages in a browser using
4184 @code{browse-url}. Otherwise they are fetched using @code{ange-ftp}
4185 and displayed in an ephemeral group.
4187 Note that the control messages are compressed. To use this command
4188 you need to turn on @code{auto-compression-mode} (@pxref{Compressed
4189 Files, ,Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Manual}).
4193 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
4195 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
4196 @cindex describing groups
4197 @cindex group description
4198 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
4199 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
4200 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
4204 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
4205 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
4206 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
4213 @findex gnus-version
4214 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
4218 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
4219 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
4222 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
4225 @findex gnus-info-find-node
4226 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
4230 @node Group Timestamp
4231 @subsection Group Timestamp
4233 @cindex group timestamps
4235 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
4236 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
4237 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
4240 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
4243 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
4245 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
4246 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
4249 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4250 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
4253 This will result in lines looking like:
4256 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
4257 0: custom 19961002T012713
4260 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
4261 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
4265 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4266 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
4269 If you would like greater control of the time format, you can use a
4270 user-defined format spec. Something like the following should do the
4274 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4275 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %ud\n")
4276 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
4277 (let ((time (gnus-group-timestamp gnus-tmp-group)))
4279 (format-time-string "%b %d %H:%M" time)
4285 @subsection File Commands
4286 @cindex file commands
4292 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
4293 @vindex gnus-init-file
4294 @cindex reading init file
4295 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
4296 @file{~/.gnus.el}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
4300 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
4301 @cindex saving .newsrc
4302 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
4303 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
4304 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
4307 @c @kindex Z (Group)
4308 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
4309 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
4314 @node Sieve Commands
4315 @subsection Sieve Commands
4316 @cindex group sieve commands
4318 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
4319 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
4320 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
4321 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
4322 script that can be transfered to the server somehow.
4324 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4325 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
4326 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
4327 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
4328 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
4329 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
4330 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
4331 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
4332 regenerate the Sieve script.
4334 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
4335 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
4336 is generated. If it is non-@code{nil} (the default) articles is
4337 placed in all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article
4338 is only placed in the group with the first matching rule. For
4339 example, the group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
4340 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
4341 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is @code{nil}. (When
4342 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-@code{nil}, it looks the same
4343 except that the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
4346 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
4347 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
4352 @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve, Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
4358 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
4359 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4360 @cindex generating sieve script
4361 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
4362 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
4366 @findex gnus-sieve-update
4367 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4368 @cindex updating sieve script
4369 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
4370 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
4371 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
4376 @node Summary Buffer
4377 @chapter Summary Buffer
4378 @cindex summary buffer
4380 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
4381 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
4383 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
4384 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
4386 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
4389 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
4390 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
4391 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
4392 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
4393 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
4394 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
4395 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
4396 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
4397 * Threading:: How threads are made.
4398 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
4399 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
4400 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
4401 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
4402 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
4403 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
4404 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
4405 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
4406 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
4407 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
4408 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
4409 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
4410 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
4411 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
4412 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
4413 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
4414 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
4415 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
4416 or reselecting the current group.
4417 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
4418 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
4419 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
4420 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
4424 @node Summary Buffer Format
4425 @section Summary Buffer Format
4426 @cindex summary buffer format
4430 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
4431 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
4432 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
4438 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
4439 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
4440 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
4441 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
4444 @findex mail-extract-address-components
4445 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
4446 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
4447 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
4448 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
4449 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
4450 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
4451 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
4452 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
4453 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
4454 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
4457 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
4458 'mail-extract-address-components)
4461 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
4462 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
4463 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
4464 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
4467 @node Summary Buffer Lines
4468 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
4470 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4471 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
4472 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
4473 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
4474 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4476 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
4477 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
4478 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
4479 possible to change this. Just write a new function
4480 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
4481 @xref{Positioning Point}.
4483 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n}.
4485 The following format specification characters and extended format
4486 specification(s) are understood:
4492 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
4493 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
4495 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
4496 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
4497 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
4499 Full @code{From} header.
4501 The name (from the @code{From} header).
4503 The name, @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header (@pxref{To
4506 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
4507 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
4508 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
4509 may be more thorough.
4511 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
4514 Number of lines in the article.
4516 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
4517 in some methods (like nnfolder).
4519 Pretty-printed version of the number of characters in the article;
4520 for example, @samp{1.2k} or @samp{0.4M}.
4522 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4524 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
4525 lines. A thread could be drawn like this:
4538 You can customize the appearance with the following options. Note
4539 that it is possible to make the thread display look really neat by
4540 replacing the default @acronym{ASCII} characters with graphic
4541 line-drawing glyphs.
4543 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4544 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4545 Used for the root of a thread. If @code{nil}, use subject
4546 instead. The default is @samp{> }.
4548 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
4549 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
4550 Used for the false root of a thread (@pxref{Loose Threads}). If
4551 @code{nil}, use subject instead. The default is @samp{> }.
4553 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4554 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4555 Used for a thread with just one message. If @code{nil}, use subject
4556 instead. The default is @samp{}.
4558 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4559 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4560 Used for drawing a vertical line. The default is @samp{| }.
4562 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4563 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4564 Used for indenting. The default is @samp{ }.
4566 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4567 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4568 Used for a leaf with brothers. The default is @samp{+-> }.
4570 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4571 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4572 Used for a leaf without brothers. The default is @samp{\-> }
4577 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4578 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4580 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4581 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4583 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4584 for adopted articles.
4586 One space for each thread level.
4588 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4590 Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
4593 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4594 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4595 or has been saved. @xref{Other Marks}.
4598 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4600 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4601 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4602 default level. If the difference between
4603 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4604 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4612 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4614 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4620 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4621 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4623 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4624 article has any children.
4630 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
4631 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
4633 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4634 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4635 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
4636 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4637 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4638 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4641 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
4642 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
4643 There can only be one such area.
4645 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4646 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
4647 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4648 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4649 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4650 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4652 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4653 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4655 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
4658 @node To From Newsgroups
4659 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4663 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4664 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4665 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4666 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4667 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4671 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4672 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4673 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4677 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4678 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4681 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4682 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4685 @findex gnus-extra-header
4686 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4687 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4688 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4691 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4695 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4696 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4697 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4698 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4699 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4700 headers are used instead.
4704 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4705 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4706 to include extra headers when generating overview (@acronym{NOV}) files.
4707 If you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after
4708 changing this variable, by entering the server buffer using @kbd{^},
4709 and then @kbd{g} on the appropriate mail server (e.g. nnml) to cause
4712 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4713 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4714 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4715 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4717 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
4721 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4723 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4724 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4725 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
4726 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4730 (The values listed above are the default values in Gnus. Alter them
4733 A note for news server administrators, or for users who wish to try to
4734 convince their news server administrator to provide some additional
4737 The above is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4738 the @acronym{NOV} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4739 nntp admin to add (in the usual implementation, notably INN):
4745 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4746 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4749 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4750 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4752 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4753 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4754 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4755 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4757 Here are the elements you can play with:
4763 Unprefixed group name.
4765 Current article number.
4767 Current article score.
4771 Number of unread articles in this group.
4773 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4776 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4777 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4778 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4779 and no unselected ones.
4781 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4782 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4784 Subject of the current article.
4786 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4788 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4790 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4792 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4794 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4796 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4800 @node Summary Highlighting
4801 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4805 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4806 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4807 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4808 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4809 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4811 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4812 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4813 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4814 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4816 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4817 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4818 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4819 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4821 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4822 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4823 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4824 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4825 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4826 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4829 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4830 ((> score default) . bold))
4832 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4833 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4837 @node Summary Maneuvering
4838 @section Summary Maneuvering
4839 @cindex summary movement
4841 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4842 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4844 None of these commands select articles.
4849 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4850 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4851 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4852 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4853 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4857 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4858 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4859 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4860 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4861 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4864 @kindex G g (Summary)
4865 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4866 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4867 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4870 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4871 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4872 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4873 to the group buffer.
4875 Variables related to summary movement:
4879 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4880 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4881 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4882 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
4883 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4884 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4885 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
4886 next group with unread articles. As a special case, if this variable
4887 is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
4888 confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same
4889 will happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
4890 Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
4891 command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
4892 @pxref{Group Levels}.
4894 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4895 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4896 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4897 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4898 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4899 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4900 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4902 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4904 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4905 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4906 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4907 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4908 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4910 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4911 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4912 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4913 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4914 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4915 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4916 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4917 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4920 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4921 the given number of lines from the top.
4926 @node Choosing Articles
4927 @section Choosing Articles
4928 @cindex selecting articles
4931 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4932 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
4936 @node Choosing Commands
4937 @subsection Choosing Commands
4939 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
4940 and they all select and display an article.
4942 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
4943 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
4947 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4948 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4949 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
4950 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4952 If you have an article window open already and you press @kbd{SPACE}
4953 again, the article will be scrolled. This lets you conveniently
4954 @kbd{SPACE} through an entire newsgroup. @xref{Paging the Article}.
4959 @kindex G n (Summary)
4960 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
4961 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
4962 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
4967 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
4968 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
4969 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
4974 @kindex G N (Summary)
4975 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
4976 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
4981 @kindex G P (Summary)
4982 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
4983 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
4986 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
4987 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
4988 Go to the next article with the same subject
4989 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
4992 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
4993 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
4994 Go to the previous article with the same subject
4995 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
4999 @kindex G f (Summary)
5001 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
5002 Go to the first unread article
5003 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
5007 @kindex G b (Summary)
5009 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
5010 Go to the unread article with the highest score
5011 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}). If given a prefix argument,
5012 go to the first unread article that has a score over the default score.
5017 @kindex G l (Summary)
5018 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
5019 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
5022 @kindex G o (Summary)
5023 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
5025 @cindex article history
5026 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
5027 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
5028 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
5029 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
5030 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
5031 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
5036 @kindex G j (Summary)
5037 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
5038 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
5039 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
5044 @node Choosing Variables
5045 @subsection Choosing Variables
5047 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
5050 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5051 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5052 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
5053 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
5054 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
5055 the server and display it in the article buffer.
5057 @item gnus-select-article-hook
5058 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
5059 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
5060 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article. If you would
5061 like each article to be saved in the Agent as you read it, putting
5062 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} on this hook will do so.
5064 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
5065 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
5066 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
5067 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
5068 @findex gnus-unread-mark
5069 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
5070 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
5071 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
5072 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
5073 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
5074 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
5075 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
5076 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
5077 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
5082 @node Paging the Article
5083 @section Scrolling the Article
5084 @cindex article scrolling
5089 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
5090 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
5091 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
5092 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
5093 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
5095 @vindex gnus-article-boring-faces
5096 @vindex gnus-article-skip-boring
5097 If @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} is non-@code{nil} and the rest of
5098 the article consists only of citations and signature, then it will be
5099 skipped; the next article will be shown instead. You can customize
5100 what is considered uninteresting with
5101 @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}. You can manually view the article's
5102 pages, no matter how boring, using @kbd{C-M-v}.
5105 @kindex DEL (Summary)
5106 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
5107 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
5110 @kindex RET (Summary)
5111 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
5112 Scroll the current article one line forward
5113 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
5116 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
5117 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
5118 Scroll the current article one line backward
5119 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
5123 @kindex A g (Summary)
5125 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
5126 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5127 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
5128 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
5129 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
5130 the way it came from the server.
5132 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
5133 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
5134 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
5137 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5142 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
5147 @kindex A < (Summary)
5148 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
5149 Scroll to the beginning of the article
5150 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
5155 @kindex A > (Summary)
5156 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
5157 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
5161 @kindex A s (Summary)
5163 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
5164 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
5165 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
5169 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
5170 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
5175 @node Reply Followup and Post
5176 @section Reply, Followup and Post
5179 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
5180 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
5181 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
5182 * Canceling and Superseding::
5186 @node Summary Mail Commands
5187 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
5189 @cindex composing mail
5191 Commands for composing a mail message:
5197 @kindex S r (Summary)
5199 @findex gnus-summary-reply
5200 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
5201 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
5202 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
5203 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
5208 @kindex S R (Summary)
5209 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
5210 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
5211 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5212 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
5213 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5216 @kindex S w (Summary)
5217 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
5218 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
5219 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
5220 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5221 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers. If @code{Mail-Followup-To} is
5222 present, that's used instead.
5225 @kindex S W (Summary)
5226 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
5227 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
5228 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
5229 the process/prefix convention.
5232 @kindex S v (Summary)
5233 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
5234 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
5235 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
5236 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5237 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
5238 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
5241 @kindex S V (Summary)
5242 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original
5243 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article and include the
5244 original message (@code{gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original}). This
5245 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5248 @kindex S B r (Summary)
5249 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to
5250 Mail a reply to the author of the current article but ignore the
5251 @code{Reply-To} field (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to}).
5252 If you need this because a mailing list incorrectly sets a
5253 @code{Reply-To} header pointing to the list, you probably want to set
5254 the @code{broken-reply-to} group parameter instead, so things will work
5255 correctly. @xref{Group Parameters}.
5258 @kindex S B R (Summary)
5259 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original
5260 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5261 original message but ignore the @code{Reply-To} field
5262 (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original}).
5266 @kindex S o m (Summary)
5267 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
5268 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
5269 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
5270 Forward the current article to some other person
5271 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If no prefix is given, the message
5272 is forwarded according to the value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime})
5273 and (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
5274 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
5275 as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
5276 forward as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
5277 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
5278 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
5279 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME}
5285 @kindex S m (Summary)
5286 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
5287 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
5288 Prepare a mail (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}). By default, use
5289 the posting style of the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5290 If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
5295 @kindex S i (Summary)
5296 @findex gnus-summary-news-other-window
5297 Prepare a news (@code{gnus-summary-news-other-window}). By default,
5298 post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that. If the
5299 prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
5301 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
5302 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
5303 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
5304 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
5305 for this to work though.
5308 @kindex S D b (Summary)
5309 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
5310 @cindex bouncing mail
5311 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
5312 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
5313 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
5314 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
5315 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
5316 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
5317 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
5318 very well fail, though.
5321 @kindex S D r (Summary)
5322 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
5323 Not to be confused with the previous command,
5324 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
5325 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
5326 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
5327 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
5328 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
5329 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
5330 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
5332 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
5333 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
5334 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
5335 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
5336 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
5338 This command understands the process/prefix convention
5339 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5342 @kindex S O m (Summary)
5343 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
5344 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
5345 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
5346 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5349 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
5350 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
5351 @cindex crossposting
5352 @cindex excessive crossposting
5353 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
5354 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
5356 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
5357 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
5358 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
5359 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
5360 command understands the process/prefix convention
5361 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
5365 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5366 Manual}, for more information.
5369 @node Summary Post Commands
5370 @subsection Summary Post Commands
5372 @cindex composing news
5374 Commands for posting a news article:
5380 @kindex S p (Summary)
5381 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
5382 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
5383 Prepare for posting an article (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}). By
5384 default, post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5385 If the prefix is 1, prompt for another group instead.
5390 @kindex S f (Summary)
5391 @findex gnus-summary-followup
5392 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
5393 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
5397 @kindex S F (Summary)
5399 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
5400 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
5401 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
5402 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
5403 process/prefix convention.
5406 @kindex S n (Summary)
5407 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
5408 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5409 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
5412 @kindex S N (Summary)
5413 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
5414 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5415 message through mail and include the original message
5416 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
5417 the process/prefix convention.
5420 @kindex S o p (Summary)
5421 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
5422 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
5423 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
5424 If no prefix is given, the message is forwarded according to the value
5425 of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}) and
5426 (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
5427 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
5428 as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
5429 forward as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
5430 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
5431 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
5432 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section.
5435 @kindex S O p (Summary)
5436 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
5438 @cindex making digests
5439 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
5440 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
5441 process/prefix convention.
5444 @kindex S u (Summary)
5445 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
5446 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
5447 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
5448 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
5451 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5452 Manual}, for more information.
5455 @node Summary Message Commands
5456 @subsection Summary Message Commands
5460 @kindex S y (Summary)
5461 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
5462 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
5463 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
5464 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
5465 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5470 @node Canceling and Superseding
5471 @subsection Canceling Articles
5472 @cindex canceling articles
5473 @cindex superseding articles
5475 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
5476 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
5478 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
5480 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
5482 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
5483 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
5484 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
5485 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
5486 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
5487 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5489 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
5490 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
5493 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
5494 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
5495 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
5497 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
5498 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
5499 your original article.
5501 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
5503 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
5504 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
5505 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
5508 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
5509 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
5510 have posted almost the same article twice.
5512 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
5513 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
5514 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
5515 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
5516 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
5517 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
5518 header by substituting one of those words for the word
5519 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
5520 you would do normally. The previous article will be
5521 canceled/superseded.
5523 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
5525 @node Delayed Articles
5526 @section Delayed Articles
5527 @cindex delayed sending
5528 @cindex send delayed
5530 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
5531 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
5532 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
5533 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
5536 (gnus-delay-initialize)
5539 @findex gnus-delay-article
5540 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
5541 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
5542 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
5543 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
5547 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
5548 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
5549 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
5550 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
5553 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
5554 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
5555 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
5558 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
5559 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
5560 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
5561 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
5562 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
5563 that means a time tomorrow.
5566 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
5567 couple of variables:
5570 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
5571 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
5572 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
5573 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
5575 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
5576 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
5577 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
5578 formats described above.
5580 @item gnus-delay-group
5581 @vindex gnus-delay-group
5582 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
5583 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
5584 value is @code{"delayed"}.
5586 @item gnus-delay-header
5587 @vindex gnus-delay-header
5588 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
5589 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
5590 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
5593 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
5594 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
5595 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
5596 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
5597 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
5599 @findex gnus-delay-send-queue
5600 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
5601 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue}
5602 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
5603 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
5604 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
5605 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} function.
5608 @item gnus-delay-initialize
5609 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
5610 By default, this function installs @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
5611 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts the optional second
5612 argument @code{no-check}. If it is non-@code{nil},
5613 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed. The optional first
5614 argument is ignored.
5616 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to do nothing.
5617 Presumably, you want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles.
5618 Just don't forget to set that up :-)
5622 @node Marking Articles
5623 @section Marking Articles
5624 @cindex article marking
5625 @cindex article ticking
5628 There are several marks you can set on an article.
5630 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
5631 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
5632 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
5634 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
5637 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
5638 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
5639 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
5643 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
5647 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
5648 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
5649 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
5653 @node Unread Articles
5654 @subsection Unread Articles
5656 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
5661 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
5662 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
5664 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
5665 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
5666 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
5667 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
5668 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
5669 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
5670 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
5673 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
5674 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
5676 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
5677 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
5678 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
5679 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
5683 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
5684 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
5686 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
5691 @subsection Read Articles
5692 @cindex expirable mark
5694 All the following marks mark articles as read.
5699 @vindex gnus-del-mark
5700 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
5701 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
5704 @vindex gnus-read-mark
5705 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
5708 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
5709 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
5710 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
5713 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
5714 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
5717 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
5718 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
5721 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
5722 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
5725 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
5726 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
5729 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
5730 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
5733 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
5734 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
5737 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
5738 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
5742 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
5743 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
5744 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
5748 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
5749 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
5751 One more special mark, though:
5755 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
5756 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
5758 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
5759 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
5760 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
5761 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
5767 @subsection Other Marks
5768 @cindex process mark
5771 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
5777 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
5778 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
5779 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
5780 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
5781 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
5784 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
5785 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
5786 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
5787 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
5790 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
5791 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
5792 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
5795 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
5796 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
5797 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5800 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
5801 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
5802 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
5803 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
5806 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
5807 Articles that according to the server haven't been shown to the user
5808 before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
5809 (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all servers support this
5810 mark, in which case it simply never appears. Compare with
5811 @code{gnus-unseen-mark}.
5814 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
5815 Articles that haven't been seen before in Gnus by the user are marked
5816 with a @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
5817 Compare with @code{gnus-recent-mark}.
5820 @vindex gnus-downloaded-mark
5821 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), articles may be
5822 downloaded for unplugged (offline) viewing. If you are using the
5823 @samp{%O} spec, these articles get the @samp{+} mark in that spec.
5824 (The variable @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} controls which character to
5828 @vindex gnus-undownloaded-mark
5829 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), some articles might
5830 not have been downloaded. Such articles cannot be viewed while you
5831 are unplugged (offline). If you are using the @samp{%O} spec, these
5832 articles get the @samp{-} mark in that spec. (The variable
5833 @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} controls which character to use.)
5836 @vindex gnus-downloadable-mark
5837 The Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}) downloads some articles
5838 automatically, but it is also possible to explicitly mark articles for
5839 download, even if they would not be downloaded automatically. Such
5840 explicitly-marked articles get the @samp{%} mark in the first column.
5841 (The variable @code{gnus-downloadable-mark} controls which character to
5845 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
5846 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
5847 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
5848 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
5849 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
5852 @vindex gnus-process-mark
5853 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
5854 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
5855 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
5856 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
5857 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
5861 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
5862 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
5863 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
5865 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
5866 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
5867 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
5871 @subsection Setting Marks
5872 @cindex setting marks
5874 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
5879 @kindex M c (Summary)
5880 @kindex M-u (Summary)
5881 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
5882 @cindex mark as unread
5883 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
5884 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
5890 @kindex M t (Summary)
5891 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
5892 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
5893 @xref{Article Caching}.
5898 @kindex M ? (Summary)
5899 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
5900 Mark the current article as dormant
5901 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5905 @kindex M d (Summary)
5907 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
5908 Mark the current article as read
5909 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
5913 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
5914 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
5915 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
5920 @kindex M k (Summary)
5921 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
5922 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
5923 and then select the next unread article
5924 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
5928 @kindex M K (Summary)
5929 @kindex C-k (Summary)
5930 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
5931 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
5932 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
5935 @kindex M C (Summary)
5936 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
5937 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
5938 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
5941 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
5942 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
5943 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
5944 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
5947 @kindex M H (Summary)
5948 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
5949 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
5950 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
5953 @kindex M h (Summary)
5954 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
5955 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
5956 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
5959 @kindex C-w (Summary)
5960 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
5961 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
5962 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
5965 @kindex M V k (Summary)
5966 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
5967 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
5968 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
5972 @kindex M e (Summary)
5974 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
5975 Mark the current article as expirable
5976 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
5979 @kindex M b (Summary)
5980 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
5981 Set a bookmark in the current article
5982 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
5985 @kindex M B (Summary)
5986 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
5987 Remove the bookmark from the current article
5988 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
5991 @kindex M V c (Summary)
5992 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
5993 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
5994 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5997 @kindex M V u (Summary)
5998 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
5999 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
6000 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
6003 @kindex M V m (Summary)
6004 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
6005 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
6006 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
6007 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
6010 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
6011 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
6012 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
6013 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
6014 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
6015 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
6016 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
6017 The default is @code{t}.
6020 @node Generic Marking Commands
6021 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
6023 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
6024 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
6025 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
6026 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
6027 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
6030 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
6031 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
6034 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
6035 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
6036 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
6037 to list in this manual.
6039 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
6040 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
6041 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
6042 article, you could say something like:
6046 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
6047 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6048 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
6056 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6057 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
6061 @node Setting Process Marks
6062 @subsection Setting Process Marks
6063 @cindex setting process marks
6065 Process marks are displayed as @code{#} in the summary buffer, and are
6066 used for marking articles in such a way that other commands will
6067 process these articles. For instance, if you process mark four
6068 articles and then use the @kbd{*} command, Gnus will enter these four
6069 commands into the cache. For more information,
6070 @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
6077 @kindex M P p (Summary)
6078 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
6079 Mark the current article with the process mark
6080 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
6081 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
6085 @kindex M P u (Summary)
6086 @kindex M-# (Summary)
6087 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
6088 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
6091 @kindex M P U (Summary)
6092 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
6093 Remove the process mark from all articles
6094 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
6097 @kindex M P i (Summary)
6098 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
6099 Invert the list of process marked articles
6100 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
6103 @kindex M P R (Summary)
6104 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
6105 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6106 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
6109 @kindex M P G (Summary)
6110 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
6111 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6112 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
6115 @kindex M P r (Summary)
6116 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
6117 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
6121 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
6122 Unmark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
6125 @kindex M P t (Summary)
6126 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6127 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6128 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6131 @kindex M P T (Summary)
6132 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6133 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6134 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6137 @kindex M P v (Summary)
6138 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
6139 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
6140 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
6143 @kindex M P s (Summary)
6144 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
6145 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6148 @kindex M P S (Summary)
6149 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
6150 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
6151 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
6154 @kindex M P a (Summary)
6155 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
6156 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6159 @kindex M P b (Summary)
6160 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
6161 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
6162 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
6165 @kindex M P k (Summary)
6166 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
6167 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
6168 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
6171 @kindex M P y (Summary)
6172 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
6173 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
6174 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
6177 @kindex M P w (Summary)
6178 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
6179 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
6180 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
6184 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @ref{Searching for Articles}, for how to
6185 set process marks based on article body contents.
6192 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
6193 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
6194 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
6197 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
6198 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
6199 additional articles.
6205 @kindex / / (Summary)
6206 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
6207 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
6208 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
6212 @kindex / a (Summary)
6213 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
6214 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
6215 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
6219 @kindex / x (Summary)
6220 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
6221 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
6222 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
6223 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
6228 @kindex / u (Summary)
6230 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
6231 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
6232 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
6233 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
6234 dormant articles will also be excluded.
6237 @kindex / m (Summary)
6238 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
6239 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
6240 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
6243 @kindex / t (Summary)
6244 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
6245 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
6246 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
6247 articles younger than that number of days.
6250 @kindex / n (Summary)
6251 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
6252 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
6253 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
6254 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6257 @kindex / w (Summary)
6258 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
6259 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
6260 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
6264 @kindex / . (Summary)
6265 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen
6266 Limit the summary buffer to the unseen articles
6267 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen}).
6270 @kindex / v (Summary)
6271 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
6272 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
6273 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
6276 @kindex / p (Summary)
6277 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate
6278 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
6279 group parameter predicate
6280 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate}). @xref{Group
6281 Parameters}, for more on this predicate.
6285 @kindex M S (Summary)
6286 @kindex / E (Summary)
6287 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
6288 Include all expunged articles in the limit
6289 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
6292 @kindex / D (Summary)
6293 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
6294 Include all dormant articles in the limit
6295 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
6298 @kindex / * (Summary)
6299 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
6300 Include all cached articles in the limit
6301 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
6304 @kindex / d (Summary)
6305 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
6306 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
6307 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
6310 @kindex / M (Summary)
6311 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
6312 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
6315 @kindex / T (Summary)
6316 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
6317 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
6320 @kindex / c (Summary)
6321 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
6322 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit@*
6323 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
6326 @kindex / C (Summary)
6327 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
6328 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
6329 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
6330 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
6333 @kindex / N (Summary)
6334 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
6335 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
6336 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
6339 @kindex / o (Summary)
6340 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
6341 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
6342 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
6350 @cindex article threading
6352 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
6353 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
6354 hierarchical fashion.
6356 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
6357 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
6358 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
6359 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
6360 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
6361 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
6362 @ref{Customizing Threading}.
6364 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
6368 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
6371 A tree-like article structure.
6374 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
6377 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
6378 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
6379 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
6380 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
6381 called loose threads.
6383 @item thread gathering
6384 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
6386 @item sparse threads
6387 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
6388 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
6394 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
6395 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
6399 @node Customizing Threading
6400 @subsection Customizing Threading
6401 @cindex customizing threading
6404 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
6405 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
6406 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
6407 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
6412 @subsubsection Loose Threads
6415 @cindex loose threads
6418 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
6419 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
6420 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
6421 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
6422 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
6423 read or killed the root in a previous session.
6425 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
6426 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
6427 There are four possible values:
6431 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
6432 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
6433 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
6434 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
6435 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
6440 @cindex adopting articles
6445 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
6446 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
6447 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
6448 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
6451 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
6452 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root-always
6453 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
6454 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
6455 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
6456 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
6457 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
6458 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6459 If you want all threads to have a dummy root, even the non-gathered
6460 ones, set @code{gnus-summary-make-false-root-always} to @code{t}.
6463 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
6464 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
6465 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
6469 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
6470 display them after one another.
6473 Don't gather loose threads.
6476 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6477 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6478 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
6479 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
6480 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
6481 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
6482 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
6483 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
6484 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
6485 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
6486 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
6488 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
6489 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
6490 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
6493 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6494 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6495 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
6496 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
6497 simplification is used.
6499 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6500 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6501 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
6502 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
6504 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
6506 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6512 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
6513 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
6514 "answer" "reference" "announce"
6515 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
6520 (mapconcat 'identity
6521 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
6523 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
6526 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
6529 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6530 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6531 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
6532 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
6533 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
6534 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
6536 Useful functions to put in this list include:
6539 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
6540 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
6541 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
6543 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6544 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6547 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
6548 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
6549 Remove excessive whitespace.
6551 @item gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6552 @findex gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6553 Remove all whitespace.
6556 You may also write your own functions, of course.
6559 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6560 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6561 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
6562 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
6563 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
6564 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
6565 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
6566 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
6568 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6569 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6570 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
6571 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
6572 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
6573 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
6574 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
6575 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
6576 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
6580 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6581 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6582 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
6583 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
6585 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6586 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6587 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
6590 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
6594 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6595 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
6601 @node Filling In Threads
6602 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
6605 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
6606 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
6607 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
6608 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
6609 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
6610 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
6611 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
6612 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
6613 fetching old headers only works if the back end you are using carries
6614 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool},
6615 @code{nnml}, and @code{nnmaildir}. Also remember that if the root of
6616 the thread has been expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do
6619 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
6620 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
6621 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
6623 @item gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
6624 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
6625 Same as @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}, but only used for ephemeral
6628 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
6629 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
6630 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
6631 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
6632 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
6633 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
6634 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
6635 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
6636 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
6637 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
6638 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
6639 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
6640 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
6641 @code{nil} by default.
6643 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
6644 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
6645 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
6646 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
6647 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
6648 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
6649 web-based groups, like the @code{nnultimate} groups.
6651 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
6652 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
6653 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
6658 @node More Threading
6659 @subsubsection More Threading
6662 @item gnus-show-threads
6663 @vindex gnus-show-threads
6664 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
6665 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
6666 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
6667 slower and more awkward.
6669 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6670 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6671 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
6674 This can also be a predicate specifier (@pxref{Predicate Specifiers}).
6675 Available predicates are @code{gnus-article-unread-p} and
6676 @code{gnus-article-unseen-p}.
6681 (setq gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6682 '(or gnus-article-unread-p
6683 gnus-article-unseen-p))
6686 (It's a pretty nonsensical example, since all unseen articles are also
6687 unread, but you get my drift.)
6690 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
6691 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
6692 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
6693 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
6694 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
6695 threads are expunged.
6697 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
6698 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
6699 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
6702 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6703 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6704 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
6705 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
6706 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
6707 result in a new thread.
6709 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
6710 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
6711 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
6714 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6715 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6716 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
6717 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
6718 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
6719 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
6720 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
6721 Setting this variable to an alternate value
6722 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
6723 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
6724 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
6729 @node Low-Level Threading
6730 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
6734 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
6735 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
6736 Hook run before parsing any headers.
6738 @item gnus-alter-header-function
6739 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
6740 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
6741 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
6742 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
6743 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
6744 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
6745 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
6746 meaningful. Here's one example:
6749 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
6751 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
6752 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
6754 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
6756 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
6763 @node Thread Commands
6764 @subsection Thread Commands
6765 @cindex thread commands
6771 @kindex T k (Summary)
6772 @kindex C-M-k (Summary)
6773 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
6774 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
6775 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
6776 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
6781 @kindex T l (Summary)
6782 @kindex C-M-l (Summary)
6783 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
6784 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
6785 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
6788 @kindex T i (Summary)
6789 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
6790 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
6791 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
6794 @kindex T # (Summary)
6795 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6796 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
6797 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6800 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
6801 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6802 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
6803 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6806 @kindex T T (Summary)
6807 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
6808 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
6811 @kindex T s (Summary)
6812 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
6813 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any@*
6814 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
6817 @kindex T h (Summary)
6818 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
6819 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
6822 @kindex T S (Summary)
6823 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
6824 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
6827 @kindex T H (Summary)
6828 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
6829 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
6832 @kindex T t (Summary)
6833 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
6834 Re-thread the current article's thread
6835 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
6836 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
6839 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
6840 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
6841 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
6842 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
6846 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
6847 understand the numeric prefix.
6852 @kindex T n (Summary)
6854 @kindex C-M-n (Summary)
6856 @kindex M-down (Summary)
6857 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
6858 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
6861 @kindex T p (Summary)
6863 @kindex C-M-p (Summary)
6865 @kindex M-up (Summary)
6866 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
6867 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
6870 @kindex T d (Summary)
6871 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
6872 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
6875 @kindex T u (Summary)
6876 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
6877 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
6880 @kindex T o (Summary)
6881 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
6882 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
6885 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
6886 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
6887 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
6888 a command like @kbd{T k} (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
6889 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
6890 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
6891 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
6892 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
6893 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
6894 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
6895 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
6896 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
6900 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
6901 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
6903 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
6904 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
6905 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
6906 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6907 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
6908 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6909 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-random
6910 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
6911 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-thread
6912 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
6913 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
6914 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
6915 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
6917 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
6918 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
6919 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
6920 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score},
6921 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number},
6922 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date},
6923 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-random} and
6924 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
6926 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
6927 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
6928 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
6930 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
6931 last function in the list. You should probably always include
6932 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
6933 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
6934 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
6935 ascending article order.
6937 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
6938 by number, you could do something like:
6941 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6942 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6943 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6944 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
6947 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
6948 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
6949 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
6950 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
6951 which the articles arrived.
6953 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
6957 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6959 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
6960 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
6963 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
6964 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
6965 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
6966 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
6969 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
6970 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
6971 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
6972 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
6973 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
6974 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-random
6975 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
6976 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or
6977 other, you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions}
6978 variable. It is very similar to the
6979 @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that it uses slightly
6980 different functions for article comparison. Available sorting
6981 predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
6982 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author},
6983 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date},
6984 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-random}, and
6985 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
6987 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
6991 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
6992 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
6993 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
6998 @node Asynchronous Fetching
6999 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
7000 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
7001 @cindex article pre-fetch
7004 If you read your news from an @acronym{NNTP} server that's far away, the
7005 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
7006 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
7007 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
7008 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
7010 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
7011 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
7013 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
7014 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
7015 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
7016 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
7017 connection is blocked.
7019 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
7020 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
7021 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
7022 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
7024 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
7025 the link between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server will become more
7026 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
7027 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
7030 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing@dots{} unless
7033 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
7034 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
7035 happen automatically.
7037 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
7038 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
7039 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
7040 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
7041 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
7042 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
7043 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
7045 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
7046 @findex gnus-async-read-p
7047 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
7048 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p}
7049 variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This
7050 function should return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is
7051 to be pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which
7052 returns @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an
7053 article data structure as the only parameter.
7055 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter
7056 than 100 lines, you could say something like:
7059 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
7060 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
7061 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
7062 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
7065 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
7068 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
7069 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
7070 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
7072 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
7073 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
7074 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
7075 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
7079 Remove articles when they are read.
7082 Remove articles when exiting the group.
7085 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
7087 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
7088 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
7089 @c from the next group.
7092 @node Article Caching
7093 @section Article Caching
7094 @cindex article caching
7097 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @acronym{NNTP} connection, you may
7098 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
7099 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
7100 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
7101 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
7103 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
7105 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7106 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
7107 @vindex gnus-use-cache
7108 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
7109 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
7110 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
7111 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
7112 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
7114 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
7115 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
7116 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
7117 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
7118 as dormant, and don't worry.
7120 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
7122 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
7123 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
7124 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
7125 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
7126 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
7127 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
7128 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
7129 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
7130 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
7131 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
7133 @findex gnus-jog-cache
7134 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
7135 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
7136 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
7137 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
7138 command if 1) your connection to the @acronym{NNTP} server is really, really,
7139 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
7140 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
7141 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
7142 not then be downloaded by this command.
7144 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
7145 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
7146 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
7147 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
7148 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
7149 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
7151 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
7152 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
7153 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
7154 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
7155 variables, the group is not cached.
7157 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
7158 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
7159 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
7160 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
7161 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
7162 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
7163 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
7164 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @acronym{NOV}
7165 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
7168 @findex gnus-cache-move-cache
7169 @code{gnus-cache-move-cache} will move your whole
7170 @code{gnus-cache-directory} to some other location. You get asked to
7171 where, isn't that cool?
7173 @node Persistent Articles
7174 @section Persistent Articles
7175 @cindex persistent articles
7177 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
7178 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
7179 useful in my opinion.
7181 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
7182 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
7183 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
7184 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
7185 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
7186 the expiry going on at the news server.
7188 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
7189 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
7190 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
7196 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
7197 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
7200 @kindex M-* (Summary)
7201 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
7202 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
7203 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
7207 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
7209 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
7210 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
7211 interested in persistent articles:
7214 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
7218 @node Article Backlog
7219 @section Article Backlog
7221 @cindex article backlog
7223 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
7224 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
7225 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
7226 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
7227 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
7228 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
7229 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
7230 increase memory usage some.
7232 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
7233 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
7234 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
7235 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
7236 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
7237 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
7238 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
7240 The default value is 20.
7243 @node Saving Articles
7244 @section Saving Articles
7245 @cindex saving articles
7247 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
7248 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
7249 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
7250 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
7251 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
7253 For the commands listed here, the target is a file. If you want to
7254 save to a group, see the @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article})
7255 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
7257 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
7258 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
7259 unwanted headers before saving the article.
7261 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
7262 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
7263 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
7264 deleted before saving.
7270 @kindex O o (Summary)
7272 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
7273 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
7274 Save the current article using the default article saver
7275 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
7278 @kindex O m (Summary)
7279 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
7280 Save the current article in mail format
7281 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
7284 @kindex O r (Summary)
7285 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
7286 Save the current article in Rmail format
7287 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
7290 @kindex O f (Summary)
7291 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
7292 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
7293 Save the current article in plain file format
7294 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
7297 @kindex O F (Summary)
7298 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
7299 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
7300 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
7303 @kindex O b (Summary)
7304 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
7305 Save the current article body in plain file format
7306 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
7309 @kindex O h (Summary)
7310 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
7311 Save the current article in mh folder format
7312 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
7315 @kindex O v (Summary)
7316 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
7317 Save the current article in a VM folder
7318 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
7322 @kindex O p (Summary)
7324 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
7325 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
7326 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
7327 If given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), include the
7328 complete headers in the piped output.
7331 @kindex O P (Summary)
7332 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
7333 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
7334 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
7335 external program @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/,
7336 Muttprint}. The program name and options to use is controlled by the
7337 variable @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}.
7338 (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
7342 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
7343 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
7344 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
7345 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
7346 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
7347 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
7348 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
7349 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
7350 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
7351 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
7352 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
7353 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
7357 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
7358 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
7359 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
7360 functions below, or you can create your own.
7364 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7365 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7366 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
7367 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7368 This is the default format, @dfn{Babyl}. Uses the function in the
7369 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7370 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7372 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7373 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7374 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
7375 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
7376 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7377 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7379 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
7380 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
7381 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
7382 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7383 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
7384 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7385 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7387 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
7388 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
7389 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
7390 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
7391 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7392 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7394 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7395 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7396 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
7397 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7398 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7400 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7401 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7402 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
7403 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
7404 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
7407 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
7408 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
7409 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
7410 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
7411 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
7413 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7414 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7415 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
7416 reader to use this setting.
7419 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
7420 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
7421 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
7422 @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
7425 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
7426 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
7427 available functions that generate names:
7431 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
7432 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
7433 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7435 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
7436 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7437 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7439 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
7440 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
7441 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7443 @item gnus-plain-save-name
7444 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7445 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7447 @item gnus-sender-save-name
7448 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
7449 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
7452 @vindex gnus-split-methods
7453 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
7454 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
7455 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
7456 related to VM in @file{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
7460 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
7461 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
7462 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
7463 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
7466 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
7467 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
7468 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
7469 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
7470 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
7471 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
7472 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
7473 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
7474 called returns a string or a list of strings.
7476 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
7477 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
7478 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
7479 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
7481 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
7482 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
7483 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
7486 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
7487 lots of mail groups called things like
7488 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
7489 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
7490 following will do just that:
7493 (defun my-save-name (group)
7494 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
7495 (substring group (match-end 0))))
7497 (setq gnus-split-methods
7498 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
7503 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7504 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
7505 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
7506 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
7507 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
7508 all the files in the top level directory
7509 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
7510 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
7511 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
7512 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
7514 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
7515 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
7516 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
7517 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
7518 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
7521 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
7525 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; @r{to get a hierarchy}
7526 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
7527 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; @r{no encoding}
7530 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
7531 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
7532 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
7533 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
7536 @node Decoding Articles
7537 @section Decoding Articles
7538 @cindex decoding articles
7540 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
7541 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
7544 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
7545 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
7546 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
7547 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
7548 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
7549 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
7553 @cindex article series
7554 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
7555 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
7556 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
7557 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
7558 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
7560 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
7561 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
7562 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
7564 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
7565 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
7566 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
7568 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
7569 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
7570 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
7573 @node Uuencoded Articles
7574 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
7576 @cindex uuencoded articles
7581 @kindex X u (Summary)
7582 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
7583 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
7584 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
7587 @kindex X U (Summary)
7588 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
7589 Uudecodes and saves the current series
7590 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7593 @kindex X v u (Summary)
7594 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
7595 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
7598 @kindex X v U (Summary)
7599 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
7600 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
7601 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
7605 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
7606 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
7607 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
7608 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
7609 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7611 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
7612 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
7613 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
7614 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
7617 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
7618 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
7619 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
7620 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
7621 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
7622 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
7626 @node Shell Archives
7627 @subsection Shell Archives
7629 @cindex shell archives
7630 @cindex shared articles
7632 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
7633 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
7634 some commands to deal with these:
7639 @kindex X s (Summary)
7640 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
7641 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
7644 @kindex X S (Summary)
7645 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
7646 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
7649 @kindex X v s (Summary)
7650 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
7651 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
7654 @kindex X v S (Summary)
7655 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
7656 Unshars, views and saves the current series
7657 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
7661 @node PostScript Files
7662 @subsection PostScript Files
7668 @kindex X p (Summary)
7669 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
7670 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
7673 @kindex X P (Summary)
7674 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
7675 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
7676 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
7679 @kindex X v p (Summary)
7680 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
7681 View the current PostScript series
7682 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
7685 @kindex X v P (Summary)
7686 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
7687 View and save the current PostScript series
7688 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
7693 @subsection Other Files
7697 @kindex X o (Summary)
7698 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
7699 Save the current series
7700 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
7703 @kindex X b (Summary)
7704 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
7705 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
7706 doesn't really work yet.
7710 @node Decoding Variables
7711 @subsection Decoding Variables
7713 Adjective, not verb.
7716 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
7717 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
7718 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
7722 @node Rule Variables
7723 @subsubsection Rule Variables
7724 @cindex rule variables
7726 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
7727 variables are of the form
7730 (list '(regexp1 command2)
7737 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7738 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7740 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
7741 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @file{.au} sound file, you could
7744 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7745 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
7748 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7749 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7750 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
7751 user and default view rules.
7753 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7754 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7755 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
7760 @node Other Decode Variables
7761 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
7764 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7766 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7767 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
7768 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
7769 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
7770 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
7774 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
7775 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
7778 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
7779 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
7780 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
7783 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7784 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7785 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
7786 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
7787 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
7790 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7791 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7792 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
7794 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7795 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7796 Files with a @acronym{MIME} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
7797 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
7798 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @acronym{MIME} package (yet), so this is slightly
7801 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7802 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7803 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
7805 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7806 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7807 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
7808 looking for files to display.
7810 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
7811 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
7812 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
7815 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7816 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7817 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
7820 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7821 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7822 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
7825 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7826 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7827 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
7830 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7831 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7832 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
7833 decoded articles as unread.
7835 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7836 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7837 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
7838 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
7840 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7841 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7842 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
7844 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7845 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7847 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
7848 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @acronym{MIME}
7849 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
7850 @code{metamail} for viewing.
7852 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7853 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7854 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
7855 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
7856 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
7857 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
7858 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
7859 simply dropped them.
7864 @node Uuencoding and Posting
7865 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
7869 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7870 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7871 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
7872 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
7873 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
7874 for you when you post the article.
7876 @item gnus-uu-post-length
7877 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
7878 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
7879 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
7881 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
7882 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
7883 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
7884 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
7885 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
7886 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
7887 think that counts@dots{}) Default is @code{nil}.
7889 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7890 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7891 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
7892 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
7893 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
7894 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
7895 Default is @code{t}.
7901 @subsection Viewing Files
7902 @cindex viewing files
7903 @cindex pseudo-articles
7905 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
7906 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
7907 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
7908 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
7909 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
7910 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
7911 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
7913 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
7914 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
7915 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
7916 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
7918 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
7919 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
7920 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
7922 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
7923 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
7924 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
7925 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
7926 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
7928 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
7929 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
7930 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
7931 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
7932 a list of parameters to that command.
7934 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
7935 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
7936 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
7938 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
7939 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
7940 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
7943 @node Article Treatment
7944 @section Article Treatment
7946 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
7947 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
7948 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
7949 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
7950 these articles easier.
7953 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
7954 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
7955 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
7956 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
7957 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
7958 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
7959 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
7960 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
7961 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
7962 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
7963 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
7967 @node Article Highlighting
7968 @subsection Article Highlighting
7969 @cindex highlighting
7971 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
7972 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
7977 @kindex W H a (Summary)
7978 @findex gnus-article-highlight
7979 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
7980 Do much highlighting of the current article
7981 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
7982 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
7985 @kindex W H h (Summary)
7986 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
7987 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
7988 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
7989 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
7990 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
7991 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
7992 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
7993 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
7994 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
7995 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
7996 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
7999 @kindex W H c (Summary)
8000 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
8001 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
8003 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
8006 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
8008 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
8009 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
8010 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
8012 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
8013 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
8014 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
8016 @item gnus-cite-face-list
8017 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
8018 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
8019 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
8020 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
8021 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
8023 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
8024 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
8025 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
8027 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
8028 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
8029 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
8031 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
8032 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
8033 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
8034 that it's a citation.
8036 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
8037 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
8038 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
8040 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
8041 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
8042 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
8044 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
8045 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
8046 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
8047 cited text belonging to the attribution.
8053 @kindex W H s (Summary)
8054 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8055 @vindex gnus-signature-face
8056 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
8057 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
8058 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
8059 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
8060 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
8065 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
8068 @node Article Fontisizing
8069 @subsection Article Fontisizing
8071 @cindex article emphasis
8073 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
8074 @kindex W e (Summary)
8075 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
8076 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
8077 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
8078 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
8080 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
8081 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
8082 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
8083 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
8084 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
8085 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
8086 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
8087 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
8091 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
8092 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
8093 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
8102 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
8103 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
8104 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
8105 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
8106 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
8107 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
8108 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
8109 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
8110 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
8111 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
8112 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
8113 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
8114 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
8116 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
8117 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
8118 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
8122 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
8125 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
8127 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
8128 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
8129 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
8130 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
8132 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
8135 @node Article Hiding
8136 @subsection Article Hiding
8137 @cindex article hiding
8139 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
8140 too much cruft in most articles.
8145 @kindex W W a (Summary)
8146 @findex gnus-article-hide
8147 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
8148 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
8149 headers, @acronym{PGP}, cited text and the signature.
8152 @kindex W W h (Summary)
8153 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
8154 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
8158 @kindex W W b (Summary)
8159 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8160 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
8161 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
8164 @kindex W W s (Summary)
8165 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
8166 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
8170 @kindex W W l (Summary)
8171 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
8172 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8173 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
8174 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
8175 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
8176 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
8177 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
8181 @item gnus-list-identifiers
8182 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8183 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
8184 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
8189 @kindex W W P (Summary)
8190 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
8191 Hide @acronym{PEM} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
8192 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
8195 @kindex W W B (Summary)
8196 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
8197 @vindex gnus-article-banner-alist
8198 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8201 @cindex stripping advertisements
8202 @cindex advertisements
8203 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
8204 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
8205 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
8206 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
8207 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
8208 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
8209 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
8210 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
8211 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
8212 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
8215 Regardless of a group, you can hide things like advertisements only when
8216 the sender of an article has a certain mail address specified in
8217 @code{gnus-article-address-banner-alist}.
8221 @item gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8222 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8223 Alist of mail addresses and banners. Each element has the form
8224 @code{(@var{address} . @var{banner})}, where @var{address} is a regexp
8225 matching a mail address in the From header, @var{banner} is one of a
8226 symbol @code{signature}, an item in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist},
8227 a regexp and @code{nil}. If @var{address} matches author's mail
8228 address, it will remove things like advertisements. For example, if a
8229 sender has the mail address @samp{hail@@yoo-hoo.co.jp} and there is a
8230 banner something like @samp{Do You Yoo-hoo!?} in all articles he
8231 sends, you can use the following element to remove them:
8234 ("@@yoo-hoo\\.co\\.jp\\'" .
8235 "\n_+\nDo You Yoo-hoo!\\?\n.*\n.*\n")
8241 @kindex W W c (Summary)
8242 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
8243 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
8244 customizing the hiding:
8248 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8249 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8250 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8251 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8252 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
8253 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
8254 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
8259 Starting point of the hidden text.
8261 Ending point of the hidden text.
8263 Number of characters in the hidden region.
8265 Number of lines of hidden text.
8268 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
8269 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
8270 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
8271 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
8272 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
8277 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
8278 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
8280 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
8281 following two variables:
8284 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8285 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8286 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
8287 50), hide the cited text.
8289 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8290 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8291 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
8296 @kindex W W C (Summary)
8297 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
8298 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
8299 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
8300 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
8301 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8305 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
8306 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
8307 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
8309 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
8310 citation customization.
8312 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
8316 @node Article Washing
8317 @subsection Article Washing
8319 @cindex article washing
8321 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
8322 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
8324 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
8325 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
8328 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
8329 articles by default.
8334 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
8335 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
8339 Force redisplaying of the current article
8340 (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). This is also not really washing.
8341 If you type this, you see the article without any previously applied
8342 interactive Washing functions but with all default treatments
8343 (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8346 @kindex W l (Summary)
8347 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
8348 Remove page breaks from the current article
8349 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
8353 @kindex W r (Summary)
8354 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
8355 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
8356 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
8357 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
8358 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
8359 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
8361 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
8362 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
8363 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
8364 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
8367 @kindex W m (Summary)
8368 @findex gnus-summary-morse-message
8369 Morse decode the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-morse-message}).
8373 @kindex W t (Summary)
8375 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
8376 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
8377 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
8380 @kindex W v (Summary)
8381 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-headers
8382 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
8383 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-headers}).
8386 @kindex W o (Summary)
8387 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
8388 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
8391 @kindex W d (Summary)
8392 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
8393 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
8395 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
8397 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
8398 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
8399 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
8400 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
8403 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
8404 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
8405 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
8406 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
8409 @kindex W Y f (Summary)
8410 @findex gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article
8411 @cindex Outlook Express
8412 Full deuglify of broken Outlook (Express) articles: Treat dumbquotes,
8413 unwrap lines, repair attribution and rearrange citation.
8414 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}).
8417 @kindex W Y u (Summary)
8418 @findex gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines
8419 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min
8420 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max
8421 Unwrap lines that appear to be wrapped citation lines. You can control
8422 what lines will be unwrapped by frobbing
8423 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min} and
8424 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max}, indicating the minimum and
8425 maximum length of an unwrapped citation line.
8426 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines}).
8429 @kindex W Y a (Summary)
8430 @findex gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution
8431 Repair a broken attribution line.@*
8432 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution}).
8435 @kindex W Y c (Summary)
8436 @findex gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation
8437 Repair broken citations by rearranging the text.
8438 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation}).
8441 @kindex W w (Summary)
8442 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
8443 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
8445 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
8449 @kindex W Q (Summary)
8450 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
8451 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
8454 @kindex W C (Summary)
8455 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
8456 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
8457 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
8460 @kindex W c (Summary)
8461 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
8462 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
8463 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
8464 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
8465 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
8468 @kindex W q (Summary)
8469 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
8470 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
8471 Quoted-Printable is one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when
8472 sending non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. It typically
8473 makes strings like @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which
8474 doesn't look very readable to me. Note that this is usually done
8475 automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8476 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
8477 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8480 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
8481 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
8482 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}). Base64 is
8483 one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when sending
8484 non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. Note that this is
8485 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8486 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
8487 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8490 @kindex W Z (Summary)
8491 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
8492 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
8493 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
8494 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
8497 @kindex W u (Summary)
8498 @findex gnus-article-unsplit-urls
8499 Remove newlines from within URLs. Some mailers insert newlines into
8500 outgoing email messages to keep lines short. This reformatting can
8501 split long URLs onto multiple lines. Repair those URLs by removing
8502 the newlines (@code{gnus-article-unsplit-urls}).
8505 @kindex W h (Summary)
8506 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
8507 Treat @acronym{HTML} (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}). Note that this is
8508 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8509 @code{Content-Type} header that says that the message is @acronym{HTML}.
8511 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8513 @vindex gnus-article-wash-function
8514 The default is to use the function specified by
8515 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{Display Customization, ,Display
8516 Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}) to convert the
8517 @acronym{HTML}, but this is controlled by the
8518 @code{gnus-article-wash-function} variable. Pre-defined functions you
8526 Use @uref{http://emacs-w3m.namazu.org/, emacs-w3m}.
8529 Use @uref{http://links.sf.net/, Links}.
8532 Use @uref{http://lynx.isc.org/, Lynx}.
8535 Use html2text---a simple @acronym{HTML} converter included with Gnus.
8540 @kindex W b (Summary)
8541 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
8542 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
8543 @xref{Article Buttons}.
8546 @kindex W B (Summary)
8547 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
8548 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
8549 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
8552 @kindex W p (Summary)
8553 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
8554 Verify a signed control message
8555 (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}). Control messages such as
8556 @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are usually signed by the
8557 hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the @acronym{PGP} public key of
8558 the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
8559 message.@footnote{@acronym{PGP} keys for many hierarchies are
8560 available at @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
8563 @kindex W s (Summary)
8564 @findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
8565 Verify a signed (@acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME} or
8566 @acronym{S/MIME}) message
8567 (@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}). @xref{Security}.
8570 @kindex W a (Summary)
8571 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body
8572 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
8573 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body}).
8576 @kindex W E l (Summary)
8577 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
8578 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
8579 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
8582 @kindex W E m (Summary)
8583 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
8584 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
8585 lines with a single empty line.
8586 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
8589 @kindex W E t (Summary)
8590 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
8591 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
8592 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
8595 @kindex W E a (Summary)
8596 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
8597 Do all the three commands above
8598 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
8601 @kindex W E A (Summary)
8602 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
8603 Remove all blank lines
8604 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
8607 @kindex W E s (Summary)
8608 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
8609 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
8610 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
8613 @kindex W E e (Summary)
8614 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
8615 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
8616 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
8620 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
8623 @node Article Header
8624 @subsection Article Header
8626 These commands perform various transformations of article header.
8631 @kindex W G u (Summary)
8632 @findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
8633 Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
8636 @kindex W G n (Summary)
8637 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
8638 Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
8639 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
8642 @kindex W G f (Summary)
8643 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-headers
8644 Fold all the message headers
8645 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-headers}).
8649 @findex gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace
8650 Remove excessive whitespace from all headers
8651 (@code{gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace}).
8656 @node Article Buttons
8657 @subsection Article Buttons
8660 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
8661 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
8662 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
8663 button on these references.
8665 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
8666 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
8667 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man pages and
8668 Emacs or Gnus related references. This is controlled by two variables,
8669 one that handles article bodies and one that handles article heads:
8673 @item gnus-button-alist
8674 @vindex gnus-button-alist
8675 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
8678 (@var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
8684 All text that match this regular expression (case insensitive) will be
8685 considered an external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches
8686 embedded URLs: @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}. This can also be a
8687 variable containing a regexp, useful variables to use include
8688 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp} and @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp}.
8691 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
8692 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
8693 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
8696 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
8697 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
8698 avoid false matches. Often variables named
8699 @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} are used here, @xref{Article Button
8700 Levels}, but any other form may be used too.
8702 @c @code{use-p} is @code{eval}ed only if @code{regexp} matches.
8705 This function will be called when you click on this button.
8708 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
8709 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
8713 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
8716 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
8719 @item gnus-header-button-alist
8720 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
8721 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
8722 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
8723 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
8726 (@var{header} @var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
8729 @var{header} is a regular expression.
8732 @subsubsection Related variables and functions
8735 @item gnus-button-@var{*}-level
8736 @xref{Article Button Levels}.
8738 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-browse-level
8740 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
8741 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
8742 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
8743 default values of the variables above.
8745 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-man-level
8747 @item gnus-button-man-handler
8748 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
8749 The function to use for displaying man pages. It must take at least one
8750 argument with a string naming the man page.
8752 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-message-level
8754 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
8755 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
8756 Regular expression that matches a message ID or a mail address.
8758 @item gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
8759 @vindex gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
8760 This variable determines what to do when the button on a string as
8761 @samp{foo123@@bar.invalid} is pushed. Strings like this can be either a
8762 message ID or a mail address. If it is one of the symbols @code{mid} or
8763 @code{mail}, Gnus will always assume that the string is a message ID or
8764 a mail address, respectively. If this variable is set to the symbol
8765 @code{ask}, always query the user what do do. If it is a function, this
8766 function will be called with the string as its only argument. The
8767 function must return @code{mid}, @code{mail}, @code{invalid} or
8768 @code{ask}. The default value is the function
8769 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
8771 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
8772 @findex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
8773 Function that guesses whether its argument is a message ID or a mail
8774 address. Returns @code{mid} if it's a message IDs, @code{mail} if
8775 it's a mail address, @code{ask} if unsure and @code{invalid} if the
8778 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
8779 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
8780 An alist of @code{(RATE . REGEXP)} pairs used by the function
8781 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
8783 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-tex-level
8785 @item gnus-button-ctan-handler
8786 @findex gnus-button-ctan-handler
8787 The function to use for displaying CTAN links. It must take one
8788 argument, the string naming the URL.
8791 @vindex gnus-ctan-url
8792 Top directory of a CTAN (Comprehensive TeX Archive Network) archive used
8793 by @code{gnus-button-ctan-handler}.
8797 @item gnus-article-button-face
8798 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
8799 Face used on buttons.
8801 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
8802 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
8803 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
8807 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
8810 @node Article Button Levels
8811 @subsection Article button levels
8812 @cindex button levels
8813 The higher the value of the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level},
8814 the more buttons will appear. If the level is zero, no corresponding
8815 buttons are displayed. With the default value (which is 5) you should
8816 already see quite a lot of buttons. With higher levels, you will see
8817 more buttons, but you may also get more false positives. To avoid them,
8818 you can set the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} local to
8819 specific groups (@pxref{Group Parameters}). Here's an example for the
8820 variable @code{gnus-parameters}:
8823 ;; @r{increase @code{gnus-button-*-level} in some groups:}
8824 (setq gnus-parameters
8825 '(("\\<\\(emacs\\|gnus\\)\\>" (gnus-button-emacs-level 10))
8826 ("\\<unix\\>" (gnus-button-man-level 10))
8827 ("\\<tex\\>" (gnus-button-tex-level 10))))
8832 @item gnus-button-browse-level
8833 @vindex gnus-button-browse-level
8834 Controls the display of references to message IDs, mail addresses and
8835 news URLs. Related variables and functions include
8836 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp}, @code{browse-url}, and
8837 @code{browse-url-browser-function}.
8839 @item gnus-button-emacs-level
8840 @vindex gnus-button-emacs-level
8841 Controls the display of Emacs or Gnus references. Related functions are
8842 @code{gnus-button-handle-custom},
8843 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-function},
8844 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-variable},
8845 @code{gnus-button-handle-symbol},
8846 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-key},
8847 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos},
8848 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-command},
8849 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-variable},
8850 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-documentation}, and
8851 @code{gnus-button-handle-library}.
8853 @item gnus-button-man-level
8854 @vindex gnus-button-man-level
8855 Controls the display of references to (Unix) man pages.
8856 See @code{gnus-button-man-handler}.
8858 @item gnus-button-message-level
8859 @vindex gnus-button-message-level
8860 Controls the display of message IDs, mail addresses and news URLs.
8861 Related variables and functions include
8862 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp},
8863 @code{gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail},
8864 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}, and
8865 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist}.
8867 @item gnus-button-tex-level
8868 @vindex gnus-button-tex-level
8869 Controls the display of references to @TeX{} or LaTeX stuff, e.g. for CTAN
8870 URLs. See the variables @code{gnus-ctan-url},
8871 @code{gnus-button-ctan-handler},
8872 @code{gnus-button-ctan-directory-regexp}, and
8873 @code{gnus-button-handle-ctan-bogus-regexp}.
8879 @subsection Article Date
8881 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
8882 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
8883 when the article was sent.
8888 @kindex W T u (Summary)
8889 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
8890 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
8891 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
8894 @kindex W T i (Summary)
8895 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
8897 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
8898 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
8901 @kindex W T l (Summary)
8902 @findex gnus-article-date-local
8903 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
8906 @kindex W T p (Summary)
8907 @findex gnus-article-date-english
8908 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
8909 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
8912 @kindex W T s (Summary)
8913 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
8914 @findex gnus-article-date-user
8915 @findex format-time-string
8916 Display the date using a user-defined format
8917 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
8918 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
8919 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
8920 for a list of possible format specs.
8923 @kindex W T e (Summary)
8924 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
8925 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
8926 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
8927 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
8928 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
8931 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
8934 @vindex gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header
8935 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
8936 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
8939 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
8940 into wonderful absurdities.
8942 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
8945 (gnus-start-date-timer)
8948 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
8949 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
8953 @kindex W T o (Summary)
8954 @findex gnus-article-date-original
8955 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
8956 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
8957 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
8958 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
8959 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
8963 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
8964 preferred format automatically.
8967 @node Article Display
8968 @subsection Article Display
8973 These commands add various frivolous display gimmicks to the article
8974 buffer in Emacs versions that support them.
8976 @code{X-Face} headers are small black-and-white images supplied by the
8977 message headers (@pxref{X-Face}).
8979 @code{Face} headers are small colored images supplied by the message
8980 headers (@pxref{Face}).
8982 Smileys are those little @samp{:-)} symbols that people like to litter
8983 their messages with (@pxref{Smileys}).
8985 Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
8986 try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
8988 All these functions are toggles---if the elements already exist,
8993 @kindex W D x (Summary)
8994 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
8995 Display an @code{X-Face} in the @code{From} header.
8996 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}).
8999 @kindex W D d (Summary)
9000 @findex gnus-article-display-face
9001 Display a @code{Face} in the @code{From} header.
9002 (@code{gnus-article-display-face}).
9005 @kindex W D s (Summary)
9006 @findex gnus-treat-smiley
9007 Display smileys (@code{gnus-treat-smiley}).
9010 @kindex W D f (Summary)
9011 @findex gnus-treat-from-picon
9012 Piconify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
9015 @kindex W D m (Summary)
9016 @findex gnus-treat-mail-picon
9017 Piconify all mail headers (i. e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
9018 (@code{gnus-treat-mail-picon}).
9021 @kindex W D n (Summary)
9022 @findex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
9023 Piconify all news headers (i. e., @code{Newsgroups} and
9024 @code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon}).
9027 @kindex W D D (Summary)
9028 @findex gnus-article-remove-images
9029 Remove all images from the article buffer
9030 (@code{gnus-article-remove-images}).
9036 @node Article Signature
9037 @subsection Article Signature
9039 @cindex article signature
9041 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
9042 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
9043 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
9044 that says what is to be considered a signature is
9045 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
9046 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
9047 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
9048 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
9049 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
9052 (setq gnus-signature-separator
9053 '("^-- $" ; @r{The standard}
9054 "^-- *$" ; @r{A common mangling}
9055 "^-------*$" ; @r{Many people just use a looong}
9056 ; @r{line of dashes. Shame!}
9057 "^ *--------*$" ; @r{Double-shame!}
9058 "^________*$" ; @r{Underscores are also popular}
9059 "^========*$")) ; @r{Pervert!}
9062 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
9065 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
9066 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
9067 signature when displaying articles.
9071 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
9074 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
9077 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
9078 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
9080 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
9081 in question is not a signature.
9084 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
9085 listed above. Here's an example:
9088 (setq gnus-signature-limit
9089 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
9092 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
9093 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
9094 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
9095 signature after all.
9098 @node Article Miscellanea
9099 @subsection Article Miscellanea
9103 @kindex A t (Summary)
9104 @findex gnus-article-babel
9105 Translate the article from one language to another
9106 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
9112 @section MIME Commands
9113 @cindex MIME decoding
9115 @cindex viewing attachments
9117 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
9118 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @acronym{MIME} part''.
9124 @kindex K v (Summary)
9125 View the @acronym{MIME} part.
9128 @kindex K o (Summary)
9129 Save the @acronym{MIME} part.
9132 @kindex K c (Summary)
9133 Copy the @acronym{MIME} part.
9136 @kindex K e (Summary)
9137 View the @acronym{MIME} part externally.
9140 @kindex K i (Summary)
9141 View the @acronym{MIME} part internally.
9144 @kindex K | (Summary)
9145 Pipe the @acronym{MIME} part to an external command.
9148 The rest of these @acronym{MIME} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
9153 @kindex K b (Summary)
9154 Make all the @acronym{MIME} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
9155 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
9159 @kindex K m (Summary)
9160 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
9161 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
9162 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
9163 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
9164 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
9167 @kindex X m (Summary)
9168 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
9169 Save all parts matching a @acronym{MIME} type to a directory
9170 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
9171 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9174 @kindex M-t (Summary)
9175 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized
9176 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
9177 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
9180 @kindex W M w (Summary)
9181 @findex gnus-article-decode-mime-words
9182 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
9183 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
9186 @kindex W M c (Summary)
9187 @findex gnus-article-decode-charset
9188 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
9189 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
9191 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
9192 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
9193 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
9194 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not
9195 include @acronym{MIME} headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic
9196 parameter to the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
9199 @kindex W M v (Summary)
9200 @findex gnus-mime-view-all-parts
9201 View all the @acronym{MIME} parts in the current article
9202 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
9209 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
9210 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
9211 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9212 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
9215 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
9218 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
9222 @item gnus-article-loose-mime
9223 @vindex gnus-article-loose-mime
9224 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus won't require the @samp{MIME-Version} header
9225 before interpreting the message as a @acronym{MIME} message. This helps
9226 when reading messages from certain broken mail user agents. The
9227 default is @code{nil}.
9229 @item gnus-article-emulate-mime
9230 @vindex gnus-article-emulate-mime
9231 There are other, non-@acronym{MIME} encoding methods used. The most common
9232 is @samp{uuencode}, but yEncode is also getting to be popular. If
9233 this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will look in message bodies to
9234 see if it finds these encodings, and if so, it'll run them through the
9235 Gnus @acronym{MIME} machinery. The default is @code{t}.
9237 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9238 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9239 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9240 this list won't have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9241 displayed or this variable is overridden by
9242 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
9243 @code{(".*/.*")}. This variable is only used when
9244 @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing} is @code{nil}.
9246 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9247 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9248 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9249 this list will have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9250 displayed. This variable overrides
9251 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
9252 This variable is only used when @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing}
9255 To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
9256 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
9257 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} at the default value.
9259 @item gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9260 @vindex gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9261 If this is non-@code{nil}, then all @acronym{MIME} parts get buttons. The
9262 default value is @code{nil}.
9264 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
9265 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
9266 For each @acronym{MIME} part, this function will be called with the @acronym{MIME}
9267 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
9268 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
9269 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
9270 save all jpegs into some directory).
9272 Here's an example function the does the latter:
9275 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
9276 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
9278 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
9279 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
9280 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
9281 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
9282 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
9285 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9286 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9287 Alist of @acronym{MIME} multipart types and functions to handle them.
9289 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9290 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9291 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @acronym{MIME} parts.
9292 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
9294 Ready-made functions include@*
9295 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
9296 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
9297 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
9298 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
9299 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
9300 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
9301 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
9302 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
9303 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9304 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9305 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9306 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9308 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
9309 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
9311 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
9312 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
9313 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
9316 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9317 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9318 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9319 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
9323 to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
9332 People use different charsets, and we have @acronym{MIME} to let us know what
9333 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
9334 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @acronym{MIME}, and
9335 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
9336 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
9337 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
9338 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
9340 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
9341 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
9342 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
9343 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
9345 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets
9346 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @acronym{MIME}-aware agents that
9347 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
9348 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
9349 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
9350 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
9351 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
9352 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
9353 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
9355 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
9356 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
9357 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @acronym{MIME}
9358 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
9359 quoted-printable header encoding.
9361 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
9362 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
9363 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
9367 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
9370 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
9371 means encode all charsets),
9373 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
9374 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
9375 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
9382 @cindex coding system aliases
9383 @cindex preferred charset
9385 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
9387 If there are several @acronym{MIME} charsets that encode the same Emacs
9388 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
9391 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
9392 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
9395 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
9396 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @acronym{MIME} charset.
9398 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
9401 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
9404 This will almost do the right thing.
9406 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
9410 (codepage-setup 1251)
9411 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
9415 @node Article Commands
9416 @section Article Commands
9423 @kindex A P (Summary)
9424 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
9425 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
9426 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
9427 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will
9428 be run just before printing the buffer. An alternative way to print
9429 article is to use Muttprint (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
9434 @node Summary Sorting
9435 @section Summary Sorting
9436 @cindex summary sorting
9438 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
9439 can't really see why you'd want that.
9444 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
9445 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
9446 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
9449 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
9450 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
9451 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
9454 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
9455 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
9456 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
9459 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
9460 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
9461 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
9464 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
9465 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
9466 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
9469 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
9470 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
9471 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
9474 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
9475 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
9476 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
9479 @kindex C-c C-s C-r (Summary)
9480 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-random
9481 Randomize (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-random}).
9484 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
9485 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
9486 Sort using the default sorting method
9487 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
9490 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
9491 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
9492 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
9493 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
9494 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
9498 @node Finding the Parent
9499 @section Finding the Parent
9500 @cindex parent articles
9501 @cindex referring articles
9506 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
9507 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
9508 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
9509 if the current group is fetched by @acronym{NNTP}, the parent hasn't expired
9510 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
9511 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
9512 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
9513 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
9514 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
9516 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
9517 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
9518 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
9519 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
9520 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
9524 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
9525 @kindex A R (Summary)
9526 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
9527 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
9530 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
9531 @kindex A T (Summary)
9532 Display the full thread where the current article appears
9533 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
9534 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
9535 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
9536 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
9537 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
9538 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
9540 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
9541 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
9542 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
9543 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
9544 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
9545 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
9548 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
9549 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
9551 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
9552 You can also ask the @acronym{NNTP} server for an arbitrary article, no
9553 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
9554 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
9555 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
9556 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
9557 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
9560 The current select method will be used when fetching by
9561 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
9562 by giving this command a prefix.
9564 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
9565 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
9566 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
9567 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @acronym{NNTP} method. It
9568 would, perhaps, be best if the @acronym{NNTP} server you consult is the one
9569 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
9572 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
9573 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
9574 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
9577 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
9578 then ask Google if that fails:
9581 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
9583 (nnweb "google" (nnweb-type google))))
9586 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
9587 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox},
9588 @code{nnbabyl}, and @code{nnmaildir} are able to locate articles from
9589 any groups, while @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and @code{nnimap} are
9590 only able to locate articles that have been posted to the current group.
9591 (Anything else would be too time consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not
9592 support this at all.
9595 @node Alternative Approaches
9596 @section Alternative Approaches
9598 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
9599 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
9602 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
9603 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
9608 @subsection Pick and Read
9609 @cindex pick and read
9611 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
9612 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
9613 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
9614 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
9616 @findex gnus-pick-mode
9617 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
9618 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
9619 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
9620 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
9621 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
9623 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
9628 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
9629 Pick the article or thread on the current line
9630 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9631 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
9632 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
9633 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
9634 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
9635 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
9638 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
9639 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
9640 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
9641 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
9645 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
9646 Unpick the thread or article
9647 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9648 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
9649 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
9650 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
9651 the thread or article at that line.
9655 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
9656 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
9657 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
9658 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
9659 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
9660 will still be visible when you are reading.
9664 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
9665 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
9666 which is mapped to the same function
9667 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
9669 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
9672 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
9675 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
9676 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
9678 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
9679 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
9680 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
9682 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
9683 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
9684 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
9685 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
9686 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
9687 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
9688 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
9692 @subsection Binary Groups
9693 @cindex binary groups
9695 @findex gnus-binary-mode
9696 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
9697 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
9698 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
9699 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
9700 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
9701 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
9704 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
9705 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
9706 command, when you have turned on this mode
9707 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
9709 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
9710 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
9714 @section Tree Display
9717 @vindex gnus-use-trees
9718 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
9719 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
9720 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
9723 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
9726 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
9727 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
9728 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
9730 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9731 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9732 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
9733 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
9734 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
9736 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
9737 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
9738 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
9739 default is @code{modeline}.
9741 @item gnus-tree-line-format
9742 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
9743 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
9744 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
9745 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
9746 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
9747 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
9753 The name of the poster.
9755 The @code{From} header.
9757 The number of the article.
9759 The opening bracket.
9761 The closing bracket.
9766 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
9768 Variables related to the display are:
9771 @item gnus-tree-brackets
9772 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
9773 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
9774 ``sparse'' articles. The format is
9776 ((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
9777 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close})
9778 (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))
9780 and the default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
9782 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9783 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9784 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
9785 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
9789 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
9790 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
9791 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
9792 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
9793 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
9794 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
9795 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
9796 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
9797 other windows displayed next to it.
9799 You may also wish to add the following hook to keep the window minimized
9803 (add-hook 'gnus-configure-windows-hook
9804 'gnus-tree-perhaps-minimize)
9807 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
9808 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
9809 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9810 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
9811 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
9812 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
9813 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
9817 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
9820 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
9830 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
9835 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
9836 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
9838 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
9840 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
9846 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
9847 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
9848 following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
9851 (setq gnus-use-trees t
9852 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9853 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
9854 (gnus-add-configuration
9858 (summary 0.75 point)
9863 @xref{Window Layout}.
9866 @node Mail Group Commands
9867 @section Mail Group Commands
9868 @cindex mail group commands
9870 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
9871 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
9873 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
9874 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9879 @kindex B e (Summary)
9880 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
9881 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
9882 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
9883 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
9884 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
9887 @kindex B C-M-e (Summary)
9888 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
9889 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
9890 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
9891 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
9892 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
9895 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
9896 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
9897 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
9898 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
9899 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
9900 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
9903 @kindex B m (Summary)
9905 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
9906 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
9907 Move the article from one mail group to another
9908 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9909 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9912 @kindex B c (Summary)
9914 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
9915 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
9916 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
9917 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9918 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9921 @kindex B B (Summary)
9922 @cindex crosspost mail
9923 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
9924 Crosspost the current article to some other group
9925 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
9926 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
9927 be properly updated.
9930 @kindex B i (Summary)
9931 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
9932 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
9933 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
9934 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9937 @kindex B I (Summary)
9938 @findex gnus-summary-create-article
9939 Create an empty article in the current mail newsgroups
9940 (@code{gnus-summary-create-article}). You will be prompted for a
9941 @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9944 @kindex B r (Summary)
9945 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
9946 @vindex gnus-summary-respool-default-method
9947 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
9948 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
9949 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
9950 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
9951 Marks will be preserved if @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
9952 (which is the default).
9956 @kindex B w (Summary)
9958 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
9959 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
9960 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article-done
9961 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
9962 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
9963 (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
9964 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
9967 @kindex B q (Summary)
9968 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
9969 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
9970 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
9971 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
9974 @kindex B t (Summary)
9975 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
9976 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
9977 when respooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
9980 @kindex B p (Summary)
9981 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
9982 Some people have a tendency to send you ``courtesy'' copies when they
9983 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
9984 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
9985 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
9986 article from your news server (or rather, from
9987 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
9988 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
9989 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
9990 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
9991 just not have arrived yet.
9994 @kindex K E (Summary)
9995 @findex gnus-article-encrypt-body
9996 @vindex gnus-article-encrypt-protocol
9997 Encrypt the body of an article (@code{gnus-article-encrypt-body}).
9998 The body is encrypted with the encryption protocol specified by the
9999 variable @code{gnus-article-encrypt-protocol}.
10003 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
10004 @cindex moving articles
10005 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
10006 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
10007 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
10008 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
10009 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
10010 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
10011 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
10014 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
10015 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
10016 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
10017 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
10021 @node Various Summary Stuff
10022 @section Various Summary Stuff
10025 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
10026 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
10027 * Summary Generation Commands::
10028 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
10032 @vindex gnus-summary-display-while-building
10033 @item gnus-summary-display-while-building
10034 If non-@code{nil}, show and update the summary buffer as it's being
10035 built. If @code{t}, update the buffer after every line is inserted.
10036 If the value is an integer, @var{n}, update the display every @var{n}
10037 lines. The default is @code{nil}.
10039 @vindex gnus-summary-display-arrow
10040 @item gnus-summary-display-arrow
10041 If non-@code{nil}, display an arrow in the fringe to indicate the
10044 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
10045 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
10046 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
10048 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
10049 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
10050 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
10051 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
10052 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
10053 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
10056 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
10057 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
10058 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
10059 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
10060 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
10062 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
10063 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
10064 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
10067 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
10068 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
10069 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
10070 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
10071 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
10072 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
10073 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
10074 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
10075 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
10076 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
10078 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
10079 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
10080 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
10081 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
10082 list of articles to be selected.
10084 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
10085 the list in one particular group:
10088 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
10089 (if (string= group "some.group")
10090 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
10094 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-variables
10095 @item gnus-newsgroup-variables
10096 A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
10097 variables and their default values (when the default values are not
10098 @code{nil}), that should be made global while the summary buffer is
10099 active. These variables can be used to set variables in the group
10100 parameters while still allowing them to affect operations done in
10101 other buffers. For example:
10104 (setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
10105 '(message-use-followup-to
10106 (gnus-visible-headers .
10107 "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
10113 @node Summary Group Information
10114 @subsection Summary Group Information
10119 @kindex H f (Summary)
10120 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
10121 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
10122 Try to fetch the @acronym{FAQ} (list of frequently asked questions)
10123 for the current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try
10124 to get the @acronym{FAQ} from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which
10125 is usually a directory on a remote machine. This variable can also be
10126 a list of directories. In that case, giving a prefix to this command
10127 will allow you to choose between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp}
10128 or @code{efs} will probably be used for fetching the file.
10131 @kindex H d (Summary)
10132 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
10133 Give a brief description of the current group
10134 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
10135 rereading the description from the server.
10138 @kindex H h (Summary)
10139 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
10140 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
10141 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
10144 @kindex H i (Summary)
10145 @findex gnus-info-find-node
10146 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
10150 @node Searching for Articles
10151 @subsection Searching for Articles
10156 @kindex M-s (Summary)
10157 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
10158 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
10159 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
10162 @kindex M-r (Summary)
10163 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
10164 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
10165 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
10168 @kindex & (Summary)
10169 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
10170 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
10171 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
10172 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
10173 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
10174 search backward instead.
10176 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string #} will put the process mark on
10177 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
10180 @kindex M-& (Summary)
10181 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
10182 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
10183 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
10186 @node Summary Generation Commands
10187 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
10192 @kindex Y g (Summary)
10193 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
10194 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
10197 @kindex Y c (Summary)
10198 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
10199 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10200 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
10203 @kindex Y d (Summary)
10204 @findex gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles
10205 Pull all dormant articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10206 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles}).
10211 @node Really Various Summary Commands
10212 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
10218 @kindex C-d (Summary)
10219 @kindex A D (Summary)
10220 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
10221 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
10222 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
10223 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
10224 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
10225 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
10226 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
10227 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
10231 @kindex C-M-d (Summary)
10232 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
10233 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
10234 several documents into one biiig group
10235 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
10236 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
10237 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
10238 command understands the process/prefix convention
10239 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10242 @kindex C-t (Summary)
10243 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
10244 Toggle truncation of summary lines
10245 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
10246 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
10247 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
10250 @kindex = (Summary)
10251 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
10252 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
10253 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
10256 @kindex C-M-e (Summary)
10257 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
10258 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10259 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
10262 @kindex C-M-a (Summary)
10263 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
10264 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10265 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
10270 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
10271 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
10272 @cindex summary exit
10273 @cindex exiting groups
10275 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
10276 group and return you to the group buffer.
10282 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
10283 @kindex q (Summary)
10284 @findex gnus-summary-exit
10285 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
10286 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
10287 @vindex gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook
10288 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
10289 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
10290 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
10291 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
10292 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
10293 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
10294 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
10295 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
10299 @kindex Z E (Summary)
10300 @kindex Q (Summary)
10301 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
10302 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
10303 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
10307 @kindex Z c (Summary)
10308 @kindex c (Summary)
10309 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
10310 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
10311 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
10312 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
10315 @kindex Z C (Summary)
10316 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
10317 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
10318 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
10321 @kindex Z n (Summary)
10322 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
10323 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
10324 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
10327 @kindex Z R (Summary)
10328 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
10329 Exit this group, and then enter it again
10330 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
10331 all articles, both read and unread.
10335 @kindex Z G (Summary)
10336 @kindex M-g (Summary)
10337 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
10338 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
10339 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
10340 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
10341 articles, both read and unread.
10344 @kindex Z N (Summary)
10345 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
10346 Exit the group and go to the next group
10347 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
10350 @kindex Z P (Summary)
10351 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
10352 Exit the group and go to the previous group
10353 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
10356 @kindex Z s (Summary)
10357 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
10358 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
10359 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
10360 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
10361 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
10364 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
10365 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
10366 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
10367 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
10369 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
10370 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
10371 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
10372 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
10373 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
10374 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
10375 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
10376 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
10377 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
10378 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
10379 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
10380 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
10382 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
10384 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
10385 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
10386 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
10387 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
10388 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
10389 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
10390 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
10391 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
10392 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
10395 @node Crosspost Handling
10396 @section Crosspost Handling
10400 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
10401 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
10402 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
10403 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
10404 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
10405 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
10408 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
10409 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
10410 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
10411 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
10412 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
10414 @cindex cross-posting
10416 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
10417 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
10418 correctly is if you use an @acronym{NNTP} server that supports @sc{xover}
10419 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
10420 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @acronym{NOV} lines. This is
10421 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
10422 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
10423 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
10424 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
10425 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
10426 the cross reference mechanism.
10428 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
10429 @cindex overview.fmt
10430 To check whether your @acronym{NNTP} server includes the @code{Xref} header
10431 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
10432 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
10433 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
10434 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
10435 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
10438 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
10439 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
10440 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
10445 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
10448 @node Duplicate Suppression
10449 @section Duplicate Suppression
10451 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
10452 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
10453 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
10454 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
10459 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
10460 is evil and not very common.
10463 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
10464 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
10467 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
10468 different @acronym{NNTP} servers.
10471 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
10474 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
10475 well, but these four are the most common situations.
10477 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
10478 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
10479 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
10480 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
10481 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
10482 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
10483 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
10486 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
10487 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
10488 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
10489 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
10490 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
10491 saw the article in.
10494 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
10495 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
10496 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
10498 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
10499 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
10500 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
10501 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
10502 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
10503 session are suppressed.
10505 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
10506 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
10507 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
10508 suppression list. The default is 10000.
10510 @item gnus-duplicate-file
10511 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
10512 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
10513 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
10516 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
10517 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
10518 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
10519 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
10520 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
10521 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
10522 to you to figure out, I think.
10527 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
10528 The formats that are supported are @acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME}
10529 and @acronym{S/MIME}, however you need some external programs to get
10534 To handle @acronym{PGP} and @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages, you have to
10535 install an OpenPGP implementation such as GnuPG. The Lisp interface
10536 to GnuPG included with Gnus is called PGG (@pxref{Top, ,PGG, pgg, PGG
10537 Manual}), but Mailcrypt and gpg.el are also supported.
10540 To handle @acronym{S/MIME} message, you need to install OpenSSL. OpenSSL 0.9.6
10541 or newer is recommended.
10545 More information on how to set things up can be found in the message
10546 manual (@pxref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}).
10549 @item mm-verify-option
10550 @vindex mm-verify-option
10551 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
10552 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
10553 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10555 @item mm-decrypt-option
10556 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
10557 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
10558 @code{always}, always decrypt; @code{known}, only decrypt known
10559 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10562 @vindex mml1991-use
10563 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
10564 @acronym{PGP} messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but
10565 @code{mailcrypt} and @code{gpg} are also supported although
10569 @vindex mml2015-use
10570 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
10571 @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but
10572 @code{mailcrypt} and @code{gpg} are also supported although
10577 @cindex snarfing keys
10578 @cindex importing PGP keys
10579 @cindex PGP key ring import
10580 Snarfing OpenPGP keys (i.e., importing keys from articles into your
10581 key ring) is not supported explicitly through a menu item or command,
10582 rather Gnus do detect and label keys as @samp{application/pgp-keys},
10583 allowing you to specify whatever action you think is appropriate
10584 through the usual @acronym{MIME} infrastructure. You can use a
10585 @file{~/.mailcap} entry (@pxref{mailcap, , mailcap, emacs-mime, The
10586 Emacs MIME Manual}) such as the following to import keys using GNU
10587 Privacy Guard when you click on the @acronym{MIME} button
10588 (@pxref{Using MIME}).
10591 application/pgp-keys; gpg --import --interactive --verbose; needsterminal
10594 This happens to also be the default action defined in
10595 @code{mailcap-mime-data}.
10598 @section Mailing List
10599 @cindex mailing list
10602 @kindex A M (summary)
10603 @findex gnus-mailing-list-insinuate
10604 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
10605 add a @code{to-list} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
10606 possibly using @kbd{A M} (@code{gnus-mailing-list-insinuate}) in the
10609 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
10614 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
10615 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
10616 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
10619 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
10620 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
10621 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
10624 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
10625 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
10626 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
10630 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
10631 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
10632 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
10635 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
10636 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10637 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
10640 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
10641 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10642 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
10647 @node Article Buffer
10648 @chapter Article Buffer
10649 @cindex article buffer
10651 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
10652 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
10653 tell Gnus otherwise.
10656 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
10657 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
10658 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
10659 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
10660 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
10664 @node Hiding Headers
10665 @section Hiding Headers
10666 @cindex hiding headers
10667 @cindex deleting headers
10669 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
10670 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
10672 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
10673 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
10674 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
10675 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
10676 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
10677 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
10678 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseam---and you'll probably want to get rid
10679 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
10680 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
10682 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
10686 @item gnus-visible-headers
10687 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
10688 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
10689 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
10690 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
10692 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
10693 the article and the subject, you'd say:
10696 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
10699 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10702 @item gnus-ignored-headers
10703 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
10704 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
10705 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
10706 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
10707 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
10709 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
10710 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
10713 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
10716 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10719 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
10720 variable will have no effect.
10724 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
10725 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
10726 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
10727 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
10728 the headers are to be displayed.
10730 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
10731 and then the subject, you might say something like:
10734 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
10737 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
10738 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
10740 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
10741 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
10742 You can hide further boring headers by setting
10743 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
10744 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
10745 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
10746 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
10749 These conditions are:
10752 Remove all empty headers.
10754 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
10755 @code{Newsgroups} header.
10757 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
10758 @code{From} header, or if the @code{broken-reply-to} group parameter is
10761 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
10764 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10765 the current group's @code{to-address} parameter.
10767 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10768 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
10770 Remove the @code{CC} header if it only contains the address identical to
10771 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
10773 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
10776 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
10778 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
10781 To include these three elements, you could say something like:
10784 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
10785 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
10788 This is also the default value for this variable.
10792 @section Using MIME
10793 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
10795 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
10796 while people stand around yawning.
10798 @acronym{MIME}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
10799 while all newsreaders die of fear.
10801 @acronym{MIME} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
10802 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
10803 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
10805 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
10806 @findex gnus-display-mime
10807 Gnus pushes @acronym{MIME} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
10808 to display the @acronym{MIME} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
10809 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
10810 display, save and manipulate the @acronym{MIME} objects.
10812 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
10813 @acronym{MIME} button:
10816 @findex gnus-article-press-button
10817 @item RET (Article)
10818 @kindex RET (Article)
10819 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
10820 Toggle displaying of the @acronym{MIME} object
10821 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}). If built-in viewers can not display
10822 the object, Gnus resorts to external viewers in the @file{mailcap}
10823 files. If a viewer has the @samp{copiousoutput} specification, the
10824 object is displayed inline.
10826 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
10827 @item M-RET (Article)
10828 @kindex M-RET (Article)
10830 Prompt for a method, and then view the @acronym{MIME} object using this
10831 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
10833 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
10835 @kindex t (Article)
10836 View the @acronym{MIME} object as if it were a different @acronym{MIME} media type
10837 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}).
10839 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset
10841 @kindex C (Article)
10842 Prompt for a charset, and then view the @acronym{MIME} object using this
10843 charset (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset}).
10845 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
10847 @kindex o (Article)
10848 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @acronym{MIME} object
10849 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
10851 @findex gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip
10852 @item C-o (Article)
10853 @kindex C-o (Article)
10854 Prompt for a file name, then save the @acronym{MIME} object and strip it from
10855 the article. Then proceed to article editing, where a reasonable
10856 suggestion is being made on how the altered article should look
10857 like. The stripped @acronym{MIME} object will be referred via the
10858 message/external-body @acronym{MIME} type.
10859 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip}).
10861 @findex gnus-mime-delete-part
10863 @kindex d (Article)
10864 Delete the @acronym{MIME} object from the article and replace it with some
10865 information about the removed @acronym{MIME} object
10866 (@code{gnus-mime-delete-part}).
10868 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
10870 @kindex c (Article)
10871 Copy the @acronym{MIME} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
10872 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}). Compressed files like @file{.gz} and
10873 @file{.bz2} are automatically decompressed if
10874 @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled (@pxref{Compressed Files,,
10875 Accessing Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Editor}).
10877 @findex gnus-mime-print-part
10879 @kindex p (Article)
10880 Print the @acronym{MIME} object (@code{gnus-mime-print-part}). This
10881 command respects the @samp{print=} specifications in the
10882 @file{.mailcap} file.
10884 @findex gnus-mime-inline-part
10886 @kindex i (Article)
10887 Insert the contents of the @acronym{MIME} object into the buffer
10888 (@code{gnus-mime-inline-part}) as text/plain. If given a prefix, insert
10889 the raw contents without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can
10890 do semi-manual charset stuff (see
10891 @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in @ref{Paging the
10894 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-internally
10896 @kindex E (Article)
10897 View the @acronym{MIME} object with an internal viewer. If no internal
10898 viewer is available, use an external viewer
10899 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-internally}).
10901 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-externally
10903 @kindex e (Article)
10904 View the @acronym{MIME} object with an external viewer.
10905 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-externally}).
10907 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
10909 @kindex | (Article)
10910 Output the @acronym{MIME} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
10912 @findex gnus-mime-action-on-part
10914 @kindex . (Article)
10915 Interactively run an action on the @acronym{MIME} object
10916 (@code{gnus-mime-action-on-part}).
10920 Gnus will display some @acronym{MIME} objects automatically. The way Gnus
10921 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs
10922 @acronym{MIME} manual.
10924 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
10925 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
10926 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @acronym{MIME} has
10927 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
10928 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
10929 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
10930 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
10931 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
10932 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
10934 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
10936 Also @pxref{MIME Commands}.
10939 @node Customizing Articles
10940 @section Customizing Articles
10941 @cindex article customization
10943 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
10944 exist. You can call these functions interactively
10945 (@pxref{Article Washing}), or you can have them
10946 called automatically when you select the articles.
10948 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
10949 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
10950 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
10951 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
10953 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
10954 for sensible values.
10958 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
10961 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
10964 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
10967 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
10970 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
10974 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
10975 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
10976 regexps in the list.
10979 A list where the first element is not a string:
10981 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
10982 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
10983 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
10987 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
10992 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
10993 to the fact that some messages are @acronym{MIME} multipart articles that may
10994 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
10995 considered to contain just a single part.
10997 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
10998 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
10999 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
11000 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
11001 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
11002 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
11003 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
11005 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
11006 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
11007 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
11008 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
11011 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
11012 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
11014 @xref{Article Buttons}.
11016 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
11017 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
11018 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
11019 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
11020 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
11021 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
11022 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
11023 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
11024 @item gnus-treat-unsplit-urls (t, integer)
11025 @item gnus-treat-wash-html (t, integer)
11027 @xref{Article Washing}.
11029 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
11030 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
11031 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
11032 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
11033 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
11034 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
11035 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
11037 @xref{Article Date}.
11039 @item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
11040 @item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
11041 @item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
11045 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
11047 @item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
11049 @vindex gnus-body-boundary-delimiter
11050 Adds a delimiter between header and body, the string used as delimiter
11051 is controlled by @code{gnus-body-boundary-delimiter}.
11055 @item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
11059 @item gnus-treat-display-face (head)
11063 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
11064 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
11065 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
11066 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
11067 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
11068 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
11069 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
11070 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
11071 @item gnus-treat-strip-banner (t, last)
11072 @item gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers (head)
11074 @xref{Article Hiding}.
11076 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
11077 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
11078 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
11080 @xref{Article Highlighting}.
11082 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
11083 @item gnus-treat-translate
11084 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
11086 @item gnus-treat-unfold-headers (head)
11087 @item gnus-treat-fold-headers (head)
11088 @item gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups (head)
11089 @item gnus-treat-leading-whitespace (head)
11091 @xref{Article Header}.
11096 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
11097 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
11098 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
11099 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
11100 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
11104 @node Article Keymap
11105 @section Article Keymap
11107 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
11108 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
11109 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
11110 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
11113 A few additional keystrokes are available:
11118 @kindex SPACE (Article)
11119 @findex gnus-article-next-page
11120 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
11121 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h SPACE h}.
11124 @kindex DEL (Article)
11125 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
11126 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
11127 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h DEL h}.
11130 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
11131 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
11132 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
11133 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
11134 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
11137 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
11138 @findex gnus-article-mail
11139 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
11140 given a prefix, include the mail.
11143 @kindex s (Article)
11144 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
11145 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
11146 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
11149 @kindex ? (Article)
11150 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
11151 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
11152 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
11155 @kindex TAB (Article)
11156 @findex gnus-article-next-button
11157 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
11158 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
11161 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
11162 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
11163 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
11166 @kindex R (Article)
11167 @findex gnus-article-reply-with-original
11168 Send a reply to the current article and yank the current article
11169 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}). If given a prefix, make a
11170 wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
11174 @kindex F (Article)
11175 @findex gnus-article-followup-with-original
11176 Send a followup to the current article and yank the current article
11177 (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}). If given a prefix, make
11178 a wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
11186 @section Misc Article
11190 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
11191 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
11192 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
11193 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
11196 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
11197 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
11198 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
11199 Hook used to decode @acronym{MIME} articles. The default value is
11200 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
11202 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
11203 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
11204 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
11205 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
11206 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
11207 the contents of the article buffer.
11209 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
11210 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
11211 Hook called in article mode buffers.
11213 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
11214 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
11215 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
11216 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
11218 @vindex gnus-article-over-scroll
11219 @item gnus-article-over-scroll
11220 If non-@code{nil}, allow scrolling the article buffer even when there
11221 no more new text to scroll in. The default is @code{nil}.
11223 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
11224 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
11225 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
11226 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
11227 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
11233 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
11234 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
11235 performed. The characters and their meaning:
11240 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
11243 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
11246 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
11247 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
11248 security status, i.e. good or bad signature.)
11251 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
11254 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
11257 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasised strings in the article buffer.
11262 The number of @acronym{MIME} parts in the article.
11266 @vindex gnus-break-pages
11268 @item gnus-break-pages
11269 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
11270 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
11271 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
11272 paging will not be done.
11274 @item gnus-page-delimiter
11275 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
11276 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
11280 @cindex internationalized domain names
11281 @vindex gnus-use-idna
11282 @item gnus-use-idna
11283 This variable controls whether Gnus performs IDNA decoding of
11284 internationalized domain names inside @samp{From}, @samp{To} and
11285 @samp{Cc} headers. This requires
11286 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/, GNU Libidn}, and this
11287 variable is only enabled if you have installed it.
11292 @node Composing Messages
11293 @chapter Composing Messages
11294 @cindex composing messages
11297 @cindex sending mail
11302 @cindex using s/mime
11303 @cindex using smime
11305 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
11306 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
11307 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
11308 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Overview, message,
11309 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
11310 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
11313 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
11314 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
11315 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
11316 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
11317 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
11318 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
11319 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
11320 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
11323 Also @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
11324 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
11330 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
11333 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
11334 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
11335 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
11336 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched. If
11337 @code{nil} include all headers.
11339 @item gnus-add-to-list
11340 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
11341 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
11342 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
11344 @item gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
11345 @vindex gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
11346 This can also be a function receiving the group name as the only
11347 parameter which should return non-@code{nil} if a confirmation is
11348 needed, or a regular expression matching group names, where
11349 confirmation is should be asked for.
11351 If you find yourself never wanting to reply to mail, but occasionally
11352 press R anyway, this variable might be for you.
11354 @item gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
11355 @vindex gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
11356 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus also requests confirmation according to
11357 @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} when replying to mail. This is
11358 useful for treating mailing lists like newsgroups.
11363 @node Posting Server
11364 @section Posting Server
11366 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
11367 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
11369 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
11371 It can be quite complicated.
11373 @vindex gnus-post-method
11374 When posting news, Message usually invokes @code{message-send-news}
11375 (@pxref{News Variables, , News Variables, message, Message Manual}).
11376 Normally, Gnus will post using the same select method as you're
11377 reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
11378 groups from different private servers). However. If the server
11379 you're reading from doesn't allow posting, just reading, you probably
11380 want to use some other server to post your (extremely intelligent and
11381 fabulously interesting) articles. You can then set the
11382 @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
11385 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
11388 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
11389 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
11390 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
11391 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
11393 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
11394 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
11396 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
11397 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
11400 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
11401 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
11403 When sending mail, Message invokes @code{message-send-mail-function}.
11404 The default function, @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}, pipes
11405 your article to the @code{sendmail} binary for further queuing and
11406 sending. When your local system is not configured for sending mail
11407 using @code{sendmail}, and you have access to a remote @acronym{SMTP}
11408 server, you can set @code{message-send-mail-function} to
11409 @code{smtpmail-send-it} and make sure to setup the @code{smtpmail}
11410 package correctly. An example:
11413 (setq message-send-mail-function 'smtpmail-send-it
11414 smtpmail-default-smtp-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
11417 To the thing similar to this, there is
11418 @code{message-smtpmail-send-it}. It is useful if your ISP requires
11419 the @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication. See the
11420 documentation for the function @code{mail-source-touch-pop}.
11422 Other possible choices for @code{message-send-mail-function} includes
11423 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
11424 and @code{feedmail-send-it}.
11426 @node Mail and Post
11427 @section Mail and Post
11429 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
11433 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
11434 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
11435 @cindex mailing lists
11437 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
11438 gatewayed to the @acronym{NNTP} server, you can read those groups without
11439 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
11440 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
11441 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
11442 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
11443 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
11444 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
11445 still a pain, though.
11447 @item gnus-user-agent
11448 @vindex gnus-user-agent
11451 This variable controls which information should be exposed in the
11452 User-Agent header. It can be one of the symbols @code{gnus} (show only
11453 Gnus version), @code{emacs-gnus} (show only Emacs and Gnus versions),
11454 @code{emacs-gnus-config} (same as @code{emacs-gnus} plus system
11455 configuration), @code{emacs-gnus-type} (same as @code{emacs-gnus} plus
11456 system type) or a custom string. If you set it to a string, be sure to
11457 use a valid format, see RFC 2616.
11461 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
11462 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
11463 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
11466 @findex ispell-message
11468 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
11471 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
11472 you're in, you could say something like the following:
11475 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
11479 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
11480 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
11482 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
11485 Modify to suit your needs.
11488 @node Archived Messages
11489 @section Archived Messages
11490 @cindex archived messages
11491 @cindex sent messages
11493 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
11494 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
11495 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
11496 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
11499 For archiving interesting messages in a group you read, see the
11500 @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}) command (@pxref{Mail
11503 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
11504 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
11505 use to store sent messages. The default is:
11508 (nnfolder "archive"
11509 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
11510 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
11511 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
11512 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
11515 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
11516 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
11517 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
11518 directory chosen, you could say something like:
11521 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
11522 '(nnfolder "archive"
11523 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
11524 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
11525 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
11528 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
11530 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
11531 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
11532 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
11534 This variable can be used to do the following:
11539 Messages will be saved in that group.
11541 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
11542 message will not be stored in the select method given by
11543 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
11544 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
11545 has the default value shown above. Then setting
11546 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
11547 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
11548 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
11552 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
11554 an alist of regexps, functions and forms
11555 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
11558 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
11563 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
11565 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
11568 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
11570 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
11573 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
11575 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11576 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
11577 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
11578 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
11581 More complex stuff:
11583 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11584 '((if (message-news-p)
11589 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
11590 messages in one file per month:
11593 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11594 '((if (message-news-p)
11596 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
11599 @c (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
11600 @c use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
11602 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
11603 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
11604 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
11605 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
11606 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
11607 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
11608 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
11609 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
11610 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
11611 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
11613 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
11614 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
11615 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
11616 this will disable archiving.
11619 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
11620 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
11621 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
11622 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
11623 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
11626 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
11627 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
11628 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
11631 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
11632 but the latter is the preferred method.
11634 @item gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11635 @vindex gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11636 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
11638 @item gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11639 @vindex gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11640 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Gcc copies; if a regexp
11641 and matches the Gcc group name, attach files as external parts; if it is
11642 @code{all}, attach local files as external parts; if it is other
11643 non-@code{nil}, the behavior is the same as @code{all}, but it may be
11644 changed in the future.
11649 @node Posting Styles
11650 @section Posting Styles
11651 @cindex posting styles
11654 All them variables, they make my head swim.
11656 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
11657 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
11658 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
11661 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
11662 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
11663 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
11664 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
11665 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
11670 (signature "Peace and happiness")
11671 (organization "What me?"))
11673 (signature "Death to everybody"))
11674 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
11675 (organization "Emacs is it")))
11678 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
11679 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
11680 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
11681 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
11682 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
11683 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
11684 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
11685 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
11687 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
11688 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
11689 If it is the form @code{(header @var{match} @var{regexp})}, then Gnus
11690 will look in the original article for a header whose name is
11691 @var{match} and compare that @var{regexp}. @var{match} and
11692 @var{regexp} are strings. (There original article is the one you are
11693 replying or following up to. If you are not composing a reply or a
11694 followup, then there is nothing to match against.) If the
11695 @code{match} is a function symbol, that function will be called with
11696 no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
11697 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
11698 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is
11699 said to @dfn{match}.
11701 Each style may contain an arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
11702 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. The
11703 attribute name can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
11704 @code{x-face-file}, @code{address} (overriding
11705 @code{user-mail-address}), @code{name} (overriding
11706 @code{(user-full-name)}) or @code{body}. The attribute name can also
11707 be a string or a symbol. In that case, this will be used as a header
11708 name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the article; if
11709 the value is @code{nil}, the header name will be removed. If the
11710 attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated, and the result
11713 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
11714 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
11715 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
11716 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
11717 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
11718 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable, which
11719 is a vector of the following headers: number subject from date id
11720 references chars lines xref extra.
11722 @vindex message-reply-headers
11724 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
11725 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
11726 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
11728 @findex message-mail-p
11729 @findex message-news-p
11731 So here's a new example:
11734 (setq gnus-posting-styles
11736 (signature-file "~/.signature")
11738 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
11739 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
11741 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
11742 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly") ;; @r{A form}
11743 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
11744 (message-news-p ;; @r{A function symbol}
11745 (signature my-news-signature))
11746 (window-system ;; @r{A value symbol}
11747 ("X-Window-System" (format "%s" window-system)))
11748 ;; @r{If I'm replying to Larsi, set the Organization header.}
11749 ((header "from" "larsi.*org")
11750 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
11751 ((posting-from-work-p) ;; @r{A user defined function}
11752 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
11753 (address "user@@bar.foo")
11754 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
11755 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
11757 (From (save-excursion
11758 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
11759 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
11761 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
11764 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
11765 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
11766 if you fill many roles.
11773 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
11774 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
11775 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
11776 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
11777 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
11779 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
11780 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
11781 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
11782 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
11783 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
11787 @vindex nndraft-directory
11788 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
11789 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
11790 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
11791 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
11792 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
11793 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
11795 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
11796 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
11797 unsubscribe it. The special properties of the draft group comes from
11798 a group property (@pxref{Group Parameters}), and if lost the group
11799 behaves like any other group. This means the commands below will not
11800 be available. To restore the special properties of the group, the
11801 simplest way is to kill the group, using @kbd{C-k}, and restart
11802 Gnus. The group is automatically created again with the
11803 correct parameters. The content of the group is not lost.
11805 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
11806 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
11807 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
11808 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
11809 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
11810 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
11811 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
11812 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
11813 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
11814 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
11815 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
11816 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
11817 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
11818 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
11820 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
11821 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
11822 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
11824 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
11825 @kindex D e (Draft)
11826 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
11827 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
11828 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
11830 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
11833 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
11834 @kindex D s (Draft)
11835 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
11836 @kindex D S (Draft)
11837 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
11838 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
11839 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
11840 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
11841 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
11844 @findex gnus-draft-toggle-sending
11845 @kindex D t (Draft)
11846 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
11847 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
11848 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
11851 @node Rejected Articles
11852 @section Rejected Articles
11853 @cindex rejected articles
11855 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
11856 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
11857 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
11858 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
11860 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
11861 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
11862 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
11863 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
11864 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
11866 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
11867 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
11868 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
11870 @node Signing and encrypting
11871 @section Signing and encrypting
11873 @cindex using s/mime
11874 @cindex using smime
11876 Gnus can digitally sign and encrypt your messages, using vanilla
11877 @acronym{PGP} format or @acronym{PGP/MIME} or @acronym{S/MIME}. For
11878 decoding such messages, see the @code{mm-verify-option} and
11879 @code{mm-decrypt-option} options (@pxref{Security}).
11881 @vindex gnus-message-replysign
11882 @vindex gnus-message-replyencrypt
11883 @vindex gnus-message-replysignencrypted
11884 Often, you would like to sign replies to people who send you signed
11885 messages. Even more often, you might want to encrypt messages which
11886 are in reply to encrypted messages. Gnus offers
11887 @code{gnus-message-replysign} to enable the former, and
11888 @code{gnus-message-replyencrypt} for the latter. In addition, setting
11889 @code{gnus-message-replysignencrypted} (on by default) will sign
11890 automatically encrypted messages.
11892 Instructing MML to perform security operations on a @acronym{MIME} part is
11893 done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for signing and the @kbd{C-c
11894 C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
11899 @kindex C-c C-m s s
11900 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
11902 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
11905 @kindex C-c C-m s o
11906 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11908 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP}.
11911 @kindex C-c C-m s p
11912 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11914 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
11917 @kindex C-c C-m c s
11918 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
11920 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
11923 @kindex C-c C-m c o
11924 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
11926 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP}.
11929 @kindex C-c C-m c p
11930 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
11932 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
11935 @kindex C-c C-m C-n
11936 @findex mml-unsecure-message
11937 Remove security related MML tags from message.
11941 @xref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}, for more information.
11943 @node Select Methods
11944 @chapter Select Methods
11945 @cindex foreign groups
11946 @cindex select methods
11948 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
11949 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
11950 @acronym{NNTP} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
11951 personal mail group.
11953 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
11954 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
11955 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
11956 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
11957 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
11958 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
11960 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
11961 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
11963 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
11966 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @acronym{NNTP} server
11967 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
11968 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
11969 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
11970 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
11972 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
11975 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
11976 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
11977 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
11978 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
11979 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @acronym{IMAP} client.
11980 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
11981 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
11982 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
11986 @node Server Buffer
11987 @section Server Buffer
11989 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
11990 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
11991 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
11992 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
11993 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
11994 back end represents a virtual server.
11996 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
11997 different actual @acronym{NNTP} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
11998 on the same actual @acronym{NNTP} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
11999 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
12001 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
12002 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
12003 @acronym{NNTP} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
12004 hangs if queried for @acronym{NOV} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
12005 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
12006 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
12007 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
12009 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
12010 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
12013 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
12014 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
12015 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
12016 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
12017 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
12018 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
12019 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
12022 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
12023 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
12026 @node Server Buffer Format
12027 @subsection Server Buffer Format
12028 @cindex server buffer format
12030 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
12031 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
12032 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
12033 variable, with some simple extensions:
12038 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
12041 The name of this server.
12044 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
12047 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
12050 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
12051 The mode line can also be customized by using the
12052 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
12053 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
12063 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
12066 @node Server Commands
12067 @subsection Server Commands
12068 @cindex server commands
12074 @findex gnus-server-add-server
12075 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
12079 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
12080 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
12083 @kindex SPACE (Server)
12084 @findex gnus-server-read-server
12085 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
12089 @findex gnus-server-exit
12090 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
12094 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
12095 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
12099 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
12100 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
12104 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
12105 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
12109 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
12110 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
12114 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
12115 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
12116 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
12121 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
12122 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
12123 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
12124 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
12129 @node Example Methods
12130 @subsection Example Methods
12132 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
12135 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
12138 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
12144 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
12145 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
12148 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
12149 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
12151 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
12152 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
12156 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
12159 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
12160 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
12162 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
12163 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
12164 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
12168 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
12171 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
12174 Here's the method for a public spool:
12178 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
12179 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
12185 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @acronym{NNTP}
12186 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
12187 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @acronym{NNTP} server.
12188 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
12189 should probably look something like this:
12193 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
12194 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
12195 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host")
12196 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
12199 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
12200 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
12201 configuration to the example above:
12204 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
12207 See also @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches}.
12209 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
12210 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
12211 telnet connection to the news server as follows:
12215 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
12216 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-telnet)
12217 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
12218 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
12221 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
12222 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
12223 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
12224 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
12227 @node Creating a Virtual Server
12228 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
12230 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
12231 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
12233 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
12234 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
12235 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
12237 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
12239 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
12240 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
12241 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
12242 will contain the following:
12252 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
12253 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
12254 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
12257 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
12258 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
12259 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
12262 @node Server Variables
12263 @subsection Server Variables
12264 @cindex server variables
12265 @cindex server parameters
12267 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
12268 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
12269 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
12270 change the ``base'' variable after the variables have been loaded, you
12271 won't change the ``derived'' variables.
12273 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
12274 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
12275 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
12276 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
12277 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
12278 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
12279 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
12280 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
12281 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
12285 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
12286 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
12287 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
12290 Server variables are often called @dfn{server parameters}.
12292 @node Servers and Methods
12293 @subsection Servers and Methods
12295 Wherever you would normally use a select method
12296 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
12297 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
12298 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
12302 @node Unavailable Servers
12303 @subsection Unavailable Servers
12305 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
12306 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
12307 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
12308 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
12309 actually the case or not.
12311 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
12312 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
12313 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
12314 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
12315 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
12316 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
12317 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
12318 it will regard that server as ``down''.
12320 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
12321 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
12323 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
12324 with the following commands:
12330 @findex gnus-server-open-server
12331 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
12332 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
12336 @findex gnus-server-close-server
12337 Close the connection (if any) to the server
12338 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
12342 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
12343 Mark the current server as unreachable
12344 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
12347 @kindex M-o (Server)
12348 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
12349 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
12350 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
12353 @kindex M-c (Server)
12354 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
12355 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
12356 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
12360 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
12361 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
12362 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
12366 @findex gnus-server-offline-server
12367 Set server status to offline (@code{gnus-server-offline-server}).
12373 @section Getting News
12374 @cindex reading news
12375 @cindex news back ends
12377 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
12378 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @acronym{NNTP} server,
12379 or it can read from a local spool.
12382 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
12383 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
12391 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @acronym{NNTP} server is rather easy.
12392 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @acronym{NNTP}
12393 server as the, uhm, address.
12395 If the @acronym{NNTP} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
12396 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
12397 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
12398 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
12400 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
12401 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
12402 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
12404 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
12409 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
12410 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
12411 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
12413 @cindex authentification
12414 @cindex nntp authentification
12415 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12416 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
12417 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
12418 commands to the @acronym{NNTP} server after it has been contacted. By
12419 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
12420 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
12421 present in this hook.
12423 @item nntp-authinfo-function
12424 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
12425 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12426 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
12427 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @acronym{NNTP}
12428 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
12429 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
12430 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
12431 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
12432 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
12433 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
12434 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
12438 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
12441 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
12443 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
12444 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
12445 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
12446 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
12447 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
12448 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
12449 @samp{force} is explained below.
12453 Here's an example file:
12456 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
12457 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
12460 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
12461 have to be first, for instance.
12463 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
12464 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
12465 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
12466 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
12467 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
12468 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
12469 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
12471 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
12472 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
12478 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
12479 previously mentioned.
12481 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
12483 @item nntp-server-action-alist
12484 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
12485 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
12486 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
12487 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
12490 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
12491 '(("innd" (ding))))
12494 You probably don't want to do that, though.
12496 The default value is
12499 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
12500 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
12501 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
12504 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
12505 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
12507 @item nntp-maximum-request
12508 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
12509 If the @acronym{NNTP} server doesn't support @acronym{NOV} headers, this back end
12510 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
12511 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
12512 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
12513 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
12514 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
12516 @item nntp-connection-timeout
12517 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
12518 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
12519 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @acronym{NNTP} servers not
12520 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
12521 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
12522 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
12523 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
12524 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
12525 no timeouts are done.
12527 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
12528 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
12529 @c @cindex PPP connections
12530 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
12531 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
12532 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
12533 @c changes after connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server, Gnus will simply sit
12534 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
12535 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
12536 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
12537 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
12538 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
12539 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
12541 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
12542 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
12543 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
12544 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
12545 @c described above.
12547 @item nntp-server-hook
12548 @vindex nntp-server-hook
12549 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @acronym{NNTP}
12552 @item nntp-buggy-select
12553 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
12554 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
12556 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
12557 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
12558 If the @acronym{NNTP} server does not support @acronym{NOV}, you could set this
12559 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @acronym{NOV}
12562 @item nntp-xover-commands
12563 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
12564 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
12566 List of strings used as commands to fetch @acronym{NOV} lines from a
12567 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
12571 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
12572 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @acronym{NOV} lines to
12573 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
12574 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
12575 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @acronym{NOV}
12576 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
12577 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
12578 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
12579 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
12580 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
12581 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
12583 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
12584 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
12585 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @acronym{NNTP} server.
12587 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12588 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12589 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
12590 server closes connection.
12592 @item nntp-record-commands
12593 @vindex nntp-record-commands
12594 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
12595 @acronym{NNTP} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
12596 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@acronym{NNTP} connection
12597 that doesn't seem to work.
12599 @item nntp-open-connection-function
12600 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
12601 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
12602 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
12603 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
12604 Five pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped in
12605 two categories: direct connection functions (three pre-made), and
12606 indirect ones (two pre-made).
12608 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
12609 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
12610 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
12611 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
12612 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
12613 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
12614 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
12617 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
12620 Note that not all servers support the recommended ID. This works for
12621 INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
12623 @item nntp-read-timeout
12624 @vindex nntp-read-timeout
12625 How long nntp should wait between checking for the end of output.
12626 Shorter values mean quicker response, but is more CPU intensive. The
12627 default is 0.1 seconds. If you have a slow line to the server (and
12628 don't like to see Emacs eat your available CPU power), you might set
12634 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
12635 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
12636 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
12640 @node Direct Functions
12641 @subsubsection Direct Functions
12642 @cindex direct connection functions
12644 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
12645 between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server. The behavior of these
12646 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
12647 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12650 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
12651 @item nntp-open-network-stream
12652 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
12655 @findex nntp-open-tls-stream
12656 @item nntp-open-tls-stream
12657 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
12658 this you must have @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/, GNUTLS}
12659 installed. You then define a server as follows:
12662 ;; @r{"nntps" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
12663 ;; @r{however, @samp{gnutls-cli -p} doesn't like named ports.}
12665 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12666 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-tls-stream)
12667 (nntp-port-number )
12668 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12671 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
12672 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
12673 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
12674 this you must have @uref{http://www.openssl.org, OpenSSL} or
12675 @uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL, SSLeay} installed. You
12676 then define a server as follows:
12679 ;; @r{"snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
12680 ;; @r{however, @samp{openssl s_client -port} doesn't like named ports.}
12682 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12683 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
12684 (nntp-port-number 563)
12685 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12688 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
12689 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
12690 Opens a connection to an @acronym{NNTP} server by simply @samp{telnet}'ing
12691 it. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have the
12692 default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
12693 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
12694 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
12695 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
12699 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
12700 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
12701 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
12704 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
12705 session, which is not a good idea.
12709 @node Indirect Functions
12710 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
12711 @cindex indirect connection functions
12713 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
12714 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server.
12715 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
12716 the ``via'' family of connection: they're all prefixed with ``via'' to make
12717 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
12718 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12721 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12722 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12723 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet}
12724 to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from there. This is useful for instance if
12725 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
12727 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12730 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
12731 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
12732 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
12733 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
12735 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12736 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12737 List of strings to be used as the switches to
12738 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}. If you use
12739 @samp{ssh} for @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}, you may set this to
12740 @samp{("-C")} in order to compress all data connections, otherwise set
12741 this to @samp{("-t" "-e" "none")} or @samp{("-C" "-t" "-e" "none")} if
12742 the telnet command requires a pseudo-tty allocation on an intermediate
12746 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12747 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12748 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
12749 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
12751 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12754 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
12755 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
12756 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
12759 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
12760 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
12761 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
12762 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
12764 @item nntp-via-user-password
12765 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
12766 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
12768 @item nntp-via-envuser
12769 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
12770 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
12771 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
12772 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
12774 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
12775 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
12776 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
12777 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
12784 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
12789 @item nntp-via-user-name
12790 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
12791 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
12793 @item nntp-via-address
12794 @vindex nntp-via-address
12795 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
12800 @node Common Variables
12801 @subsubsection Common Variables
12803 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
12804 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
12809 @item nntp-pre-command
12810 @vindex nntp-pre-command
12811 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native
12812 connection function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream},
12813 @code{nntp-open-tls-stream}, and @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}. This is
12814 where you would put a @samp{SOCKS} wrapper for instance.
12817 @vindex nntp-address
12818 The address of the @acronym{NNTP} server.
12820 @item nntp-port-number
12821 @vindex nntp-port-number
12822 Port number to connect to the @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
12823 @samp{nntp}. If you use @acronym{NNTP} over
12824 @acronym{tls}/@acronym{ssl}, you may want to use integer ports rather
12825 than named ports (i.e, use @samp{563} instead of @samp{snews} or
12826 @samp{nntps}), because external @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} tools may
12827 not work with named ports.
12829 @item nntp-end-of-line
12830 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
12831 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @acronym{NNTP}
12832 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
12833 using a non native connection function.
12835 @item nntp-telnet-command
12836 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
12837 Command to use when connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server through
12838 @samp{telnet}. This is @emph{not} for an intermediate host. This is
12839 just for the real @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
12842 @item nntp-telnet-switches
12843 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
12844 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-telnet-command}. The default
12851 @subsection News Spool
12855 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
12856 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
12857 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
12860 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
12861 anything else) as the address.
12863 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
12864 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
12865 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
12866 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
12870 @item nnspool-inews-program
12871 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
12872 Program used to post an article.
12874 @item nnspool-inews-switches
12875 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
12876 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
12878 @item nnspool-spool-directory
12879 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
12880 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
12881 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
12883 @item nnspool-nov-directory
12884 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
12885 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @acronym{NOV} files. This is normally@*
12886 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
12888 @item nnspool-lib-dir
12889 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
12890 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
12892 @item nnspool-active-file
12893 @vindex nnspool-active-file
12894 The name of the active file.
12896 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
12897 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
12898 The name of the group descriptions file.
12900 @item nnspool-history-file
12901 @vindex nnspool-history-file
12902 The name of the news history file.
12904 @item nnspool-active-times-file
12905 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
12906 The name of the active date file.
12908 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
12909 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
12910 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @acronym{NOV} files
12913 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12914 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12916 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
12917 relevant portion from the overview file. If @code{nil},
12918 @code{nnspool} will load the entire file into a buffer and process it
12925 @section Getting Mail
12926 @cindex reading mail
12929 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
12933 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
12934 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
12935 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
12936 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
12937 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
12938 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
12939 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
12940 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
12941 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
12942 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
12943 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
12944 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
12945 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
12949 @node Mail in a Newsreader
12950 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
12952 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
12953 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
12954 of a culture shock.
12956 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
12957 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
12959 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
12960 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
12961 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
12962 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
12964 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
12966 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
12967 deleted? How awful!
12969 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
12970 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
12971 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
12972 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @ref{Expiring
12975 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
12976 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
12977 they want to treat a message.
12979 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
12980 via @acronym{SMTP}, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
12981 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
12982 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
12983 archived somewhere else.
12985 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
12986 These are transported via @acronym{NNTP}, and are therefore news. But we may need
12987 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
12988 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
12989 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
12991 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
12992 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
12993 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
12995 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
12996 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
12999 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
13000 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
13001 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
13002 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
13003 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
13005 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
13006 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
13007 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
13008 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
13009 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
13010 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
13014 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
13015 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
13017 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
13018 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
13019 and things will happen automatically.
13021 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a ``one file per
13022 mail'' back end), you could put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
13025 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
13028 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
13029 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
13030 directory, which is @file{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
13031 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
13032 like any other group.
13034 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
13037 (setq nnmail-split-methods
13038 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13039 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
13043 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
13044 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
13045 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
13048 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
13049 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
13050 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
13053 @node Splitting Mail
13054 @subsection Splitting Mail
13055 @cindex splitting mail
13056 @cindex mail splitting
13057 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
13059 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
13060 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
13061 to be split into groups.
13064 (setq nnmail-split-methods
13065 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13066 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
13067 ("mail.other" "")))
13070 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
13071 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
13072 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
13073 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
13074 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
13075 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
13076 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
13079 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
13082 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
13083 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
13084 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
13085 mail belongs in that group.
13087 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
13088 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{*} so that it matches any mails
13089 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
13090 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
13091 rule to make a match will ``win'', unless you have crossposting enabled.
13092 In that case, all matching rules will ``win''.)
13094 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
13095 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
13096 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
13097 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
13098 thinks should carry this mail message.
13100 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
13101 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
13102 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
13103 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
13105 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
13106 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
13107 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
13108 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
13109 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{*}) group.
13111 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
13114 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
13115 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
13116 links. If that's the case for you, set
13117 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
13118 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
13120 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
13121 @findex nnmail-split-history
13122 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
13123 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
13124 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
13125 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
13128 @vindex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
13129 Header lines longer than the value of
13130 @code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} are excluded from the split
13133 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-charset
13134 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes
13135 By default the splitting codes @acronym{MIME} decodes headers so you
13136 can match on non-@acronym{ASCII} strings. The
13137 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-charset} variable specifies the default
13138 charset for decoding. The behaviour can be turned off completely by
13139 binding @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} to @code{nil}, which is
13140 useful if you want to match articles based on the raw header data.
13142 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
13143 By default, splitting is performed on all incoming messages. If you
13144 specify a @code{directory} entry for the variable @code{mail-sources}
13145 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}), however, then splitting does
13146 @emph{not} happen by default. You can set the variable
13147 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to a non-@code{nil} value to make
13148 splitting happen even in this case. (This variable has no effect on
13149 other kinds of entries.)
13151 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
13152 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
13153 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
13154 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
13155 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
13156 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
13157 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
13158 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
13159 month's rent money.
13163 @subsection Mail Sources
13165 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from
13166 a @acronym{POP} mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a
13167 maildir, for instance.
13170 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
13171 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
13172 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
13176 @node Mail Source Specifiers
13177 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
13179 @cindex mail server
13182 @cindex mail source
13184 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
13185 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
13190 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
13193 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
13194 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
13195 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
13198 The following mail source types are available:
13202 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
13208 The file name. Defaults to the value of the @env{MAIL}
13209 environment variable or the value of @code{rmail-spool-directory}
13210 (usually something like @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}).
13214 Script run before/after fetching mail.
13217 An example file mail source:
13220 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
13223 Or using the default file name:
13229 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best
13230 to use @acronym{POP} or @acronym{IMAP} or the like to fetch the mail.
13231 You can not use ange-ftp file names here---it has no way to lock the
13232 mail spool while moving the mail.
13234 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
13238 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
13241 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
13245 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
13248 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
13250 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
13253 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
13257 @vindex nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once
13258 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used
13259 when you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
13260 That is, there is a one-to-one correspondence between files in that
13261 directory and groups, so that mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool}
13262 will be put in the group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix
13263 to be used instead of @code{.spool}.) Setting
13264 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-@code{nil} forces
13265 Gnus to scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful
13266 if you want to scan mail groups at a specified level.
13268 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
13269 There is also the variable @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming}, if you set
13270 that to a non-@code{nil} value, then the normal splitting process is
13271 applied to all the files from the directory, @ref{Splitting Mail}.
13277 The name of the directory where the files are. There is no default
13281 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
13285 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
13286 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
13287 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
13288 predicate are considered.
13292 Script run before/after fetching mail.
13296 An example directory mail source:
13299 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
13304 Get mail from a @acronym{POP} server.
13310 The name of the @acronym{POP} server. The default is taken from the
13311 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
13314 The port number of the @acronym{POP} server. This can be a number (eg,
13315 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
13316 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
13317 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
13318 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
13321 The user name to give to the @acronym{POP} server. The default is the login
13325 The password to give to the @acronym{POP} server. If not specified,
13326 the user is prompted.
13329 The program to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. This
13330 should be a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
13333 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
13336 The valid format specifier characters are:
13340 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
13341 included in this string.
13344 The name of the server.
13347 The port number of the server.
13350 The user name to use.
13353 The password to use.
13356 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13357 corresponding keywords.
13360 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
13361 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
13364 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
13365 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
13368 The function to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. The
13369 function is called with one parameter---the name of the file where the
13370 mail should be moved to.
13372 @item :authentication
13373 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
13374 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
13379 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
13380 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
13382 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default @acronym{POP} server,
13383 using the default user name, and default fetcher:
13389 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
13392 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
13393 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
13396 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
13399 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
13403 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
13404 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
13405 contains exactly one mail.
13411 The name of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
13412 taken from the @env{MAILDIR} environment variable or
13415 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
13416 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
13418 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
13419 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
13420 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
13423 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
13424 from locking problems).
13428 Two example maildir mail sources:
13431 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
13432 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
13436 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
13441 Get mail from a @acronym{IMAP} server. If you don't want to use
13442 @acronym{IMAP} as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie
13443 with nnimap), for some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar
13444 to a @acronym{POP} server and fetches articles from a given
13445 @acronym{IMAP} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for more information.
13447 Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} and STARTTLS support you
13448 may need external programs and libraries, @xref{IMAP}.
13454 The name of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is taken from the
13455 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
13458 The port number of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
13459 @samp{993} for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} connections.
13462 The user name to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is the login
13466 The password to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. If not specified, the user is
13470 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
13471 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
13472 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{tls},
13473 @samp{ssl}, @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
13475 @item :authentication
13476 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
13477 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
13478 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
13479 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
13482 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
13483 mapped into the @code{imap-shell-program} variable. This should be a
13484 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
13490 The valid format specifier characters are:
13494 The name of the server.
13497 User name from @code{imap-default-user}.
13500 The port number of the server.
13503 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13504 corresponding keywords.
13507 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
13508 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
13511 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
13512 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
13513 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @acronym{IMAP} client and mark some
13514 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{1:*}.
13515 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
13516 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 section 6.4.4.
13519 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
13520 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
13521 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
13522 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 section 2.3.2.
13525 If non-@code{nil}, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the
13526 mailbox after finishing the fetch.
13530 An example @acronym{IMAP} mail source:
13533 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
13535 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
13539 Get mail from a webmail server, such as @uref{www.hotmail.com},
13540 @uref{webmail.netscape.com}, @uref{www.netaddress.com},
13541 @uref{mail.yahoo.com}.
13543 NOTE: Webmail largely depends cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
13544 required for url "4.0pre.46".
13546 WARNING: Mails may be lost. NO WARRANTY.
13552 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
13553 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
13556 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
13560 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
13564 If non-@code{nil}, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to
13565 trash folder after finishing the fetch.
13569 An example webmail source:
13572 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
13574 :password "secret")
13579 @item Common Keywords
13580 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
13586 If non-@code{nil}, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you
13587 use directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this
13592 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
13597 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
13598 useful when you use local mail and news.
13603 @subsubsection Function Interface
13605 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
13606 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
13607 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
13608 consider the following mail-source setting:
13611 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
13612 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
13615 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
13616 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
13617 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
13618 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
13619 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
13621 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
13624 @node Mail Source Customization
13625 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
13627 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
13628 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
13632 @item mail-source-crash-box
13633 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
13634 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is@*
13635 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
13637 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
13638 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
13639 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them. If
13640 @code{t}, delete the files immediately, if @code{nil}, never delete any
13641 files. If a positive number, delete files older than number of days
13642 (This will only happen, when receiving new mail). You may also set
13643 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} to @code{nil} and call
13644 @code{mail-source-delete-old-incoming} from a hook or interactively.
13646 @item mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
13647 @vindex mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
13648 If non-@code{nil}, ask for for confirmation before deleting old incoming
13649 files. This variable only applies when
13650 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is a positive number.
13652 @item mail-source-ignore-errors
13653 @vindex mail-source-ignore-errors
13654 If non-@code{nil}, ignore errors when reading mail from a mail source.
13656 @item mail-source-directory
13657 @vindex mail-source-directory
13658 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
13659 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
13660 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
13663 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13664 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13665 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
13666 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
13667 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
13668 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil}.
13670 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
13671 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
13672 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
13674 @item mail-source-movemail-program
13675 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
13676 If non-@code{nil}, name of program for fetching new mail. If
13677 @code{nil}, @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
13682 @node Fetching Mail
13683 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
13685 @vindex mail-sources
13686 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
13687 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
13688 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
13689 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
13691 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
13692 @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to fetch mail by
13695 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a
13696 @acronym{POP} mail server, you'd say something like:
13701 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13702 :password "secret")))
13705 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
13709 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
13710 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13713 :password "secret")))
13717 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
13718 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
13719 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
13720 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
13721 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
13722 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
13726 @node Mail Back End Variables
13727 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
13729 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
13733 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13734 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13735 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
13736 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
13738 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
13739 @item nnmail-split-hook
13740 @findex gnus-article-decode-encoded-words
13741 @cindex RFC 1522 decoding
13742 @cindex RFC 2047 decoding
13743 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
13744 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
13745 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
13746 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
13747 in the buffer will show up in any files.
13748 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
13751 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13752 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13753 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13754 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13755 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
13756 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
13757 starting to handle the new mail) and
13758 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
13759 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
13760 default file modes the new mail files get:
13763 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13764 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
13766 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13767 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
13770 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
13771 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
13772 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
13773 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
13774 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
13775 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
13776 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
13778 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
13779 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
13780 @findex delete-file
13781 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
13783 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13784 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13785 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
13786 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
13787 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
13789 @item nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13790 @vindex nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13791 This can be a regular expression or a list of regular expressions.
13792 Group names that match any of the regular expressions will never be
13793 recorded in the @code{Message-ID} cache.
13795 This can be useful, for example, when using Fancy Splitting
13796 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}) together with the function
13797 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}.
13802 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
13803 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
13804 @cindex mail splitting
13805 @cindex fancy mail splitting
13807 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
13808 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
13809 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
13810 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
13811 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
13812 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
13814 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
13817 ;; @r{Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of}
13818 ;; @r{the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group}
13819 ;; @r{from real errors.}
13820 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
13822 ;; @r{Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant}
13823 ;; @r{groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the}
13824 ;; @r{(ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.}
13825 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
13826 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
13827 ;; @r{Other mailing lists@dots{}}
13828 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
13829 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
13830 ;; @r{Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent}
13831 ;; @r{cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to}
13832 ;; @r{the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the}
13833 ;; @r{message was really cross-posted.}
13834 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
13835 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
13836 ;; @r{People@dots{}}
13837 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
13838 ;; @r{Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.}
13842 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
13843 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
13844 the five possible split syntaxes:
13849 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
13850 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
13854 @code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict}
13855 @code{[@dots{}]}@code{]} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the
13856 first element of which is a string, then store the message as
13857 specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field} (a regexp) contains
13858 @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp)
13859 matches some string after @var{field} and before the end of the
13860 matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If none of the
13861 @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
13864 @code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13865 element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
13866 one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
13867 the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
13870 @code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13871 element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
13874 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
13875 (i.e., delete) this message. Use with extreme caution.
13878 @code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
13879 a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
13880 be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
13881 function should return a @var{split}.
13884 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
13885 body of the messages:
13888 (defun split-on-body ()
13890 (set-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
13891 (goto-char (point-min))
13892 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
13896 The @samp{" *nnmail incoming*"} is narrowed to the message in question
13897 when the @code{:} function is run.
13900 @code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the
13901 first element is @code{!}, then @var{split} will be processed, and
13902 @var{func} will be called as a function with the result of @var{split}
13903 as argument. @var{func} should return a split.
13906 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
13910 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
13911 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
13912 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
13913 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
13914 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
13916 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
13917 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be Lisp symbols, in that case
13918 they are expanded as specified by the variable
13919 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells,
13920 where the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr}
13921 contains the associated value. Predefined entries in
13922 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist} include:
13926 Matches the @samp{From}, @samp{Sender} and @samp{Resent-From} fields.
13928 Matches the @samp{To}, @samp{Cc}, @samp{Apparently-To},
13929 @samp{Resent-To} and @samp{Resent-Cc} fields.
13931 Is the union of the @code{from} and @code{to} entries.
13934 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
13935 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
13936 when all this splitting is performed.
13938 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
13939 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
13940 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
13943 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
13946 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
13947 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
13949 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
13950 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
13951 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
13952 groupings 1 through 9.
13954 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
13955 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
13956 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
13957 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
13958 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
13959 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
13960 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
13961 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
13962 it once per thread.
13964 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates}
13965 and @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-@code{nil}
13966 value. And then you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}
13967 using the colon feature, like so:
13969 (setq nnmail-treat-duplicates 'warn ; @r{or @code{delete}}
13970 nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids t
13972 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
13973 ;; @r{other splits go here}
13977 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
13978 non-@code{nil}, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees
13979 in the file specified by the variable
13980 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, together with the group it is in
13981 (the group is omitted for non-mail messages). When mail splitting is
13982 invoked, the function @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks
13983 at the References (and In-Reply-To) header of each message to split
13984 and searches the file specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}
13985 for the message ids. When it has found a parent, it returns the
13986 corresponding group name unless the group name matches the regexp
13987 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is
13988 recommended that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a
13989 somewhat higher number than the default so that the message ids are
13990 still in the cache. (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some
13991 300 kBytes in size.)
13992 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13993 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
13994 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
13995 messages goes into the new group.
13997 Also see the variable @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} if you don't
13998 want certain groups to be recorded in the cache. For example, if all
13999 outgoing messages are written to an ``outgoing'' group, you could set
14000 @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} to match that group name.
14001 Otherwise, answers to all your messages would end up in the
14002 ``outgoing'' group.
14005 @node Group Mail Splitting
14006 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
14007 @cindex mail splitting
14008 @cindex group mail splitting
14010 @findex gnus-group-split
14011 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
14012 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
14013 You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
14014 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
14015 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
14016 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
14017 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
14018 @var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
14020 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
14021 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
14022 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
14023 rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
14025 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
14026 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
14027 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
14028 @var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
14029 matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
14030 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
14031 @var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
14033 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
14034 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
14035 parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
14036 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
14037 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
14038 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
14039 @code{gnus-group-split}.
14041 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
14042 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
14043 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
14044 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
14045 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
14046 some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
14047 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
14048 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
14049 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
14050 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
14051 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
14052 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
14053 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
14055 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
14060 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
14061 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
14063 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
14064 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
14065 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
14066 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
14068 ((split-spec . catch-all))
14071 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
14072 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
14073 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
14076 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
14077 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
14078 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
14082 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
14083 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
14084 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
14088 (: gnus-group-split-fancy @var{groups} @var{no-crosspost} @var{catch-all})
14091 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
14092 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
14093 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
14094 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fall back
14095 fancy split, used like @var{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
14096 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @var{split-regexp} matches the
14097 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
14098 Otherwise, if some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
14099 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
14101 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
14102 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
14103 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
14104 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
14105 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
14106 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
14107 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
14108 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
14109 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
14111 @findex gnus-group-split-update
14112 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
14113 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
14114 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
14115 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
14116 you. For example, add to your @file{~/.gnus.el}:
14119 (gnus-group-split-setup @var{auto-update} @var{catch-all})
14122 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
14123 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
14124 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
14125 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
14126 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
14129 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
14130 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
14131 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
14132 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
14134 @node Incorporating Old Mail
14135 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
14136 @cindex incorporating old mail
14137 @cindex import old mail
14139 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
14140 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
14141 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
14144 Doing so can be quite easy.
14146 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
14147 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
14148 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
14149 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
14150 your @code{nnml} groups.
14156 Go to the group buffer.
14159 Type @kbd{G f} and give the file name to the mbox file when prompted to create an
14160 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
14163 Type @kbd{SPACE} to enter the newly created group.
14166 Type @kbd{M P b} to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
14167 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
14170 Type @kbd{B r} to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
14171 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
14174 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
14175 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
14176 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
14177 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
14178 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
14180 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
14181 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
14182 using the new mail back end.
14185 @node Expiring Mail
14186 @subsection Expiring Mail
14187 @cindex article expiry
14189 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
14190 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
14191 different approach to mail reading.
14193 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
14194 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
14195 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
14196 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
14197 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
14198 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
14201 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
14202 articles as @dfn{expirable}. (With the default key bindings, this means
14203 that you have to type @kbd{E}.) This does not mean that the articles
14204 will disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
14205 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
14206 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
14207 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
14208 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
14209 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
14211 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Gnus provides
14212 two features, called ``auto-expire'' and ``total-expire'', that can help you
14213 with this. In a nutshell, ``auto-expire'' means that Gnus hits @kbd{E}
14214 for you when you select an article. And ``total-expire'' means that Gnus
14215 considers all articles as expirable that are read. So, in addition to
14216 the articles marked @samp{E}, also the articles marked @samp{r},
14217 @samp{R}, @samp{O}, @samp{K}, @samp{Y} and so on are considered
14220 When should either auto-expire or total-expire be used? Most people
14221 who are subscribed to mailing lists split each list into its own group
14222 and then turn on auto-expire or total-expire for those groups.
14223 (@xref{Splitting Mail}, for more information on splitting each list
14224 into its own group.)
14226 Which one is better, auto-expire or total-expire? It's not easy to
14227 answer. Generally speaking, auto-expire is probably faster. Another
14228 advantage of auto-expire is that you get more marks to work with: for
14229 the articles that are supposed to stick around, you can still choose
14230 between tick and dormant and read marks. But with total-expire, you
14231 only have dormant and ticked to choose from. The advantage of
14232 total-expire is that it works well with adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive
14233 Scoring}). Auto-expire works with normal scoring but not with adaptive
14236 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
14237 Groups that match the regular expression
14238 @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will have all articles that you
14239 read marked as expirable automatically. All articles marked as
14240 expirable have an @samp{E} in the first column in the summary buffer.
14242 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
14243 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
14244 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
14245 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
14246 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
14248 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
14250 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
14251 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
14252 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
14255 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
14256 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
14257 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
14258 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
14259 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
14261 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
14262 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
14265 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
14266 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
14269 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
14270 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
14272 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
14273 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
14274 don't really mix very well.
14276 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
14277 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
14278 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
14279 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
14282 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
14283 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
14284 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
14285 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
14288 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
14290 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
14292 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
14294 ((string= group "mail.junk")
14296 ((string= group "important")
14302 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
14303 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
14305 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
14306 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
14307 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
14310 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
14311 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
14313 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
14314 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
14315 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
14316 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
14317 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
14318 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
14319 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
14320 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
14321 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
14322 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
14323 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
14324 from as its parameter) which should return a target---either a group
14325 name or @code{delete}.
14327 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
14329 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
14332 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
14333 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
14334 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
14335 expire mail to groups according to the variable
14336 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
14339 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
14340 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
14341 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
14342 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
14343 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
14346 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
14347 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
14348 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
14349 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
14350 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
14351 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
14353 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
14354 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
14355 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
14356 easier for procmail users.
14358 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
14359 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
14360 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
14361 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
14362 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
14363 caution. Even more dangerous is the
14364 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
14365 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
14366 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
14367 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
14368 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
14369 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
14370 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
14373 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
14375 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
14376 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
14377 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
14378 auto-expire turned on.
14382 @subsection Washing Mail
14383 @cindex mail washing
14384 @cindex list server brain damage
14385 @cindex incoming mail treatment
14387 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
14388 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
14389 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
14390 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
14391 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
14392 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
14394 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
14395 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
14396 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
14399 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
14400 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
14401 storing the mail to disk. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
14402 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
14405 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14406 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14407 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
14408 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
14409 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
14412 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14413 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14414 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
14415 Emacs running on MS machines.
14419 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14420 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14421 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
14422 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
14425 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14426 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14427 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
14428 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
14430 (Note that this function works on both the header on the body of all
14431 messages, so it is a potentially dangerous function to use (if a body
14432 of a message contains something that looks like a header line). So
14433 rather than fix the bug, it is of course the right solution to make it
14434 into a feature by documenting it.)
14436 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14437 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14438 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
14439 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
14440 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
14441 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
14442 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
14445 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
14446 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
14449 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
14450 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
14453 This can also be done non-destructively with
14454 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
14456 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
14457 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
14458 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
14460 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14461 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14463 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
14464 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
14465 @code{References} headers.
14469 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14470 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14471 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
14475 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
14476 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
14477 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
14484 @subsection Duplicates
14486 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
14487 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
14488 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
14489 @cindex duplicate mails
14490 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
14491 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
14492 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
14493 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
14494 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
14495 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
14496 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
14497 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
14498 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
14499 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
14500 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
14501 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
14502 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
14504 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
14505 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
14506 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
14507 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
14509 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
14512 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
14513 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
14517 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
14518 '(| ;; @r{Messages duplicates go to a separate group.}
14519 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
14520 ;; @r{Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.}
14521 (any mail "mail.misc")
14522 ;; @r{Other rules.}
14528 (setq nnmail-split-methods
14529 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
14530 ;; @r{Other rules.}
14534 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
14535 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
14536 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
14537 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
14538 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
14541 @node Not Reading Mail
14542 @subsection Not Reading Mail
14544 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
14545 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
14546 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
14548 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
14549 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
14550 mail, which should help.
14552 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14553 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14554 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14555 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14556 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
14557 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
14558 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old Rmail
14559 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
14560 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
14561 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
14562 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
14564 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
14565 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
14569 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
14570 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
14572 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
14573 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
14574 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
14576 There are six different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
14577 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
14578 (because it is possibly the fastest) is @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
14582 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
14583 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the Rmail Babyl format.
14584 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
14585 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
14586 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
14587 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
14588 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
14592 @node Unix Mail Box
14593 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
14595 @cindex unix mail box
14597 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14598 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14599 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
14600 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
14601 which group it belongs in.
14603 Virtual server settings:
14606 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
14607 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14608 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
14611 @item nnmbox-active-file
14612 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14613 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
14614 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
14616 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
14617 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14618 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
14619 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
14624 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
14628 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14629 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14630 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a Babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{Rmail
14631 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
14632 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
14634 Virtual server settings:
14637 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
14638 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14639 The name of the Rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
14641 @item nnbabyl-active-file
14642 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14643 The name of the active file for the rmail box. The default is
14644 @file{~/.rmail-active}
14646 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14647 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14648 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
14654 @subsubsection Mail Spool
14656 @cindex mail @acronym{NOV} spool
14658 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
14659 format. It should be used with some caution.
14661 @vindex nnml-directory
14662 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
14663 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
14664 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
14665 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
14667 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
14670 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
14671 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
14672 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
14673 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
14674 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
14675 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
14676 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
14677 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
14679 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
14680 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
14681 @acronym{NOV} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it possibly the
14682 fastest back end when it comes to reading mail.
14684 @cindex self contained nnml servers
14686 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnml}
14687 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
14688 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
14689 proper @code{nnml} server) and have all your marks be preserved. Marks
14690 for a group is usually stored in the @code{.marks} file (but see
14691 @code{nnml-marks-file-name}) within each @code{nnml} group's directory.
14692 Individual @code{nnml} groups are also possible to backup, use @kbd{G m}
14693 to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the nnml
14696 If for some reason you believe your @file{.marks} files are screwed
14697 up, you can just delete them all. Gnus will then correctly regenerate
14698 them next time it starts.
14700 Virtual server settings:
14703 @item nnml-directory
14704 @vindex nnml-directory
14705 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory. The
14706 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default value
14709 @item nnml-active-file
14710 @vindex nnml-active-file
14711 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
14712 @file{~/Mail/active}.
14714 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
14715 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
14716 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
14717 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}.
14719 @item nnml-get-new-mail
14720 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14721 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
14724 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
14725 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
14726 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
14727 default is @code{nil}.
14729 @item nnml-nov-file-name
14730 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
14731 The name of the @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
14733 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14734 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14735 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
14737 @item nnml-marks-is-evil
14738 @vindex nnml-marks-is-evil
14739 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
14740 default is @code{nil}.
14742 @item nnml-marks-file-name
14743 @vindex nnml-marks-file-name
14744 The name of the @dfn{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
14746 @item nnml-use-compressed-files
14747 @vindex nnml-use-compressed-files
14748 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will allow using compressed message
14753 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
14754 If your @code{nnml} groups and @acronym{NOV} files get totally out of whack,
14755 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
14756 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
14757 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
14758 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
14759 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
14764 @subsubsection MH Spool
14766 @cindex mh-e mail spool
14768 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
14769 @acronym{NOV} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks file.
14770 This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than @code{nnml},
14771 but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
14773 Virtual server settings:
14776 @item nnmh-directory
14777 @vindex nnmh-directory
14778 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
14779 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
14782 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
14783 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14784 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
14788 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
14789 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
14790 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
14791 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
14792 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
14793 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
14794 to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
14799 @subsubsection Maildir
14803 @code{nnmaildir} stores mail in the maildir format, with each maildir
14804 corresponding to a group in Gnus. This format is documented here:
14805 @uref{http://cr.yp.to/proto/maildir.html} and here:
14806 @uref{http://www.qmail.org/man/man5/maildir.html}. nnmaildir also
14807 stores extra information in the @file{.nnmaildir/} directory within a
14810 Maildir format was designed to allow concurrent deliveries and
14811 reading, without needing locks. With other back ends, you would have
14812 your mail delivered to a spool of some kind, and then you would
14813 configure Gnus to split mail from that spool into your groups. You
14814 can still do that with nnmaildir, but the more common configuration is
14815 to have your mail delivered directly to the maildirs that appear as
14818 nnmaildir is designed to be perfectly reliable: @kbd{C-g} will never
14819 corrupt its data in memory, and @code{SIGKILL} will never corrupt its
14820 data in the filesystem.
14822 nnmaildir stores article marks and @acronym{NOV} data in each maildir. So you
14823 can copy a whole maildir from one Gnus setup to another, and you will
14826 Virtual server settings:
14830 For each of your nnmaildir servers (it's very unlikely that you'd need
14831 more than one), you need to create a directory and populate it with
14832 maildirs or symlinks to maildirs (and nothing else; do not choose a
14833 directory already used for other purposes). Each maildir will be
14834 represented in Gnus as a newsgroup on that server; the filename of the
14835 symlink will be the name of the group. Any filenames in the directory
14836 starting with @samp{.} are ignored. The directory is scanned when you
14837 first start Gnus, and each time you type @kbd{g} in the group buffer;
14838 if any maildirs have been removed or added, nnmaildir notices at these
14841 The value of the @code{directory} parameter should be a Lisp form
14842 which is processed by @code{eval} and @code{expand-file-name} to get
14843 the path of the directory for this server. The form is @code{eval}ed
14844 only when the server is opened; the resulting string is used until the
14845 server is closed. (If you don't know about forms and @code{eval},
14846 don't worry---a simple string will work.) This parameter is not
14847 optional; you must specify it. I don't recommend using
14848 @code{"~/Mail"} or a subdirectory of it; several other parts of Gnus
14849 use that directory by default for various things, and may get confused
14850 if nnmaildir uses it too. @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} is a typical value.
14852 @item target-prefix
14853 This should be a Lisp form which is processed by @code{eval} and
14854 @code{expand-file-name}. The form is @code{eval}ed only when the
14855 server is opened; the resulting string is used until the server is
14858 When you create a group on an nnmaildir server, the maildir is created
14859 with @code{target-prefix} prepended to its name, and a symlink
14860 pointing to that maildir is created, named with the plain group name.
14861 So if @code{directory} is @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} and
14862 @code{target-prefix} is @code{"../maildirs/"}, then when you create
14863 the group @code{foo}, nnmaildir will create
14864 @file{~/.nnmaildir/../maildirs/foo} as a maildir, and will create
14865 @file{~/.nnmaildir/foo} as a symlink pointing to
14866 @file{../maildirs/foo}.
14868 You can set @code{target-prefix} to a string without any slashes to
14869 create both maildirs and symlinks in the same @code{directory}; in
14870 this case, any maildirs found in @code{directory} whose names start
14871 with @code{target-prefix} will not be listed as groups (but the
14872 symlinks pointing to them will be).
14874 As a special case, if @code{target-prefix} is @code{""} (the default),
14875 then when you create a group, the maildir will be created in
14876 @code{directory} without a corresponding symlink. Beware that you
14877 cannot use @code{gnus-group-delete-group} on such groups without the
14878 @code{force} argument.
14880 @item directory-files
14881 This should be a function with the same interface as
14882 @code{directory-files} (such as @code{directory-files} itself). It is
14883 used to scan the server's @code{directory} for maildirs. This
14884 parameter is optional; the default is
14885 @code{nnheader-directory-files-safe} if
14886 @code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is @code{nil}, and
14887 @code{directory-files} otherwise.
14888 (@code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is checked only once when the
14889 server is opened; if you want to check it each time the directory is
14890 scanned, you'll have to provide your own function that does that.)
14893 If non-@code{nil}, then after scanning for new mail in the group
14894 maildirs themselves as usual, this server will also incorporate mail
14895 the conventional Gnus way, from @code{mail-sources} according to
14896 @code{nnmail-split-methods} or @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. The default
14897 value is @code{nil}.
14899 Do @emph{not} use the same maildir both in @code{mail-sources} and as
14900 an nnmaildir group. The results might happen to be useful, but that
14901 would be by chance, not by design, and the results might be different
14902 in the future. If your split rules create new groups, remember to
14903 supply a @code{create-directory} server parameter.
14906 @subsubsection Group parameters
14908 nnmaildir uses several group parameters. It's safe to ignore all
14909 this; the default behavior for nnmaildir is the same as the default
14910 behavior for other mail back ends: articles are deleted after one week,
14911 etc. Except for the expiry parameters, all this functionality is
14912 unique to nnmaildir, so you can ignore it if you're just trying to
14913 duplicate the behavior you already have with another back end.
14915 If the value of any of these parameters is a vector, the first element
14916 is evaluated as a Lisp form and the result is used, rather than the
14917 original value. If the value is not a vector, the value itself is
14918 evaluated as a Lisp form. (This is why these parameters use names
14919 different from those of other, similar parameters supported by other
14920 back ends: they have different, though similar, meanings.) (For
14921 numbers, strings, @code{nil}, and @code{t}, you can ignore the
14922 @code{eval} business again; for other values, remember to use an extra
14923 quote and wrap the value in a vector when appropriate.)
14927 An integer specifying the minimum age, in seconds, of an article before
14928 it will be expired, or the symbol @code{never} to specify that
14929 articles should never be expired. If this parameter is not set,
14930 nnmaildir falls back to the usual
14931 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) variables (overrideable by
14932 the @code{expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) group parameters. If you
14933 wanted a value of 3 days, you could use something like @code{[(* 3 24
14934 60 60)]}; nnmaildir will evaluate the form and use the result. An
14935 article's age is measured starting from the article file's
14936 modification time. Normally, this is the same as the article's
14937 delivery time, but editing an article makes it younger. Moving an
14938 article (other than via expiry) may also make an article younger.
14941 If this is set to a string such as a full Gnus group name, like
14943 "backend+server.address.string:group.name"
14945 and if it is not the name of the same group that the parameter belongs
14946 to, then articles will be moved to the specified group during expiry
14947 before being deleted. @emph{If this is set to an nnmaildir group, the
14948 article will be just as old in the destination group as it was in the
14949 source group.} So be careful with @code{expire-age} in the
14950 destination group. If this is set to the name of the same group that
14951 the parameter belongs to, then the article is not expired at all. If
14952 you use the vector form, the first element is evaluated once for each
14953 article. So that form can refer to
14954 @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name}, etc., to decide where to put the
14955 article. @emph{If this parameter is not set, nnmaildir does not fall
14956 back to the @code{expiry-target} group parameter or the
14957 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} variable.}
14960 If this is set to @code{t}, nnmaildir will treat the articles in this
14961 maildir as read-only. This means: articles are not renamed from
14962 @file{new/} into @file{cur/}; articles are only found in @file{new/},
14963 not @file{cur/}; articles are never deleted; articles cannot be
14964 edited. @file{new/} is expected to be a symlink to the @file{new/}
14965 directory of another maildir---e.g., a system-wide mailbox containing
14966 a mailing list of common interest. Everything in the maildir outside
14967 @file{new/} is @emph{not} treated as read-only, so for a shared
14968 mailbox, you do still need to set up your own maildir (or have write
14969 permission to the shared mailbox); your maildir just won't contain
14970 extra copies of the articles.
14972 @item directory-files
14973 A function with the same interface as @code{directory-files}. It is
14974 used to scan the directories in the maildir corresponding to this
14975 group to find articles. The default is the function specified by the
14976 server's @code{directory-files} parameter.
14978 @item distrust-Lines:
14979 If non-@code{nil}, nnmaildir will always count the lines of an
14980 article, rather than use the @code{Lines:} header field. If
14981 @code{nil}, the header field will be used if present.
14984 A list of mark symbols, such as
14985 @code{['(read expire)]}. Whenever Gnus asks nnmaildir for
14986 article marks, nnmaildir will say that all articles have these
14987 marks, regardless of whether the marks stored in the filesystem
14988 say so. This is a proof-of-concept feature that will probably be
14989 removed eventually; it ought to be done in Gnus proper, or
14990 abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
14993 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(tick expire)]}. Whenever
14994 Gnus asks nnmaildir for article marks, nnmaildir will say that no
14995 articles have these marks, regardless of whether the marks stored in
14996 the filesystem say so. @code{never-marks} overrides
14997 @code{always-marks}. This is a proof-of-concept feature that will
14998 probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done in Gnus proper, or
14999 abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
15001 @item nov-cache-size
15002 An integer specifying the size of the @acronym{NOV} memory cache. To speed
15003 things up, nnmaildir keeps @acronym{NOV} data in memory for a limited number of
15004 articles in each group. (This is probably not worthwhile, and will
15005 probably be removed in the future.) This parameter's value is noticed
15006 only the first time a group is seen after the server is opened---i.e.,
15007 when you first start Gnus, typically. The @acronym{NOV} cache is never resized
15008 until the server is closed and reopened. The default is an estimate
15009 of the number of articles that would be displayed in the summary
15010 buffer: a count of articles that are either marked with @code{tick} or
15011 not marked with @code{read}, plus a little extra.
15014 @subsubsection Article identification
15015 Articles are stored in the @file{cur/} subdirectory of each maildir.
15016 Each article file is named like @code{uniq:info}, where @code{uniq}
15017 contains no colons. nnmaildir ignores, but preserves, the
15018 @code{:info} part. (Other maildir readers typically use this part of
15019 the filename to store marks.) The @code{uniq} part uniquely
15020 identifies the article, and is used in various places in the
15021 @file{.nnmaildir/} subdirectory of the maildir to store information
15022 about the corresponding article. The full pathname of an article is
15023 available in the variable @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name} after you
15024 request the article in the summary buffer.
15026 @subsubsection NOV data
15027 An article identified by @code{uniq} has its @acronym{NOV} data (used to
15028 generate lines in the summary buffer) stored in
15029 @code{.nnmaildir/nov/uniq}. There is no
15030 @code{nnmaildir-generate-nov-databases} function. (There isn't much
15031 need for it---an article's @acronym{NOV} data is updated automatically when the
15032 article or @code{nnmail-extra-headers} has changed.) You can force
15033 nnmaildir to regenerate the @acronym{NOV} data for a single article simply by
15034 deleting the corresponding @acronym{NOV} file, but @emph{beware}: this will also
15035 cause nnmaildir to assign a new article number for this article, which
15036 may cause trouble with @code{seen} marks, the Agent, and the cache.
15038 @subsubsection Article marks
15039 An article identified by @code{uniq} is considered to have the mark
15040 @code{flag} when the file @file{.nnmaildir/marks/flag/uniq} exists.
15041 When Gnus asks nnmaildir for a group's marks, nnmaildir looks for such
15042 files and reports the set of marks it finds. When Gnus asks nnmaildir
15043 to store a new set of marks, nnmaildir creates and deletes the
15044 corresponding files as needed. (Actually, rather than create a new
15045 file for each mark, it just creates hard links to
15046 @file{.nnmaildir/markfile}, to save inodes.)
15048 You can invent new marks by creating a new directory in
15049 @file{.nnmaildir/marks/}. You can tar up a maildir and remove it from
15050 your server, untar it later, and keep your marks. You can add and
15051 remove marks yourself by creating and deleting mark files. If you do
15052 this while Gnus is running and your nnmaildir server is open, it's
15053 best to exit all summary buffers for nnmaildir groups and type @kbd{s}
15054 in the group buffer first, and to type @kbd{g} or @kbd{M-g} in the
15055 group buffer afterwards. Otherwise, Gnus might not pick up the
15056 changes, and might undo them.
15060 @subsubsection Mail Folders
15062 @cindex mbox folders
15063 @cindex mail folders
15065 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a separate
15066 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
15067 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
15070 @cindex self contained nnfolder servers
15072 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnfolder}
15073 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
15074 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
15075 proper @code{nnfolder} server) and have all your marks be preserved.
15076 Marks for a group is usually stored in a file named as the mbox file
15077 with @code{.mrk} concatenated to it (but see
15078 @code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder} directory.
15079 Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to backup, use
15080 @kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the
15081 @code{nnfolder} directory).
15083 Virtual server settings:
15086 @item nnfolder-directory
15087 @vindex nnfolder-directory
15088 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
15089 The default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
15092 @item nnfolder-active-file
15093 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
15094 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
15096 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
15097 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
15098 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
15099 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}
15101 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
15102 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
15103 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The default
15106 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
15107 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
15108 @cindex backup files
15109 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
15110 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
15111 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
15112 your @file{.emacs} file:
15115 (defun turn-off-backup ()
15116 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
15118 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
15121 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
15122 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
15123 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
15124 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
15125 extract some information from it before removing it.
15127 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
15128 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
15129 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
15130 default is @code{nil}.
15132 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
15133 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
15134 The extension for @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
15136 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
15137 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
15138 The directory where the @acronym{NOV} files should be stored. If
15139 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
15141 @item nnfolder-marks-is-evil
15142 @vindex nnfolder-marks-is-evil
15143 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
15144 default is @code{nil}.
15146 @item nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
15147 @vindex nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
15148 The extension for @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.mrk}.
15150 @item nnfolder-marks-directory
15151 @vindex nnfolder-marks-directory
15152 The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If
15153 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
15158 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
15159 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
15160 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
15161 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
15162 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
15163 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
15166 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
15167 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
15169 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
15170 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
15171 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
15172 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
15173 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
15175 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
15176 typically done by @acronym{NNTP} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
15177 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
15178 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @acronym{NNTP} server), and
15179 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
15180 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
15181 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
15182 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
15185 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
15186 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
15187 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
15188 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
15193 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
15194 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
15195 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
15196 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
15197 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
15198 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
15199 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
15200 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
15201 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
15202 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
15203 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
15204 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
15205 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
15210 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
15211 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
15212 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
15213 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
15214 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
15215 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
15216 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
15217 Rmail was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
15218 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote Rmail
15219 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
15220 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
15221 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
15222 headers/status bits stuff. Rmail itself still exists as well, of
15223 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
15225 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
15226 file system, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
15231 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
15232 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
15233 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
15234 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
15235 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
15236 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
15237 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
15238 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
15239 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
15240 @acronym{NNTP} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
15241 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
15242 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
15243 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
15244 provided by the active file and overviews.
15246 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
15247 resource which defines available places in the file system to put new
15248 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
15249 tight, shared file systems. But if you live on a personal machine where
15250 the file system is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
15253 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
15254 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
15259 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
15260 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
15261 individual files, but with little or no indexing support---@code{nnmh}
15262 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
15263 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
15264 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
15265 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
15269 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
15270 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
15271 itself puts @emph{all} one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
15272 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
15273 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
15274 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
15275 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
15276 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
15277 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
15279 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
15280 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
15281 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
15282 friendly mail back end all over.
15286 For configuring expiry and other things, @code{nnmaildir} uses
15287 incompatible group parameters, slightly different from those of other
15290 @code{nnmaildir} is largely similar to @code{nnml}, with some notable
15291 differences. Each message is stored in a separate file, but the
15292 filename is unrelated to the article number in Gnus. @code{nnmaildir}
15293 also stores the equivalent of @code{nnml}'s overview files in one file
15294 per article, so it uses about twice as many inodes as @code{nnml}. (Use
15295 @code{df -i} to see how plentiful your inode supply is.) If this slows
15296 you down or takes up very much space, consider switching to
15297 @uref{http://www.namesys.com/, ReiserFS} or another non-block-structured
15300 Since maildirs don't require locking for delivery, the maildirs you use
15301 as groups can also be the maildirs your mail is directly delivered to.
15302 This means you can skip Gnus' mail splitting if your mail is already
15303 organized into different mailboxes during delivery. A @code{directory}
15304 entry in @code{mail-sources} would have a similar effect, but would
15305 require one set of mailboxes for spooling deliveries (in mbox format,
15306 thus damaging message bodies), and another set to be used as groups (in
15307 whatever format you like). A maildir has a built-in spool, in the
15308 @code{new/} subdirectory. Beware that currently, mail moved from
15309 @code{new/} to @code{cur/} instead of via mail splitting will not
15310 undergo treatment such as duplicate checking.
15312 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks for a given group in the
15313 corresponding maildir, in a way designed so that it's easy to manipulate
15314 them from outside Gnus. You can tar up a maildir, unpack it somewhere
15315 else, and still have your marks. @code{nnml} also stores marks, but
15316 it's not as easy to work with them from outside Gnus as with
15319 @code{nnmaildir} uses a significant amount of memory to speed things up.
15320 (It keeps in memory some of the things that @code{nnml} stores in files
15321 and that @code{nnmh} repeatedly parses out of message files.) If this
15322 is a problem for you, you can set the @code{nov-cache-size} group
15323 parameter to something small (0 would probably not work, but 1 probably
15324 would) to make it use less memory. This caching will probably be
15325 removed in the future.
15327 Startup is likely to be slower with @code{nnmaildir} than with other
15328 back ends. Everything else is likely to be faster, depending in part
15329 on your file system.
15331 @code{nnmaildir} does not use @code{nnoo}, so you cannot use @code{nnoo}
15332 to write an @code{nnmaildir}-derived back end.
15337 @node Browsing the Web
15338 @section Browsing the Web
15340 @cindex browsing the web
15344 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
15345 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
15346 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
15347 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
15348 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
15349 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
15350 even know what a news group is.
15352 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
15353 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
15354 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
15355 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
15356 you mad in the end.
15358 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
15361 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
15362 interfaces to these sources.
15366 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
15367 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
15368 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
15369 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
15370 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
15371 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
15374 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
15376 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
15377 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @acronym{HTML} data
15378 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
15379 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
15380 though, you should be ok.
15382 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
15383 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
15384 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
15385 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
15386 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
15388 @node Archiving Mail
15389 @subsection Archiving Mail
15390 @cindex archiving mail
15391 @cindex backup of mail
15393 Some of the back ends, notably @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and
15394 @code{nnmaildir}, now actually store the article marks with each group.
15395 For these servers, archiving and restoring a group while preserving
15396 marks is fairly simple.
15398 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
15399 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @file{.newsrc.eld} deity
15402 To archive an entire @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir}
15403 server, take a recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need
15404 to shut down Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or
15405 similar. You restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and
15406 adding a server definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The
15407 @ref{Article Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things
15408 might interfere with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus
15409 before you restore the data.
15411 It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml},
15412 @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir} groups, while preserving marks.
15413 For @code{nnml} or @code{nnmaildir}, you copy all files in the group's
15414 directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need to copy both the base folder
15415 file itself (@file{FOO}, say), and the marks file (@file{FOO.mrk} in
15416 this example). Restoring the group is done with @kbd{G m} from the Group
15417 buffer. The last step makes Gnus notice the new directory.
15418 @code{nnmaildir} notices the new directory automatically, so @kbd{G m}
15419 is unnecessary in that case.
15422 @subsection Web Searches
15427 @cindex Usenet searches
15428 @cindex searching the Usenet
15430 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
15431 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
15432 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
15433 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
15434 searches without having to use a browser.
15436 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
15437 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
15438 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
15439 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
15440 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
15442 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
15443 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
15444 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
15445 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
15446 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
15447 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
15448 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
15449 engines (Google, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
15450 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
15451 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
15454 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
15455 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
15456 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
15457 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
15458 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
15459 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
15461 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
15462 to use @code{nnweb}.
15464 Virtual server variables:
15469 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
15470 are @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}. Note that
15471 @code{dejanews} is an alias to @code{google}.
15474 @vindex nnweb-search
15475 The search string to feed to the search engine.
15477 @item nnweb-max-hits
15478 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
15479 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
15482 @item nnweb-type-definition
15483 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
15484 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
15485 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
15490 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
15494 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
15497 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
15500 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
15504 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
15511 @subsection Slashdot
15515 @uref{http://slashdot.org/, Slashdot} is a popular news site, with
15516 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
15517 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
15519 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
15520 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
15523 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
15524 '((nnslashdot "")))
15527 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} back end for new comments
15528 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
15529 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
15530 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
15531 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
15534 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
15535 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
15537 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
15538 comments), some light @acronym{HTML}izations will be performed. In
15539 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
15540 @code{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @code{br} added to
15541 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @acronym{HTML}
15542 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
15543 @acronym{HTML} forms.
15545 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
15548 @item nnslashdot-threaded
15549 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
15550 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
15551 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
15552 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
15553 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
15554 but much, much slower than unthreaded.
15556 @item nnslashdot-login-name
15557 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
15558 The login name to use when posting.
15560 @item nnslashdot-password
15561 @vindex nnslashdot-password
15562 The password to use when posting.
15564 @item nnslashdot-directory
15565 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
15566 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default is
15567 @file{~/News/slashdot/}.
15569 @item nnslashdot-active-url
15570 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
15571 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the information on
15572 news articles and comments. The default is@*
15573 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
15575 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
15576 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
15577 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch comments. The
15579 @samp{http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=%s&threshold=%d&commentsort=%d&mode=flat&startat=%d}.
15581 @item nnslashdot-article-url
15582 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
15583 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the news article. The
15585 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
15587 @item nnslashdot-threshold
15588 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
15589 The score threshold. The default is -1.
15591 @item nnslashdot-group-number
15592 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
15593 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
15594 updated. The default is 0.
15601 @subsection Ultimate
15603 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
15605 @uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/, The Ultimate Bulletin Board} is
15606 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
15607 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
15608 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
15610 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
15611 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
15612 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @sc{url}
15613 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
15614 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
15615 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
15616 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
15618 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
15621 @item nnultimate-directory
15622 @vindex nnultimate-directory
15623 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is@*
15624 @file{~/News/ultimate/}.
15629 @subsection Web Archive
15631 @cindex Web Archive
15633 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
15634 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
15635 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
15636 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
15639 @findex gnus-group-make-warchive-group
15640 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
15641 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
15642 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET @var{an_egroup} RET egroups RET
15643 www.egroups.com RET @var{your@@email.address} RET}. (Substitute the
15644 @var{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
15645 @var{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
15646 back end by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
15648 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
15651 @item nnwarchive-directory
15652 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
15653 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is@*
15654 @file{~/News/warchive/}.
15656 @item nnwarchive-login
15657 @vindex nnwarchive-login
15658 The account name on the web server.
15660 @item nnwarchive-passwd
15661 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
15662 The password for your account on the web server.
15670 Some sites have RDF site summary (RSS)
15671 @uref{http://purl.org/rss/1.0/spec}. It has a quite regular and nice
15672 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
15675 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something
15676 like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET RET}, then
15679 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
15682 @item nnrss-directory
15683 @vindex nnrss-directory
15684 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
15685 @file{~/News/rss/}.
15689 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
15690 the summary buffer.
15693 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
15694 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
15696 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
15698 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
15699 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
15702 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
15705 (require 'browse-url)
15707 (defun browse-nnrss-url( arg )
15709 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
15712 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
15713 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
15716 (browse-url (cdr url))
15717 (gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward 1))
15718 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
15720 (eval-after-load "gnus"
15721 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
15722 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
15723 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
15726 @node Customizing w3
15727 @subsection Customizing w3
15733 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
15734 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
15735 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
15737 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
15738 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
15739 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
15742 (eval-after-load "w3"
15744 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
15745 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
15746 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
15747 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
15749 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
15752 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
15753 @acronym{HTML} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
15760 @cindex @acronym{IMAP}
15762 @acronym{IMAP} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or @dots{}),
15763 think of it as a modernized @acronym{NNTP}. Connecting to a @acronym{IMAP}
15764 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
15765 specify the network address of the server.
15767 @acronym{IMAP} has two properties. First, @acronym{IMAP} can do
15768 everything that @acronym{POP} can, it can hence be viewed as a
15769 @acronym{POP++}. Secondly, @acronym{IMAP} is a mail storage protocol,
15770 similar to @acronym{NNTP} being a news storage protocol---however,
15771 @acronym{IMAP} offers more features than @acronym{NNTP} because news
15772 is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.
15774 If you want to use @acronym{IMAP} as a @acronym{POP++}, use an imap
15775 entry in @code{mail-sources}. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from
15776 the @acronym{IMAP} server and store them on the local disk. This is
15777 not the usage described in this section---@xref{Mail Sources}.
15779 If you want to use @acronym{IMAP} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
15780 entry in @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}. With this, Gnus will
15781 manipulate mails stored on the @acronym{IMAP} server. This is the kind of
15782 usage explained in this section.
15784 A server configuration in @file{~/.gnus.el} with a few @acronym{IMAP}
15785 servers might look something like the following. (Note that for
15786 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}, you need external programs and libraries,
15790 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
15791 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; @r{no special configuration}
15792 ; @r{perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:}
15794 (nnimap-address "localhost")
15795 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
15796 ; @r{a UW server running on localhost}
15798 (nnimap-server-port 143)
15799 (nnimap-address "localhost")
15800 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
15801 ; @r{anonymous public cyrus server:}
15802 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
15803 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
15804 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
15805 (nnimap-stream network))
15806 ; @r{a ssl server on a non-standard port:}
15808 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
15809 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
15810 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
15813 After defining the new server, you can subscribe to groups on the
15814 server using normal Gnus commands such as @kbd{U} in the Group Buffer
15815 (@pxref{Subscription Commands}) or via the Server Buffer
15816 (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
15818 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
15823 @item nnimap-address
15824 @vindex nnimap-address
15826 The address of the remote @acronym{IMAP} server. Defaults to the virtual
15827 server name if not specified.
15829 @item nnimap-server-port
15830 @vindex nnimap-server-port
15831 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}.
15833 Note that this should be an integer, example server specification:
15836 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15837 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
15840 @item nnimap-list-pattern
15841 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
15842 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
15843 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
15844 interested in a few---some servers export your home directory via
15845 @acronym{IMAP}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
15846 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
15848 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
15849 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
15850 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
15853 Example server specification:
15856 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15857 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
15858 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
15861 @item nnimap-stream
15862 @vindex nnimap-stream
15863 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
15864 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
15865 of @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}. (@acronym{IMAP} over
15866 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is being replaced by STARTTLS, which can
15867 be automatically detected, but it's not widely deployed yet.)
15869 Example server specification:
15872 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15873 (nnimap-stream ssl))
15876 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
15880 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually Kerberos 5). Requires the
15881 @samp{gsasl} or @samp{imtest} program.
15883 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with Kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
15885 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
15886 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
15889 @dfn{tls:} Connect through @acronym{TLS}. Requires GNUTLS (the program
15890 @samp{gnutls-cli}).
15892 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through @acronym{SSL}. Requires OpenSSL (the program
15893 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}).
15895 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @acronym{IMAP} connection.
15897 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
15900 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
15901 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD. If you're
15902 using @samp{imtest} from Cyrus IMAPD < 2.0.14 (which includes version
15903 1.5.x and 1.6.x) you need to frob @code{imap-process-connection-type}
15904 to make @code{imap.el} use a pty instead of a pipe when communicating
15905 with @samp{imtest}. You will then suffer from a line length
15906 restrictions on @acronym{IMAP} commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
15907 indefinitely if you have many articles in a mailbox. The variable
15908 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
15911 For @acronym{TLS} connection, the @code{gnutls-cli} program from GNUTLS is
15912 needed. It is available from
15913 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/}.
15915 @vindex imap-gssapi-program
15916 This parameter specifies a list of command lines that invoke a GSSAPI
15917 authenticated @acronym{IMAP} stream in a subshell. They are tried
15918 sequentially until a connection is made, or the list has been
15919 exhausted. By default, @samp{gsasl} from GNU SASL, available from
15920 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gsasl/}, and the @samp{imtest}
15921 program from Cyrus IMAPD (see @code{imap-kerberos4-program}), are
15924 @vindex imap-ssl-program
15925 For @acronym{SSL} connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
15926 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
15927 and nnimap support it too---although the most recent versions of
15928 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
15929 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
15930 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
15933 @vindex imap-shell-program
15934 @vindex imap-shell-host
15935 For @acronym{IMAP} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
15936 @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
15938 @item nnimap-authenticator
15939 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
15941 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
15942 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
15944 Example server specification:
15947 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15948 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
15951 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
15955 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Requires
15956 external program @code{gsasl} or @code{imtest}.
15958 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos 4 authentication. Requires external program
15961 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Requires
15962 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
15964 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
15966 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
15968 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as ``anonymous'', supplying your email address as password.
15971 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
15973 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
15974 Unlike Parmenides the @acronym{IMAP} designers have decided things that
15975 don't exist actually do exist. More specifically, @acronym{IMAP} has
15976 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
15977 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
15978 nnimap does when you delete an article in Gnus (with @kbd{B DEL} or
15981 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
15982 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
15983 running in circles yet?
15985 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
15986 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
15989 The possible options are:
15994 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as ``Deleted'' when
15997 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
15998 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @acronym{IMAP} clients
15999 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
16000 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
16002 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
16007 @item nnimap-importantize-dormant
16008 @vindex nnimap-importantize-dormant
16010 If non-@code{nil} (the default), marks dormant articles as ticked (as
16011 well), for other @acronym{IMAP} clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will
16012 naturally still (only) be marked as dormant. This is to make dormant
16013 articles stand out, just like ticked articles, in other @acronym{IMAP}
16014 clients. (In other words, Gnus has two ``Tick'' marks and @acronym{IMAP}
16017 Probably the only reason for frobing this would be if you're trying
16018 enable per-user persistent dormant flags, using something like:
16021 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-flag-alist)
16022 (format "gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
16023 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-predicate-alist)
16024 (format "KEYWORD gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
16027 In this case, you would not want the per-user dormant flag showing up
16028 as ticked for other users.
16030 @item nnimap-expunge-search-string
16032 @vindex nnimap-expunge-search-string
16034 This variable contain the @acronym{IMAP} search command sent to server when
16035 searching for articles eligible for expiring. The default is
16036 @code{"UID %s NOT SINCE %s"}, where the first @code{%s} is replaced by
16037 UID set and the second @code{%s} is replaced by a date.
16039 Probably the only useful value to change this to is
16040 @code{"UID %s NOT SENTSINCE %s"}, which makes nnimap use the Date: in
16041 messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
16042 RFC 2060 for more information on valid strings.
16044 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
16045 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
16047 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
16048 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
16049 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
16052 @item nnimap-need-unselect-to-notice-new-mail
16053 @vindex nnimap-need-unselect-to-notice-new-mail
16055 Unselect mailboxes before looking for new mail in them. Some servers
16056 seem to need this under some circumstances; it was reported that
16062 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
16063 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
16064 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
16065 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
16066 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use @acronym{IMAP} namespace in Gnus.
16071 @node Splitting in IMAP
16072 @subsection Splitting in IMAP
16073 @cindex splitting imap mail
16075 Splitting is something Gnus users has loved and used for years, and now
16076 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
16077 @acronym{IMAP} server has server side splitting and those that have splitting
16078 seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that @acronym{IMAP}
16079 support for Gnus has to do its own splitting.
16083 Here are the variables of interest:
16087 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
16088 @cindex splitting, crosspost
16090 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
16092 If non-@code{nil}, do crossposting if several split methods match the
16093 mail. If @code{nil}, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule}
16094 found will be used.
16096 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
16098 @item nnimap-split-inbox
16099 @cindex splitting, inbox
16101 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
16103 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @acronym{IMAP}
16104 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to @code{nil}, which means that
16105 splitting is disabled!
16108 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
16109 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
16112 No nnmail equivalent.
16114 @item nnimap-split-rule
16115 @cindex splitting, rules
16116 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
16118 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
16121 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
16122 sublist gives the name of the @acronym{IMAP} mailbox to move articles
16123 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
16124 Neither did I, we need examples.
16127 (setq nnimap-split-rule
16129 "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
16130 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
16131 ("INBOX.private" "")))
16134 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
16135 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
16136 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
16138 The first string may contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by
16139 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
16143 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
16146 The first element can also be the symbol @code{junk} to indicate that
16147 matching messages should simply be deleted. Use with care.
16149 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
16150 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
16151 containing the headers of the article. It should return a
16152 non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
16154 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
16155 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
16156 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
16157 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
16158 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
16159 them every time you fetch new mail.)
16161 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
16162 end. The first rule to make a match will ``win'', unless you have
16163 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will ``win''.
16165 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
16166 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
16167 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
16169 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it needs to.
16171 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
16172 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
16173 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
16176 (setq nnimap-split-rule
16177 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
16178 ("junk" "From:.*Simon"))))
16179 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
16180 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
16181 ("junk" my-junk-func))))))
16184 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
16185 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
16186 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
16187 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
16188 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
16189 group/function elements.
16191 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
16193 @item nnimap-split-predicate
16195 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
16197 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
16198 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
16200 This might be useful if you use another @acronym{IMAP} client to read mail in
16201 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
16202 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
16205 @item nnimap-split-fancy
16206 @cindex splitting, fancy
16207 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
16208 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
16210 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
16211 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
16212 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
16214 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
16215 nnimap back ends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
16216 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
16217 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
16222 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
16223 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
16226 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
16228 @item nnimap-split-download-body
16229 @findex nnimap-split-download-body
16230 @vindex nnimap-split-download-body
16232 Set to non-@code{nil} to download entire articles during splitting.
16233 This is generally not required, and will slow things down
16234 considerably. You may need it if you want to use an advanced
16235 splitting function that analyses the body to split the article.
16239 @node Expiring in IMAP
16240 @subsection Expiring in IMAP
16241 @cindex expiring imap mail
16243 Even though @code{nnimap} is not a proper @code{nnmail} derived back
16244 end, it supports most features in regular expiring (@pxref{Expiring
16245 Mail}). Unlike splitting in @acronym{IMAP} (@pxref{Splitting in
16246 IMAP}) it does not clone the @code{nnmail} variables (i.e., creating
16247 @var{nnimap-expiry-wait}) but reuse the @code{nnmail} variables. What
16248 follows below are the variables used by the @code{nnimap} expiry
16251 A note on how the expire mark is stored on the @acronym{IMAP} server is
16252 appropriate here as well. The expire mark is translated into a
16253 @code{imap} client specific mark, @code{gnus-expire}, and stored on the
16254 message. This means that likely only Gnus will understand and treat
16255 the @code{gnus-expire} mark properly, although other clients may allow
16256 you to view client specific flags on the message. It also means that
16257 your server must support permanent storage of client specific flags on
16258 messages. Most do, fortunately.
16262 @item nnmail-expiry-wait
16263 @item nnmail-expiry-wait-function
16265 These variables are fully supported. The expire value can be a
16266 number, the symbol @code{immediate} or @code{never}.
16268 @item nnmail-expiry-target
16270 This variable is supported, and internally implemented by calling the
16271 @code{nnmail} functions that handle this. It contains an optimization
16272 that if the destination is a @acronym{IMAP} group on the same server, the
16273 article is copied instead of appended (that is, uploaded again).
16277 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
16278 @subsection Editing IMAP ACLs
16279 @cindex editing imap acls
16280 @cindex Access Control Lists
16281 @cindex Editing @acronym{IMAP} ACLs
16283 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
16285 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @acronym{IMAP} for
16286 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
16287 @acronym{IMAP} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
16290 To edit an ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
16291 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with an ACL
16292 editing window with detailed instructions.
16294 Some possible uses:
16298 Giving ``anyone'' the ``lrs'' rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
16299 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
16300 follow the list without subscribing to it.
16302 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
16303 ``anyone'' posting ("p") capabilities to have ``plussing'' work (that is,
16304 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @acronym{IMAP} mailbox
16308 @node Expunging mailboxes
16309 @subsection Expunging mailboxes
16313 @cindex manual expunging
16315 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
16317 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
16318 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
16319 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
16321 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
16324 @node A note on namespaces
16325 @subsection A note on namespaces
16326 @cindex IMAP namespace
16329 The @acronym{IMAP} protocol has a concept called namespaces, described
16330 by the following text in the RFC:
16333 5.1.2. Mailbox Namespace Naming Convention
16335 By convention, the first hierarchical element of any mailbox name
16336 which begins with "#" identifies the "namespace" of the remainder of
16337 the name. This makes it possible to disambiguate between different
16338 types of mailbox stores, each of which have their own namespaces.
16340 For example, implementations which offer access to USENET
16341 newsgroups MAY use the "#news" namespace to partition the USENET
16342 newsgroup namespace from that of other mailboxes. Thus, the
16343 comp.mail.misc newsgroup would have an mailbox name of
16344 "#news.comp.mail.misc", and the name "comp.mail.misc" could refer
16345 to a different object (e.g. a user's private mailbox).
16348 While there is nothing in this text that warrants concern for the
16349 @acronym{IMAP} implementation in Gnus, some servers use namespace
16350 prefixes in a way that does not work with how Gnus uses mailbox names.
16352 Specifically, University of Washington's @acronym{IMAP} server uses
16353 mailbox names like @code{#driver.mbx/read-mail} which are valid only
16354 in the @sc{create} and @sc{append} commands. After the mailbox is
16355 created (or a messages is appended to a mailbox), it must be accessed
16356 without the namespace prefix, i.e. @code{read-mail}. Since Gnus do
16357 not make it possible for the user to guarantee that user entered
16358 mailbox names will only be used with the CREATE and APPEND commands,
16359 you should simply not use the namespace prefixed mailbox names in
16362 See the UoW IMAPD documentation for the @code{#driver.*/} prefix
16363 for more information on how to use the prefixes. They are a power
16364 tool and should be used only if you are sure what the effects are.
16366 @node Other Sources
16367 @section Other Sources
16369 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
16370 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
16374 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
16375 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
16376 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
16377 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
16378 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
16382 @node Directory Groups
16383 @subsection Directory Groups
16385 @cindex directory groups
16387 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
16388 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
16391 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
16392 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
16393 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
16394 back end to read directories. Big deal.
16396 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
16397 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
16398 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
16399 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
16400 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
16402 @code{nndir} will use @acronym{NOV} files if they are present.
16404 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
16405 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
16406 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
16407 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
16410 @node Anything Groups
16411 @subsection Anything Groups
16414 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
16415 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
16416 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
16419 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
16420 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
16421 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
16422 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
16423 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
16424 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
16425 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
16426 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
16427 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
16428 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
16431 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
16432 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
16433 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
16434 in the article buffer, just as usual.
16436 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
16437 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
16438 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
16439 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
16441 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
16442 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
16443 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
16444 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
16445 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
16446 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
16447 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
16448 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
16453 @item nneething-map-file-directory
16454 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
16455 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
16456 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
16458 @item nneething-exclude-files
16459 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
16460 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
16461 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
16463 @item nneething-include-files
16464 @vindex nneething-include-files
16465 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
16466 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
16468 @item nneething-map-file
16469 @vindex nneething-map-file
16470 Name of the map files.
16474 @node Document Groups
16475 @subsection Document Groups
16477 @cindex documentation group
16480 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
16481 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
16488 The Babyl (Rmail) mail box.
16493 The standard Unix mbox file.
16495 @cindex MMDF mail box
16497 The MMDF mail box format.
16500 Several news articles appended into a file.
16503 @cindex rnews batch files
16504 The rnews batch transport format.
16505 @cindex forwarded messages
16508 Forwarded articles.
16511 Netscape mail boxes.
16514 @acronym{MIME} multipart messages.
16516 @item standard-digest
16517 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
16520 A @acronym{MIME} digest of messages.
16522 @item lanl-gov-announce
16523 Announcement messages from LANL Gov Announce.
16525 @item rfc822-forward
16526 A message forwarded according to RFC822.
16529 The Outlook mail box.
16532 The Outlook Express dbx mail box.
16535 A bounce message from the Exim MTA.
16538 A message forwarded according to informal rules.
16541 An RFC934-forwarded message.
16547 A digest of Clarinet brief news items.
16550 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
16556 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
16557 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
16558 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
16561 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
16562 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
16563 group. And that's it.
16565 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
16566 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
16567 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
16568 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
16569 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
16570 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
16571 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
16572 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
16573 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
16574 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
16576 Virtual server variables:
16579 @item nndoc-article-type
16580 @vindex nndoc-article-type
16581 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
16582 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
16583 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
16584 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook},
16585 @code{oe-dbx}, @code{mailman}, and @code{mail-in-mail} or @code{guess}.
16587 @item nndoc-post-type
16588 @vindex nndoc-post-type
16589 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
16590 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
16595 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
16599 @node Document Server Internals
16600 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
16602 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
16603 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
16604 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
16605 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
16607 First, here's an example document type definition:
16611 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
16612 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
16615 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
16616 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
16617 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
16618 types can be defined with very few settings:
16621 @item first-article
16622 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
16623 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
16626 @item article-begin
16627 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
16628 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
16630 @item head-begin-function
16631 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
16634 @item nndoc-head-begin
16635 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
16638 @item nndoc-head-end
16639 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
16640 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
16642 @item body-begin-function
16643 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
16647 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
16650 @item body-end-function
16651 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
16655 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
16658 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
16659 regexp will be totally ignored.
16663 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
16664 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
16665 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
16666 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
16667 something that's palatable for Gnus:
16670 @item prepare-body-function
16671 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
16672 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
16673 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
16675 @item article-transform-function
16676 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
16677 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
16678 body of the article.
16680 @item generate-head-function
16681 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
16682 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
16683 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
16684 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
16688 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
16693 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
16694 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
16695 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
16696 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
16697 (head-end . "^ ?$")
16698 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
16699 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
16700 (subtype digest guess))
16703 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
16704 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
16705 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
16706 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
16707 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
16709 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
16710 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first
16711 is the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says
16712 where in the document type definition alist to put this definition.
16713 The alist is traversed sequentially, and
16714 @code{nndoc-@var{type}-type-p} is called for a given type @var{type}.
16715 So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document is of
16716 @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
16717 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it
16718 is of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
16719 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number
16720 means low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
16728 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
16729 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
16730 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
16732 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
16733 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
16734 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
16737 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
16738 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
16739 that interested in doing things properly.
16741 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
16742 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
16745 First some terminology:
16750 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
16751 get news and/or mail from.
16754 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
16755 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
16758 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
16762 @item message packets
16763 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
16764 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
16765 default, where @var{x} is a number.
16767 @item response packets
16768 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
16769 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
16770 default, where @var{x} is a number.
16780 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
16781 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
16782 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
16783 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
16786 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
16789 You put the packet in your home directory.
16792 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} back end as
16793 the native or secondary server.
16796 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
16797 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
16800 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
16804 You transfer this packet to the server.
16807 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
16810 You then repeat until you die.
16814 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
16815 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
16818 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
16819 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
16820 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
16824 @node SOUP Commands
16825 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
16827 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
16831 @kindex G s b (Group)
16832 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
16833 Pack all unread articles in the current group
16834 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
16835 process/prefix convention.
16838 @kindex G s w (Group)
16839 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
16840 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
16843 @kindex G s s (Group)
16844 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
16845 Send all replies from the replies packet
16846 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
16849 @kindex G s p (Group)
16850 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
16851 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
16854 @kindex G s r (Group)
16855 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
16856 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
16859 @kindex O s (Summary)
16860 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
16861 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
16862 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
16863 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
16868 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
16873 @item gnus-soup-directory
16874 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
16875 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
16876 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
16878 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
16879 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
16880 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
16881 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
16883 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
16884 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
16885 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
16886 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
16888 @item gnus-soup-packer
16889 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
16890 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
16891 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
16893 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
16894 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
16895 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
16896 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
16898 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
16899 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
16900 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
16902 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
16903 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
16904 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
16905 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
16911 @subsubsection SOUP Groups
16914 @code{nnsoup} is the back end for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
16915 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
16916 you can read them at leisure.
16918 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
16922 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
16923 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
16924 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
16925 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
16927 @item nnsoup-directory
16928 @vindex nnsoup-directory
16929 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
16930 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
16932 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
16933 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
16934 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
16935 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/}.
16937 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
16938 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
16939 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
16940 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
16941 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
16943 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
16944 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
16945 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
16946 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
16948 @item nnsoup-active-file
16949 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
16950 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
16951 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
16952 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
16953 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
16955 @item nnsoup-packer
16956 @vindex nnsoup-packer
16957 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
16958 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
16960 @item nnsoup-unpacker
16961 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
16962 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
16963 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
16965 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
16966 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
16967 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
16970 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
16971 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
16972 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
16975 @item nnsoup-always-save
16976 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
16977 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
16983 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
16985 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
16986 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
16987 more for that to happen.
16989 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
16990 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
16991 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
16994 In specific, this is what it does:
16997 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
16998 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
17001 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
17002 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
17003 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
17006 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
17007 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
17008 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
17011 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
17012 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
17013 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
17015 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
17021 @item nngateway-address
17022 @vindex nngateway-address
17023 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
17025 @item nngateway-header-transformation
17026 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
17027 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
17028 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
17029 transformation should be called, and defaults to
17030 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
17031 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
17034 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
17035 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
17036 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
17039 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
17042 will get this @code{To} header inserted:
17045 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
17048 The following pre-defined functions exist:
17050 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
17053 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
17054 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
17055 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
17057 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
17059 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
17060 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
17061 @code{nngateway-address}.
17069 (setq gnus-post-method
17071 "mail2news@@replay.com"
17072 (nngateway-header-transformation
17073 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
17076 So, to use this, simply say something like:
17079 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
17084 @node Combined Groups
17085 @section Combined Groups
17087 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
17091 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
17092 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
17096 @node Virtual Groups
17097 @subsection Virtual Groups
17099 @cindex virtual groups
17100 @cindex merging groups
17102 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
17105 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
17106 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
17107 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
17109 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
17110 regexp to match component groups.
17112 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
17113 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
17114 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it
17115 came. (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be
17116 shown in the virtual group.). To create an empty virtual group, run
17117 @kbd{G V} (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}) in the group buffer
17118 and edit the method regexp with @kbd{M-e}
17119 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method})
17121 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
17122 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
17125 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
17128 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
17129 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
17131 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
17132 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
17133 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
17134 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
17137 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
17140 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
17141 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
17142 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
17144 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
17145 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
17146 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
17147 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
17148 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
17150 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
17151 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
17152 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
17154 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
17155 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
17156 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
17157 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
17158 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
17159 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
17160 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
17161 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
17162 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
17163 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
17164 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
17166 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
17167 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
17168 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
17169 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
17170 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
17171 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
17172 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
17174 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
17175 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
17177 @code{nnvirtual} groups do not inherit anything but articles and marks
17178 from component groups---group parameters, for instance, are not
17182 @node Kibozed Groups
17183 @subsection Kibozed Groups
17187 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @acronym{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
17188 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a back end that will do this for
17189 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @acronym{NNTP} server down to a halt
17190 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
17192 @kindex G k (Group)
17193 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
17196 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
17197 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
17198 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between
17199 @code{nnkiboze} and @code{nnvirtual} end.
17201 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an
17202 @code{nnkiboze} group must have a score file to say what articles are
17203 to be included in the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
17205 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
17206 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
17207 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
17208 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time.
17209 Lots of time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the
17210 headers from all the articles in all the component groups and run them
17211 through the scoring process to determine if there are any articles in
17212 the groups that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
17214 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
17215 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
17216 @acronym{NNTP} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
17217 Stranger things have happened.
17219 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
17220 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
17222 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
17223 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
17224 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
17225 contains the @acronym{NOV} header lines for all the articles in the group,
17226 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
17227 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
17229 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
17230 their @acronym{NOV} lines removed from the @acronym{NOV} file.
17233 @node Gnus Unplugged
17234 @section Gnus Unplugged
17239 @cindex Gnus unplugged
17241 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
17242 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
17243 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
17244 read news. Believe it or not.
17246 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
17247 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
17248 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
17249 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
17250 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
17252 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
17253 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
17254 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
17255 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
17256 reading news on a machine.
17258 Setting up Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple. In
17259 fact, you don't even have to configure anything.
17261 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
17264 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
17265 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
17266 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
17267 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
17268 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
17269 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
17270 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
17271 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
17272 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
17273 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
17274 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
17275 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
17276 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
17281 @subsection Agent Basics
17283 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
17285 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
17286 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
17287 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
17288 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
17290 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
17291 connected to the net continuously.
17293 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
17294 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
17296 You know that Gnus gives you all the opportunity you'd ever want for
17297 shooting yourself in the foot. Some people call it flexibility. Gnus
17298 is also customizable to a great extent, which means that the user has a
17299 say on how Gnus behaves. Other newsreaders might unconditionally shoot
17300 you in your foot, but with Gnus, you have a choice!
17302 Gnus is never really in plugged or unplugged state. Rather, it applies
17303 that state to each server individually. This means that some servers
17304 can be plugged while others can be unplugged. Additionally, some
17305 servers can be ignored by the Agent altogether (which means that
17306 they're kinda like plugged always).
17308 So when you unplug the Agent and then wonder why is Gnus opening a
17309 connection to the Net, the next step to do is to look whether all
17310 servers are agentized. If there is an unagentized server, you found
17313 Another thing is the @dfn{offline} state. Sometimes, servers aren't
17314 reachable. When Gnus notices this, it asks you whether you want the
17315 server to be switched to offline state. If you say yes, then the
17316 server will behave somewhat as if it was unplugged, except that Gnus
17317 will ask you whether you want to switch it back online again.
17319 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
17324 @findex gnus-unplugged
17325 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
17326 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
17327 already fetched while in this mode.
17330 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
17331 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
17332 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
17333 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode (@pxref{Mail
17334 Source Specifiers}).
17337 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the
17338 news onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press
17339 @kbd{g} to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J s} to fetch
17340 all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus know which
17341 articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}).
17344 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
17345 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
17346 then you read the news offline.
17349 And then you go to step 2.
17352 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
17358 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
17359 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
17360 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
17361 @kbd{J a} on the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
17362 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}), or @kbd{J r} on automatically
17363 added servers you do not wish to have covered by the Agent. By default,
17364 all @code{nntp} and @code{nnimap} servers in @code{gnus-select-method} and
17365 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} are agentized.
17368 Decide on download policy. It's fairly simple once you decide whether
17369 you are going to use agent categories, topic parameters, and/or group
17370 parameters to implement your policy. If you're new to gnus, it
17371 is probably best to start with a category, @xref{Agent Categories}.
17373 Both topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) and agent categories
17374 (@pxref{Agent Categories}) provide for setting a policy that applies
17375 to multiple groups. Which you use is entirely up to you. Topic
17376 parameters do override categories so, if you mix the two, you'll have
17377 to take that into account. If you have a few groups that deviate from
17378 your policy, you can use group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to
17382 Uhm@dots{} that's it.
17386 @node Agent Categories
17387 @subsection Agent Categories
17389 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
17390 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
17391 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
17392 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
17393 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
17394 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
17395 you're interested in the articles anyway.
17397 One of the more effective methods for controlling what is to be
17398 downloaded is to create a @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all)
17399 groups to this category. Groups that do not belong in any other
17400 category belong to the @code{default} category. Gnus has its own
17401 buffer for creating and managing categories.
17403 If you prefer, you can also use group parameters (@pxref{Group
17404 Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) for an
17405 alternative approach to controlling the agent. The only real
17406 difference is that categories are specific to the agent (so there is
17407 less to learn) while group and topic parameters include the kitchen
17410 Since you can set agent parameters in several different places we have
17411 a rule to decide which source to believe. This rule specifies that
17412 the parameter sources are checked in the following order: group
17413 parameters, topic parameters, agent category, and finally customizable
17414 variables. So you can mix all of these sources to produce a wide range
17415 of behavior, just don't blame me if you don't remember where you put
17419 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
17420 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
17421 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
17425 @node Category Syntax
17426 @subsubsection Category Syntax
17428 A category consists of a name, the list of groups belonging to the
17429 category, and a number of optional parameters that override the
17430 customizable variables. The complete list of agent parameters are
17434 @item gnus-agent-cat-name
17435 The name of the category.
17437 @item gnus-agent-cat-groups
17438 The list of groups that are in this category.
17440 @item gnus-agent-cat-predicate
17441 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
17442 are eligible for downloading; and
17444 @item gnus-agent-cat-score-file
17445 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
17446 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
17447 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
17449 @item gnus-agent-cat-enable-expiration
17450 a boolean indicating whether the agent should expire old articles in
17451 this group. Most groups should be expired to conserve disk space. In
17452 fact, its probably safe to say that the gnus.* hierarchy contains the
17453 only groups that should not be expired.
17455 @item gnus-agent-cat-days-until-old
17456 an integer indicating the number of days that the agent should wait
17457 before deciding that a read article is safe to expire.
17459 @item gnus-agent-cat-low-score
17460 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-low-score}.
17462 @item gnus-agent-cat-high-score
17463 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-high-score}.
17465 @item gnus-agent-cat-length-when-short
17466 an integer that overrides the value of
17467 @code{gnus-agent-short-article}.
17469 @item gnus-agent-cat-length-when-long
17470 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-long-article}.
17473 The name of a category can not be changed once the category has been
17476 Each category maintains a list of groups that are exclusive members of
17477 that category. The exclusivity rule is automatically enforced, add a
17478 group to a new category and it is automatically removed from its old
17481 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
17482 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
17483 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
17484 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
17486 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
17487 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
17488 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
17490 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
17491 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
17492 operators sprinkled in between.
17494 Perhaps some examples are in order.
17496 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
17497 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
17503 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
17504 short (for some value of ``short'').
17506 Here's a more complex predicate:
17515 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
17516 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
17519 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
17520 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
17521 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
17523 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
17524 you want to do, you can write your own.
17526 When evaluating each of these predicates, the named constant will be
17527 bound to the value determined by calling
17528 @code{gnus-agent-find-parameter} on the appropriate parameter. For
17529 example, gnus-agent-short-article will be bound to
17530 @code{(gnus-agent-find-parameter group 'agent-short-article)}. This
17531 means that you can specify a predicate in your category then tune that
17532 predicate to individual groups.
17536 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
17537 lines; default 100.
17540 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
17541 lines; default 200.
17544 True iff the article has a download score less than
17545 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
17548 True iff the article has a download score greater than
17549 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
17552 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
17553 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
17554 checksum and sees whether articles match.
17563 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
17564 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
17565 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
17568 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
17569 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
17570 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
17571 something along the lines of the following:
17574 (defun my-article-old-p ()
17575 "Say whether an article is old."
17576 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
17577 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
17580 with the predicate then defined as:
17583 (not my-article-old-p)
17586 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
17587 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
17591 (require 'gnus-agent)
17592 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
17593 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
17594 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
17597 and simply specify your predicate as:
17603 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
17604 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
17605 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
17606 just don't give a damn.
17608 The above predicates apply to @emph{all} the groups which belong to the
17609 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
17610 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
17611 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in its group
17612 parameters like so:
17615 (agent-predicate . short)
17618 This is the group/topic parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
17619 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
17620 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
17622 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
17625 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
17628 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
17629 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
17630 predicate is assumed to be a list.
17633 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
17634 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
17635 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
17636 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
17637 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
17638 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
17640 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
17641 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
17642 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
17643 if it's to be specific to that group.
17645 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
17652 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
17653 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
17659 Category specification
17663 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
17669 Group/Topic Parameter specification
17672 (agent-score ("from"
17673 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
17678 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
17684 These score files must @emph{only} contain the permitted scoring
17685 keywords stated above.
17691 Category specification
17694 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
17700 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
17704 Group Parameter specification
17707 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
17710 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
17715 Use @code{normal} score files
17717 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
17718 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
17719 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
17720 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
17722 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
17723 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
17724 files for a group, @emph{filtering out} those sections that do not
17725 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
17729 Category Specification
17736 Group Parameter specification
17739 (agent-score . file)
17744 @node Category Buffer
17745 @subsubsection Category Buffer
17747 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
17748 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
17749 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
17751 The following commands are available in this buffer:
17755 @kindex q (Category)
17756 @findex gnus-category-exit
17757 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
17760 @kindex e (Category)
17761 @findex gnus-category-customize-category
17762 Use a customization buffer to set all of the selected category's
17763 parameters at one time (@code{gnus-category-customize-category}).
17766 @kindex k (Category)
17767 @findex gnus-category-kill
17768 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
17771 @kindex c (Category)
17772 @findex gnus-category-copy
17773 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
17776 @kindex a (Category)
17777 @findex gnus-category-add
17778 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
17781 @kindex p (Category)
17782 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
17783 Edit the predicate of the current category
17784 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
17787 @kindex g (Category)
17788 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
17789 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
17790 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
17793 @kindex s (Category)
17794 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
17795 Edit the download score rule of the current category
17796 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
17799 @kindex l (Category)
17800 @findex gnus-category-list
17801 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
17805 @node Category Variables
17806 @subsubsection Category Variables
17809 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
17810 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
17811 Hook run in category buffers.
17813 @item gnus-category-line-format
17814 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
17815 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
17816 Variables}). Valid elements are:
17820 The name of the category.
17823 The number of groups in the category.
17826 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
17827 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
17828 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
17830 @item gnus-agent-short-article
17831 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
17832 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
17834 @item gnus-agent-long-article
17835 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
17836 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
17838 @item gnus-agent-low-score
17839 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
17840 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
17843 @item gnus-agent-high-score
17844 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
17845 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
17848 @item gnus-agent-expire-days
17849 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
17850 The number of days that a @samp{read} article must stay in the agent's
17851 local disk before becoming eligible for expiration (While the name is
17852 the same, this doesn't mean expiring the article on the server. It
17853 just means deleting the local copy of the article). What is also
17854 important to understand is that the counter starts with the time the
17855 article was written to the local disk and not the time the article was
17859 @item gnus-agent-enable-expiration
17860 @vindex gnus-agent-enable-expiration
17861 Determines whether articles in a group are, by default, expired or
17862 retained indefinitely. The default is @code{ENABLE} which means that
17863 you'll have to disable expiration when desired. On the other hand,
17864 you could set this to @code{DISABLE}. In that case, you would then
17865 have to enable expiration in selected groups.
17870 @node Agent Commands
17871 @subsection Agent Commands
17872 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-plugged
17873 @kindex J j (Agent)
17875 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
17876 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
17877 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
17881 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
17882 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
17883 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
17889 @node Group Agent Commands
17890 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
17894 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
17895 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
17896 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
17897 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
17900 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
17901 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
17902 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
17905 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
17906 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
17907 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
17908 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
17911 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
17912 @findex gnus-group-send-queue
17913 Send all sendable messages in the queue group
17914 (@code{gnus-group-send-queue}). @xref{Drafts}.
17917 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
17918 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
17919 Add the current group to an Agent category
17920 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
17921 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
17924 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
17925 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
17926 Remove the current group from its category, if any
17927 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
17928 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
17931 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
17932 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
17933 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
17939 @node Summary Agent Commands
17940 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
17944 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
17945 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
17946 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
17949 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
17950 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
17951 Remove the downloading mark from the article
17952 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
17956 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
17957 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
17958 Toggle whether to download the article
17959 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}). The download mark is @samp{%} by
17963 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
17964 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
17965 Mark all articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}) that are neither cached, downloaded, nor downloadable.
17968 @kindex J S (Agent Summary)
17969 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-group
17970 Download all eligible (@pxref{Agent Categories}) articles in this group.
17971 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-group}).
17974 @kindex J s (Agent Summary)
17975 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-series
17976 Download all processable articles in this group.
17977 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-series}).
17980 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
17981 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
17982 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
17983 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
17988 @node Server Agent Commands
17989 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
17993 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
17994 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
17995 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
17996 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
17999 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
18000 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
18001 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
18002 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
18007 @node Agent Visuals
18008 @subsection Agent Visuals
18010 If you open a summary while unplugged and, Gnus knows from the group's
18011 active range that there are more articles than the headers currently
18012 stored in the Agent, you may see some articles whose subject looks
18013 something like @samp{[Undownloaded article #####]}. These are
18014 placeholders for the missing headers. Aside from setting a mark,
18015 there is not much that can be done with one of these placeholders.
18016 When Gnus finally gets a chance to fetch the group's headers, the
18017 placeholders will automatically be replaced by the actual headers.
18018 You can configure the summary buffer's maneuvering to skip over the
18019 placeholders if you care (See @code{gnus-auto-goto-ignores}).
18021 While it may be obvious to all, the only headers and articles
18022 available while unplugged are those headers and articles that were
18023 fetched into the Agent while previously plugged. To put it another
18024 way, "If you forget to fetch something while plugged, you might have a
18025 less than satisfying unplugged session". For this reason, the Agent
18026 adds two visual effects to your summary buffer. These effects display
18027 the download status of each article so that you always know which
18028 articles will be available when unplugged.
18030 The first visual effect is the @samp{%O} spec. If you customize
18031 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} to include this specifier, you will add
18032 a single character field that indicates an article's download status.
18033 Articles that have been fetched into either the Agent or the Cache,
18034 will display @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} (defaults to @samp{+}). All
18035 other articles will display @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} (defaults to
18036 @samp{-}). If you open a group that has not been agentized, a space
18037 (@samp{ }) will be displayed.
18039 The second visual effect are the undownloaded faces. The faces, there
18040 are three indicating the article's score (low, normal, high), seem to
18041 result in a love/hate response from many Gnus users. The problem is
18042 that the face selection is controlled by a list of condition tests and
18043 face names (See @code{gnus-summary-highlight}). Each condition is
18044 tested in the order in which it appears in the list so early
18045 conditions have precedence over later conditions. All of this means
18046 that, if you tick an undownloaded article, the article will continue
18047 to be displayed in the undownloaded face rather than the ticked face.
18049 If you use the Agent as a cache (to avoid downloading the same article
18050 each time you visit it or to minimize your connection time), the
18051 undownloaded face will probably seem like a good idea. The reason
18052 being that you do all of our work (marking, reading, deleting) with
18053 downloaded articles so the normal faces always appear.
18055 For occasional Agent users, the undownloaded faces may appear to be an
18056 absolutely horrible idea. The issue being that, since most of their
18057 articles have not been fetched into the Agent, most of the normal
18058 faces will be obscured by the undownloaded faces. If this is your
18059 situation, you have two choices available. First, you can completely
18060 disable the undownload faces by customizing
18061 @code{gnus-summary-highlight} to delete the three cons-cells that
18062 refer to the @code{gnus-summary-*-undownloaded-face} faces. Second, if
18063 you prefer to take a more fine-grained approach, you may set the
18064 @code{agent-disable-undownloaded-faces} group parameter to t. This
18065 parameter, like all other agent parameters, may be set on an Agent
18066 Category (@pxref{Agent Categories}), a Group Topic (@pxref{Topic
18067 Parameters}), or an individual group (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
18069 @node Agent as Cache
18070 @subsection Agent as Cache
18072 When Gnus is plugged, it is not efficient to download headers or
18073 articles from the server again, if they are already stored in the
18074 Agent. So, Gnus normally only downloads headers once, and stores them
18075 in the Agent. These headers are later used when generating the summary
18076 buffer, regardless of whether you are plugged or unplugged. Articles
18077 are not cached in the Agent by default though (that would potentially
18078 consume lots of disk space), but if you have already downloaded an
18079 article into the Agent, Gnus will not download the article from the
18080 server again but use the locally stored copy instead.
18082 If you so desire, you can configure the agent (see @code{gnus-agent-cache}
18083 @pxref{Agent Variables}) to always download headers and articles while
18084 plugged. Gnus will almost certainly be slower, but it will be kept
18085 synchronized with the server. That last point probably won't make any
18086 sense if you are using a nntp or nnimap back end.
18089 @subsection Agent Expiry
18091 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
18092 @findex gnus-agent-expire
18093 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
18094 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire-group
18095 @findex gnus-agent-expire-group
18096 @cindex agent expiry
18097 @cindex Gnus agent expiry
18100 The Agent back end, @code{nnagent}, doesn't handle expiry. Well, at
18101 least it doesn't handle it like other back ends. Instead, there are
18102 special @code{gnus-agent-expire} and @code{gnus-agent-expire-group}
18103 commands that will expire all read articles that are older than
18104 @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. They can be run whenever you feel
18105 that you're running out of space. Neither are particularly fast or
18106 efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to interrupt them (with
18107 @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started one of them.
18109 Note that other functions, e.g. @code{gnus-request-expire-articles},
18110 might run @code{gnus-agent-expire} for you to keep the agent
18111 synchronized with the group.
18113 The agent parameter @code{agent-enable-expiration} may be used to
18114 prevent expiration in selected groups.
18116 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
18117 If @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, the agent
18118 expiration commands will expire all articles---unread, read, ticked
18119 and dormant. If @code{nil} (which is the default), only read articles
18120 are eligible for expiry, and unread, ticked and dormant articles will
18121 be kept indefinitely.
18123 If you find that some articles eligible for expiry are never expired,
18124 perhaps some Gnus Agent files are corrupted. There's are special
18125 commands, @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} and
18126 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group}, to fix possible problems.
18128 @node Agent Regeneration
18129 @subsection Agent Regeneration
18131 @cindex agent regeneration
18132 @cindex Gnus agent regeneration
18133 @cindex regeneration
18135 The local data structures used by @code{nnagent} may become corrupted
18136 due to certain exceptional conditions. When this happens,
18137 @code{nnagent} functionality may degrade or even fail. The solution
18138 to this problem is to repair the local data structures by removing all
18139 internal inconsistencies.
18141 For example, if your connection to your server is lost while
18142 downloaded articles into the agent, the local data structures will not
18143 know about articles successfully downloaded prior to the connection
18144 failure. Running @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} or
18145 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} will update the data structures
18146 such that you don't need to download these articles a second time.
18148 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate
18149 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate
18150 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} will perform
18151 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} on every agentized group. While
18152 you can run @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} in any buffer, it is strongly
18153 recommended that you first close all summary buffers.
18155 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate-group
18156 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate-group
18157 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} uses the local copies
18158 of individual articles to repair the local @acronym{NOV}(header) database. It
18159 then updates the internal data structures that document which articles
18160 are stored locally. An optional argument will mark articles in the
18163 @node Agent and IMAP
18164 @subsection Agent and IMAP
18166 The Agent works with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
18167 since there are some conceptual differences between @acronym{NNTP} and
18168 @acronym{IMAP}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
18169 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @acronym{IMAP} Disconnected Mode client.
18171 The first thing to keep in mind is that all flags (read, ticked, etc)
18172 are kept on the @acronym{IMAP} server, rather than in @file{.newsrc} as is the
18173 case for nntp. Thus Gnus need to remember flag changes when
18174 disconnected, and synchronize these flags when you plug back in.
18176 Gnus keeps track of flag changes when reading nnimap groups under the
18177 Agent. When you plug back in, Gnus will check if you have any changed
18178 any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these with the server.
18179 The behavior is customizable by @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
18181 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
18182 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
18183 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
18184 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
18185 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
18186 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
18188 If you do not wish to synchronize flags automatically when you
18189 re-connect, you can do it manually with the
18190 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
18191 in the group buffer.
18193 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
18194 expect from a disconnected @acronym{IMAP} client, including:
18199 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
18202 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
18206 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by ``pushing''
18207 all local flags to the server, but rather incrementally update the
18208 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
18209 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on an article, quit the group and
18210 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
18211 removed from the server when you ``synchronize''. The queued flag
18212 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
18213 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
18216 @node Outgoing Messages
18217 @subsection Outgoing Messages
18219 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
18220 stored in the draft group ``queue'' (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view
18221 them there after posting, and edit them at will.
18223 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
18224 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
18225 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
18226 messages in the draft group.
18230 @node Agent Variables
18231 @subsection Agent Variables
18234 @item gnus-agent-directory
18235 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
18236 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
18237 @file{~/News/agent/}.
18239 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
18240 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
18241 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
18242 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
18243 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
18246 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
18247 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
18248 Hook run when connecting to the network.
18250 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
18251 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
18252 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
18254 @item gnus-agent-fetched-hook
18255 @vindex gnus-agent-fetched-hook
18256 Hook run when finished fetching articles.
18258 @item gnus-agent-cache
18259 @vindex gnus-agent-cache
18260 Variable to control whether use the locally stored @acronym{NOV} and
18261 articles when plugged, e.g. essentially using the Agent as a cache.
18262 The default is non-@code{nil}, which means to use the Agent as a cache.
18264 @item gnus-agent-go-online
18265 @vindex gnus-agent-go-online
18266 If @code{gnus-agent-go-online} is @code{nil}, the Agent will never
18267 automatically switch offline servers into online status. If it is
18268 @code{ask}, the default, the Agent will ask if you wish to switch
18269 offline servers into online status when you re-connect. If it has any
18270 other value, all offline servers will be automatically switched into
18273 @item gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
18274 @vindex gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
18275 If @code{gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded} is non-@code{nil},
18276 mark articles as unread after downloading. This is usually a safe
18277 thing to do as the newly downloaded article has obviously not been
18278 read. The default is t.
18280 @item gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
18281 @vindex gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
18282 If @code{gnus-agent-consider-all-articles} is non-@code{nil}, the
18283 agent will fetch all missing headers. When @code{nil}, the agent will
18284 fetch only new headers. The default is @code{nil}.
18286 @item gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
18287 @vindex gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
18288 The agent fetches articles into a temporary buffer prior to parsing
18289 them into individual files. To avoid exceeding the max. buffer size,
18290 the agent alternates between fetching and parsing until all articles
18291 have been fetched. @code{gnus-agent-max-fetch-size} provides a size
18292 limit to control how often the cycling occurs. A large value improves
18293 performance. A small value minimizes the time lost should the
18294 connection be lost while fetching (You may need to run
18295 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} to update the group's state.
18296 However, all articles parsed prior to loosing the connection will be
18297 available while unplugged). The default is 10M so it is unusual to
18300 @item gnus-server-unopen-status
18301 @vindex gnus-server-unopen-status
18302 Perhaps not an Agent variable, but closely related to the Agent, this
18303 variable says what will happen if Gnus cannot open a server. If the
18304 Agent is enabled, the default, @code{nil}, makes Gnus ask the user
18305 whether to deny the server or whether to unplug the agent. If the
18306 Agent is disabled, Gnus always simply deny the server. Other choices
18307 for this variable include @code{denied} and @code{offline} the latter
18308 is only valid if the Agent is used.
18310 @item gnus-auto-goto-ignores
18311 @vindex gnus-auto-goto-ignores
18312 Another variable that isn't an Agent variable, yet so closely related
18313 that most will look for it here, this variable tells the summary
18314 buffer how to maneuver around undownloaded (only headers stored in the
18315 agent) and unfetched (neither article nor headers stored) articles.
18317 The legal values are @code{nil} (maneuver to any article),
18318 @code{undownloaded} (maneuvering while unplugged ignores articles that
18319 have not been fetched), @code{always-undownloaded} (maneuvering always
18320 ignores articles that have not been fetched), @code{unfetched}
18321 (maneuvering ignores articles whose headers have not been fetched).
18326 @node Example Setup
18327 @subsection Example Setup
18329 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
18330 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
18331 @file{~/.gnus.el} file to get started.
18334 ;;; @r{Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @acronym{NNTP}}
18335 ;;; @r{from your ISP's server.}
18336 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
18338 ;;; @r{Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from}
18339 ;;; @r{your ISP's @acronym{POP} server.}
18340 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
18342 ;;; @r{Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.}
18343 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
18345 ;;; @r{Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.}
18346 ;;; (gnus-agentize) ; @r{The obsolete setting.}
18347 ;;; (setq gnus-agent t) ; @r{Now the default.}
18350 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
18351 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
18354 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
18355 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
18356 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
18357 @acronym{NNTP} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
18358 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
18361 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
18362 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
18363 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
18364 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
18365 back all the killed groups.)
18367 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
18368 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
18369 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
18372 @node Batching Agents
18373 @subsection Batching Agents
18374 @findex gnus-agent-batch
18376 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
18377 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
18378 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
18380 You can run a complete batch command from the command line with the
18381 following incantation:
18385 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f -l ~/.gnus.el gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null 2>&1
18389 @node Agent Caveats
18390 @subsection Agent Caveats
18392 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
18393 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
18397 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the Agent?
18399 @strong{No}. If you want this behaviour, add
18400 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} to
18401 @code{gnus-select-article-hook}.
18403 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists in
18404 the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
18406 @strong{No}, unless @code{gnus-agent-cache} is @code{nil}.
18410 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
18411 articles; when it's plugged, it talks to your ISP and may also use the
18412 locally stored articles.
18419 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
18420 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
18421 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
18424 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
18425 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
18426 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
18427 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
18428 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
18430 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
18431 before generating the summary buffer.
18433 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
18434 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
18435 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
18437 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
18438 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
18439 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
18440 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
18443 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
18444 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
18445 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
18446 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
18447 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
18448 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
18449 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
18450 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
18451 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
18452 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
18453 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
18454 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
18455 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
18456 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
18457 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
18458 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
18459 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
18463 @node Summary Score Commands
18464 @section Summary Score Commands
18465 @cindex score commands
18467 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
18468 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
18469 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
18470 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
18471 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
18473 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
18474 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
18475 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
18476 score file the current one.
18478 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
18483 @kindex V s (Summary)
18484 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
18485 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
18488 @kindex V S (Summary)
18489 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
18490 Display the score of the current article
18491 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
18494 @kindex V t (Summary)
18495 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
18496 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
18497 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}). In the @code{*Score Trace*} buffer, you
18498 can use @kbd{q} to quit. @kbd{e} edits the corresponding score file.
18499 When point is on a string within the match element, @kbd{e} will try to
18500 bring you to this string in the score file.
18503 @kindex V w (Summary)
18504 @findex gnus-score-find-favourite-words
18505 List words used in scoring (@code{gnus-score-find-favourite-words}).
18508 @kindex V R (Summary)
18509 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
18510 Run the current summary through the scoring process
18511 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
18512 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
18513 effect you're having.
18516 @kindex V c (Summary)
18517 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
18518 Make a different score file the current
18519 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
18522 @kindex V e (Summary)
18523 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
18524 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
18525 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
18529 @kindex V f (Summary)
18530 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
18531 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
18532 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
18535 @kindex V F (Summary)
18536 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
18537 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
18538 after editing score files.
18541 @kindex V C (Summary)
18542 @findex gnus-score-customize
18543 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
18544 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
18548 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
18553 @kindex V m (Summary)
18554 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
18555 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
18556 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
18559 @kindex V x (Summary)
18560 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
18561 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
18562 expunge all articles below this score
18563 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
18566 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
18567 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
18570 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
18571 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
18575 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
18576 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
18578 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
18579 keys are available:
18583 Score on the author name.
18586 Score on the subject line.
18589 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
18592 Score on the @code{References} line.
18598 Score on the number of lines.
18601 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
18604 Score on an ``extra'' header, that is, one of those in gnus-extra-headers,
18605 if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks additional header data in overviews.
18608 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
18609 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
18610 @file{ADAPT} files.)
18619 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
18625 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
18626 what headers you are scoring on.
18638 Substring matching.
18641 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
18670 Greater than number.
18675 The fourth and usually final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e.,
18676 expiring) score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry,
18677 or whether it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score
18682 Temporary score entry.
18685 Permanent score entry.
18688 Immediately scoring.
18692 If you are scoring on `e' (extra) headers, you will then be prompted for
18693 the header name on which you wish to score. This must be a header named
18694 in gnus-extra-headers, and @samp{TAB} completion is available.
18698 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
18699 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
18700 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
18701 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
18703 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
18704 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
18705 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
18706 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
18707 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
18709 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
18710 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
18711 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
18712 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
18713 current score file.
18715 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
18716 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
18717 pretend they are keymaps or not.
18720 @node Group Score Commands
18721 @section Group Score Commands
18722 @cindex group score commands
18724 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
18729 @kindex W f (Group)
18730 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
18731 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
18732 all the time. This command will flush the cache
18733 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
18737 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
18739 @findex gnus-batch-score
18740 @cindex batch scoring
18742 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
18746 @node Score Variables
18747 @section Score Variables
18748 @cindex score variables
18752 @item gnus-use-scoring
18753 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
18754 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
18755 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
18757 @item gnus-kill-killed
18758 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
18759 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
18760 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
18761 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
18762 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
18763 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
18764 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
18766 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
18767 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
18768 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
18769 initialized from the @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
18770 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
18772 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
18773 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
18774 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
18775 (@file{SCORE} by default.)
18777 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
18778 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
18779 @cindex score cache
18780 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
18781 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
18782 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely
18783 to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
18784 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
18785 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
18786 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
18789 @item gnus-save-score
18790 @vindex gnus-save-score
18791 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
18792 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
18793 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
18795 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
18796 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
18797 across group visits.
18799 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
18800 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
18801 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
18802 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
18803 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
18804 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
18805 manually entered data.
18807 @item gnus-summary-default-score
18808 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
18809 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
18811 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
18812 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
18813 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
18814 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
18815 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
18816 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
18818 @item gnus-score-over-mark
18819 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
18820 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
18821 default. Default is @samp{+}.
18823 @item gnus-score-below-mark
18824 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
18825 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
18826 default. Default is @samp{-}.
18828 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
18829 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
18830 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
18831 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
18833 Predefined functions available are:
18836 @item gnus-score-find-single
18837 @findex gnus-score-find-single
18838 Only apply the group's own score file.
18840 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
18841 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
18842 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
18843 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
18844 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
18845 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
18846 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
18847 then a regexp match is done.
18849 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
18850 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
18852 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
18853 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
18854 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
18855 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
18857 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
18858 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
18859 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
18860 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
18861 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
18865 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
18866 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
18867 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
18868 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
18869 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
18870 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
18871 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
18874 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
18875 overall score file, you could use the value
18877 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
18878 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
18881 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
18882 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
18883 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
18884 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
18885 are expired. It's 7 by default.
18887 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
18888 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
18889 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, temporary score entries that have
18890 been triggered (matched) will have their dates updated. (This is how Gnus
18891 controls expiry---all non-matched-entries will become too old while
18892 matched entries will stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this
18893 variable to @code{nil}, even matched entries will grow old and will
18894 have to face that oh-so grim reaper.
18896 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
18897 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
18898 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
18900 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
18901 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
18902 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be
18903 simplified for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
18904 threading---according to the current value of
18905 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions}. If the scoring entry uses
18906 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
18907 simplified in this manner.
18912 @node Score File Format
18913 @section Score File Format
18914 @cindex score file format
18916 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
18917 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
18918 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
18920 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
18924 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
18926 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
18928 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
18930 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
18935 (mark-and-expunge -10)
18939 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
18940 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
18941 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
18942 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
18946 This example demonstrates most score file elements. @xref{Advanced
18947 Scoring}, for a different approach.
18949 Even though this looks much like Lisp code, nothing here is actually
18950 @code{eval}ed. The Lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
18951 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
18953 Six keys are supported by this alist:
18958 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
18959 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
18960 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
18961 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
18962 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
18963 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
18964 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
18965 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
18966 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
18967 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
18968 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
18969 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
18970 to articles that matches these score entries.
18972 Following this key is an arbitrary number of score entries, where each
18973 score entry has one to four elements.
18977 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
18978 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
18982 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
18983 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
18984 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
18985 is successful. If this element is not present, the
18986 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
18987 instead. This is 1000 by default.
18990 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
18991 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
18992 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
18993 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
18994 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
18997 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
18998 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
18999 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
19000 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
19003 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
19004 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
19005 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
19006 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
19007 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
19008 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
19009 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
19010 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
19011 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
19012 instead, if you feel like.
19015 Just as for the standard string overview headers, if you are using
19016 gnus-extra-headers, you can score on these headers' values. In this
19017 case, there is a 5th element in the score entry, being the name of the
19018 header to be scored. The following entry is useful in your
19019 @file{all.SCORE} file in case of spam attacks from a single origin host,
19020 if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks NNTP-Posting-Host in overviews:
19023 ("111.222.333.444" -1000 nil s "NNTP-Posting-Host")
19027 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
19028 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
19030 These predicates are true if
19033 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
19036 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
19037 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
19044 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
19045 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
19046 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
19047 it's not. I think.)
19049 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
19050 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
19051 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
19052 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
19055 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
19056 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
19057 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
19058 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
19059 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
19060 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
19061 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
19065 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
19066 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
19067 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
19068 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
19069 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
19070 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
19071 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
19072 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
19075 @item Head, Body, All
19076 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
19080 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
19081 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
19082 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
19083 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
19084 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
19085 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
19086 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
19090 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
19091 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
19092 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
19093 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
19094 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
19095 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
19096 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
19097 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
19098 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
19099 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
19100 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
19104 @cindex score file atoms
19106 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
19107 lower than this number will be marked as read.
19110 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
19111 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
19113 @item mark-and-expunge
19114 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
19115 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
19118 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
19119 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
19120 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
19121 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
19122 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
19125 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
19126 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
19129 @item exclude-files
19130 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
19131 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
19135 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
19136 ignored when handling global score files.
19139 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
19140 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
19141 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
19142 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
19145 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
19146 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
19147 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
19148 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
19150 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
19154 (mark-and-expunge -100)
19157 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
19158 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
19159 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
19160 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
19161 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
19163 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
19164 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
19165 scoring rules exist.
19168 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
19169 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
19170 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
19171 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
19172 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
19173 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
19174 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
19175 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
19176 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
19177 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
19178 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
19182 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
19183 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
19184 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
19185 file for a number of groups.
19188 @cindex local variables
19189 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(@var{var}
19190 @var{value})} pairs. Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the
19191 current summary buffer, and set to the value specified. This is a
19192 convenient, if somewhat strange, way of setting variables in some
19193 groups if you don't like hooks much. Note that the @var{value} won't
19198 @node Score File Editing
19199 @section Score File Editing
19201 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
19202 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
19203 with a mode for that.
19205 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
19206 additional commands:
19211 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
19212 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
19213 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
19214 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
19217 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
19218 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
19219 Insert the current date in numerical format
19220 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
19221 you were wondering.
19224 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
19225 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
19226 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
19227 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
19228 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
19233 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
19235 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
19236 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
19238 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
19239 e} to begin editing score files.
19242 @node Adaptive Scoring
19243 @section Adaptive Scoring
19244 @cindex adaptive scoring
19246 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
19247 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
19248 stupidity, to be precise.
19250 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
19251 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
19252 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
19253 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
19254 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
19255 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
19256 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
19257 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
19258 variable to @code{(word line)}.
19260 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
19261 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
19262 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
19263 might look something like this:
19266 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
19267 '((gnus-unread-mark)
19268 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
19269 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
19270 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
19271 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
19272 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
19273 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
19274 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
19275 (gnus-ancient-mark)
19276 (gnus-low-score-mark)
19277 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
19280 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
19281 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
19282 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
19283 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
19284 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
19285 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
19288 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
19289 will be applied to each article.
19291 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
19292 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{e}) will have a
19293 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
19294 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
19296 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
19297 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
19298 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
19299 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
19301 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
19302 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
19303 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
19304 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
19306 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
19307 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
19308 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
19309 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
19310 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
19311 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
19313 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
19314 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
19315 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
19317 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
19318 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
19319 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
19321 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
19322 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
19323 let you use different rules in different groups.
19325 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
19326 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
19327 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
19330 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
19331 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
19332 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
19333 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
19334 the length of the match is less than
19335 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
19336 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
19339 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
19340 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
19341 headers. If you adapt on words, the
19342 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
19343 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
19346 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
19347 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
19348 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
19349 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
19350 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
19353 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
19354 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
19355 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
19356 score with 30 points.
19358 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
19359 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
19360 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
19361 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
19362 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
19364 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
19365 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
19366 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
19367 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
19368 variable defaults to @code{nil}.
19370 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
19371 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
19372 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
19373 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
19375 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
19376 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
19377 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
19378 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
19380 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
19381 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
19382 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
19383 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
19384 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
19386 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
19387 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
19388 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
19390 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
19391 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
19392 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
19393 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
19396 @node Home Score File
19397 @section Home Score File
19399 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
19400 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
19401 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
19402 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
19404 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
19405 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
19406 could perhaps use the same home score file.
19408 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
19409 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
19414 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
19418 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
19419 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
19423 A list. The elements in this list can be:
19427 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
19428 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
19431 A function. If the function returns non-@code{nil}, the result will
19432 be used as the home score file.
19435 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
19438 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
19443 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
19446 (setq gnus-home-score-file
19447 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
19450 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
19451 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
19453 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
19455 (setq gnus-home-score-file
19456 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
19459 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
19460 Other functions include
19463 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
19464 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
19465 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
19466 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
19470 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
19471 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
19472 their own home score files:
19475 (setq gnus-home-score-file
19476 ;; @r{All groups that match the regexp @code{"\\.emacs"}}
19477 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
19478 ;; @r{All the comp groups in one score file}
19479 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
19482 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
19483 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
19484 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
19485 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
19486 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
19488 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
19489 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
19490 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
19491 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
19492 precedence over this variable.
19495 @node Followups To Yourself
19496 @section Followups To Yourself
19498 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
19499 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
19500 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
19501 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
19502 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
19503 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
19507 @item gnus-score-followup-article
19508 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
19509 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
19512 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
19513 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
19514 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
19518 @vindex message-sent-hook
19519 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
19520 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
19522 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
19526 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
19527 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
19531 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
19532 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
19535 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
19536 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
19541 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
19545 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
19546 is system-dependent.
19549 @node Scoring On Other Headers
19550 @section Scoring On Other Headers
19551 @cindex scoring on other headers
19553 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
19554 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
19555 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
19556 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
19557 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
19559 Now, there's not much you can do about this for news groups, but for
19560 mail groups, you have greater control. In @ref{To From Newsgroups},
19561 it's explained in greater detail what this mechanism does, but here's
19562 a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on how to allow scoring on the
19563 @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
19565 Put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
19568 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
19569 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
19572 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
19573 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
19574 time if you have much mail.
19576 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
19577 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
19583 @section Scoring Tips
19584 @cindex scoring tips
19590 @cindex scoring crossposts
19591 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
19592 the @code{Xref} header.
19594 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
19597 @item Multiple crossposts
19598 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
19599 more than, say, 3 groups:
19602 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
19606 @item Matching on the body
19607 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
19608 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
19609 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
19610 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
19611 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
19612 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
19613 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
19616 @item Marking as read
19617 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
19618 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
19619 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
19623 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
19625 @item Negated character classes
19626 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
19627 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
19628 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
19632 @node Reverse Scoring
19633 @section Reverse Scoring
19634 @cindex reverse scoring
19636 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
19637 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
19638 like this in your score file:
19642 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
19647 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
19648 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
19651 @node Global Score Files
19652 @section Global Score Files
19653 @cindex global score files
19655 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
19656 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
19657 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
19659 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
19660 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
19661 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
19663 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
19664 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
19665 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
19666 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
19667 files are applicable to which group.
19669 To use the score file
19670 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
19671 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
19675 (setq gnus-global-score-files
19676 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
19677 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
19680 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
19682 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
19683 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
19684 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
19685 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
19687 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
19688 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
19690 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
19691 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
19692 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
19693 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
19694 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
19695 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
19697 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
19703 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
19705 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
19707 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
19709 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
19710 lowered out of existence.
19712 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
19713 articles completely.
19716 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
19717 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
19718 old articles for a long time.
19721 @dots{} I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
19722 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
19723 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
19724 holding our breath yet?
19728 @section Kill Files
19731 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
19732 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
19733 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
19735 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
19736 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
19737 files into score files.
19739 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
19740 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
19741 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
19742 that isn't a very good idea.
19744 Normal kill files look like this:
19747 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19748 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
19752 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
19753 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
19755 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
19756 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
19759 Two summary functions for editing a @sc{gnus} kill file:
19764 @kindex M-k (Summary)
19765 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
19766 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
19769 @kindex M-K (Summary)
19770 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
19771 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
19774 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
19779 @kindex M-k (Group)
19780 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
19781 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
19784 @kindex M-K (Group)
19785 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
19786 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
19789 Kill file variables:
19792 @item gnus-kill-file-name
19793 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
19794 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
19795 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
19796 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
19797 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
19798 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
19800 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
19801 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
19802 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
19803 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
19806 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
19807 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
19808 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
19809 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
19810 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
19811 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
19812 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
19813 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
19814 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
19816 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
19817 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
19818 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
19823 @node Converting Kill Files
19824 @section Converting Kill Files
19826 @cindex converting kill files
19828 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
19829 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
19830 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
19833 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
19834 You can fetch it from
19835 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
19837 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
19838 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
19839 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
19847 @uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/, GroupLens} is a
19848 collaborative filtering system that helps you work together with other
19849 people to find the quality news articles out of the huge volume of
19850 news articles generated every day.
19852 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
19853 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
19854 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
19855 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
19856 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
19857 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
19858 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
19859 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
19862 @sc{Note:} Unfortunately the GroupLens system seems to have shut down,
19863 so this section is mostly of historical interest.
19866 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
19867 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
19868 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
19869 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
19873 @node Using GroupLens
19874 @subsection Using GroupLens
19876 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local
19877 @uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html, Better Bit
19878 Bureau (BBB)} is the only better bit in town at the moment.
19880 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
19884 @item gnus-use-grouplens
19885 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
19886 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
19887 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
19889 @item grouplens-pseudonym
19890 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
19891 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
19892 with the Better Bit Bureau.
19894 @item grouplens-newsgroups
19895 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
19896 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
19900 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
19901 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
19902 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
19903 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
19904 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
19905 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
19908 @node Rating Articles
19909 @subsection Rating Articles
19911 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
19912 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
19913 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
19914 yourself is, ``on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
19917 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
19922 @kindex r (GroupLens)
19923 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
19924 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
19927 @kindex k (GroupLens)
19928 @findex grouplens-score-thread
19929 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
19930 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
19931 threads in rec.humor.
19935 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
19936 the score of the article you're reading.
19941 @kindex n (GroupLens)
19942 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
19943 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
19946 @kindex , (GroupLens)
19947 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
19948 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
19952 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
19953 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
19956 @node Displaying Predictions
19957 @subsection Displaying Predictions
19959 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
19960 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
19961 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
19962 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
19963 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
19965 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
19966 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
19967 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
19968 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
19969 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
19970 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
19971 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
19972 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
19973 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
19974 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
19975 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
19976 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
19977 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
19979 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
19980 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
19981 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
19982 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
19984 The following are valid values for that variable.
19987 @item prediction-spot
19988 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
19991 @item confidence-interval
19992 A numeric confidence interval.
19994 @item prediction-bar
19995 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
19997 @item confidence-bar
19998 Numerical confidence.
20000 @item confidence-spot
20001 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
20003 @item prediction-num
20004 Plain-old numeric value.
20006 @item confidence-plus-minus
20007 Prediction +/- confidence.
20012 @node GroupLens Variables
20013 @subsection GroupLens Variables
20017 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
20018 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
20019 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
20020 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23n%]%)
20023 @item grouplens-bbb-host
20024 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
20027 @item grouplens-bbb-port
20028 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
20030 @item grouplens-score-offset
20031 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
20032 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
20035 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
20036 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
20037 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
20042 @node Advanced Scoring
20043 @section Advanced Scoring
20045 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
20046 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
20047 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
20048 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
20049 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
20051 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
20055 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
20056 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
20057 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
20061 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
20062 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
20064 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
20065 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
20066 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
20067 non-@code{nil} value.
20069 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
20070 operator, and various match operators.
20077 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
20078 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
20079 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
20084 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
20085 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
20086 then this operator will return @code{false}.
20091 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
20092 logical negation of the value of its argument.
20096 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
20097 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
20098 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
20099 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
20100 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
20101 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
20102 the ancestry you want to go.
20104 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
20105 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
20106 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
20107 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
20108 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
20111 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
20112 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
20114 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
20115 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
20118 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
20119 when he's talking about Gnus:
20124 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20125 ("subject" "Gnus"))
20132 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
20136 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20143 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
20144 really don't want to read what he's written:
20148 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20149 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
20153 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
20154 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
20155 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
20162 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
20163 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
20164 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
20165 ("body" "white.*socks"))
20169 The possibilities are endless.
20172 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
20173 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
20175 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
20176 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
20177 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
20178 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
20179 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
20180 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
20181 @samp{subject}) first.
20183 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
20184 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
20195 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
20196 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
20202 ("subject" "Gnus")))
20209 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
20210 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
20215 @section Score Decays
20216 @cindex score decays
20219 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
20220 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
20221 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
20222 use them in any sensible way.
20224 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
20225 @findex gnus-decay-score
20226 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
20227 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
20228 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
20229 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
20230 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
20231 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
20232 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
20233 definition of that function:
20236 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
20238 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
20239 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
20242 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
20244 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
20246 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
20249 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
20250 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
20251 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
20252 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
20256 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
20259 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
20262 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
20266 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
20267 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
20268 the new score, which should be an integer.
20270 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
20271 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
20276 @include message.texi
20277 @chapter Emacs MIME
20278 @include emacs-mime.texi
20280 @include sieve.texi
20290 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
20291 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
20292 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
20293 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
20294 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
20295 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
20296 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
20297 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
20298 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
20299 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
20300 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
20301 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
20302 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
20303 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
20304 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
20305 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
20306 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
20307 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
20308 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
20312 @node Process/Prefix
20313 @section Process/Prefix
20314 @cindex process/prefix convention
20316 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
20317 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
20319 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
20320 command to be performed on.
20324 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
20325 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
20326 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
20327 with the current one.
20329 @vindex transient-mark-mode
20330 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
20331 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
20333 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
20334 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
20337 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
20338 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
20340 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
20343 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
20344 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
20345 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
20346 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
20348 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
20349 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
20350 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
20351 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
20352 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
20353 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
20354 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
20355 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
20357 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
20358 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
20359 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
20360 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
20361 expirable, you could say @kbd{M P b M-& E}.
20365 @section Interactive
20366 @cindex interaction
20370 @item gnus-novice-user
20371 @vindex gnus-novice-user
20372 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
20373 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
20374 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
20375 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
20378 @item gnus-expert-user
20379 @vindex gnus-expert-user
20380 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
20381 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
20382 matter how strange.
20384 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
20385 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
20386 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
20387 is @code{t} by default.
20389 @item gnus-interactive-exit
20390 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
20391 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
20396 @node Symbolic Prefixes
20397 @section Symbolic Prefixes
20398 @cindex symbolic prefixes
20400 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
20401 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
20402 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
20403 rule of 900 to the current article.
20405 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
20406 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
20407 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
20408 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
20409 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
20410 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
20411 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
20413 @kindex M-i (Summary)
20414 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
20415 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
20416 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
20417 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
20418 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
20419 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
20420 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
20421 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
20423 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
20424 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
20425 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
20427 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
20431 @node Formatting Variables
20432 @section Formatting Variables
20433 @cindex formatting variables
20435 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
20436 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
20437 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
20438 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
20439 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
20442 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
20443 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
20444 lots of percentages everywhere.
20447 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
20448 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
20449 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
20450 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
20451 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
20452 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
20453 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
20454 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
20457 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
20458 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
20459 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
20460 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
20461 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
20462 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
20463 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
20464 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
20466 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
20467 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
20469 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
20470 @findex gnus-update-format
20471 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
20472 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
20473 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
20474 examine the resulting Lisp code to be run to generate the line.
20478 @node Formatting Basics
20479 @subsection Formatting Basics
20481 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
20482 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
20483 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
20485 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
20486 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
20487 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
20488 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
20489 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
20492 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
20493 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
20494 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
20495 less than 4 characters wide.
20497 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
20498 @samp{%&user-date;}.
20501 @node Mode Line Formatting
20502 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
20504 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
20505 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
20506 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
20507 with the following two differences:
20512 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
20515 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
20516 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
20517 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
20518 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
20519 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
20520 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
20521 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
20526 @node Advanced Formatting
20527 @subsection Advanced Formatting
20529 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
20530 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
20531 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
20532 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
20534 These are the valid modifiers:
20539 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
20543 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
20548 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
20551 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
20556 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
20559 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
20562 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
20565 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
20571 "~(form (current-time-string))@@"
20576 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
20577 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
20578 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
20579 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
20580 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
20581 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
20582 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
20584 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
20585 last operation, padding.
20587 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
20588 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
20589 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
20590 @xref{Compilation}.
20593 @node User-Defined Specs
20594 @subsection User-Defined Specs
20596 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
20597 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
20598 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
20599 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
20600 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
20601 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
20602 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
20603 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
20604 should protect against that.
20606 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
20607 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
20609 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
20610 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
20611 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
20612 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
20616 @node Formatting Fonts
20617 @subsection Formatting Fonts
20619 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
20620 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
20621 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
20622 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
20625 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
20626 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
20627 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
20628 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
20629 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
20630 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
20632 Text inside the @samp{%<<} and @samp{%>>} specifiers will get the
20633 special @code{balloon-help} property set to
20634 @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you say @samp{%1<<}, you'll get
20635 @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The @code{gnus-balloon-face-*}
20636 variables should be either strings or symbols naming functions that
20637 return a string. When the mouse passes over text with this property
20638 set, a balloon window will appear and display the string. Please
20639 refer to @ref{Tooltips, ,Tooltips, emacs, The Emacs Manual},
20640 (in GNU Emacs) or the doc string of @code{balloon-help-mode} (in
20641 XEmacs) for more information on this. (For technical reasons, the
20642 guillemets have been approximated as @samp{<<} and @samp{>>} in this
20645 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
20648 ;; @r{Create three face types.}
20649 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
20650 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
20652 ;; @r{We want the article count to be in}
20653 ;; @r{a bold and green face. So we create}
20654 ;; @r{a new face called @code{my-green-bold}.}
20655 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
20656 ;; @r{Set the color.}
20657 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
20658 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
20660 ;; @r{Set the new & fancy format.}
20661 (setq gnus-group-line-format
20662 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
20665 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
20666 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
20668 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
20669 mode-line variables.
20671 @node Positioning Point
20672 @subsection Positioning Point
20674 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
20675 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
20676 line. You can customize this behaviour in three different ways.
20678 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
20680 @findex gnus-goto-colon
20681 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
20682 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
20684 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
20685 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%*} specifier. If you
20686 put a @samp{%*} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
20691 @subsection Tabulation
20693 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
20694 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
20695 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
20696 about lining up the following text afterwards.
20698 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs---@samp{%=}. There are two
20699 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
20701 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
20702 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
20703 This is the soft tabulator.
20705 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
20706 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
20707 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
20710 @node Wide Characters
20711 @subsection Wide Characters
20713 Fixed width fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
20714 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
20715 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
20717 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
20718 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
20719 these countries, that's not true.
20721 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
20722 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
20723 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
20724 prettier. The default value under XEmacs is @code{t} but @code{nil}
20728 @node Window Layout
20729 @section Window Layout
20730 @cindex window layout
20732 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
20734 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
20735 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
20736 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
20737 @code{t} by default.
20739 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
20740 glitches. Use at your own peril.
20742 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
20743 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
20744 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
20747 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
20748 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
20749 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
20753 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
20754 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
20755 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
20756 possible names is listed below.
20758 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
20759 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
20762 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
20766 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
20767 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
20768 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
20769 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
20770 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
20771 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
20772 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
20773 size spec per split.
20775 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
20776 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
20777 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
20778 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
20779 present) gets focus.
20781 Here's a more complicated example:
20784 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
20785 (summary 0.25 point)
20786 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
20790 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
20791 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
20792 occupy, not a percentage.
20794 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
20795 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
20796 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
20797 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
20798 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
20801 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
20804 (article (horizontal 1.0
20809 (summary 0.25 point)
20814 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
20815 @code{horizontal} thingie?
20817 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
20818 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
20819 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
20820 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
20821 the screen is to be given to this strip.
20823 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
20824 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
20825 lines from the splits.
20827 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
20832 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
20833 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
20834 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
20835 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
20836 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
20837 size = number | frame-params
20838 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
20842 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
20843 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
20844 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
20845 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
20847 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
20848 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
20849 @cindex window height
20850 @cindex window width
20851 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
20852 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
20853 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
20854 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
20855 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
20856 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
20858 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
20859 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
20860 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
20861 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
20863 @findex gnus-configure-frame
20864 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
20865 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
20866 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
20867 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
20868 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
20869 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
20870 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
20871 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
20872 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
20873 configuration list.
20876 (gnus-configure-frame
20880 (article 0.3 point))
20888 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
20889 @code{frame} split:
20892 (gnus-configure-frame
20895 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
20897 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
20898 (user-position . t)
20899 (left . -1) (top . 1))
20904 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
20905 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
20906 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
20907 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
20908 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
20909 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
20910 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
20911 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
20913 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
20914 be found in its default value.
20916 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
20917 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
20918 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
20922 (message (horizontal 1.0
20923 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
20925 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
20930 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
20931 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
20932 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
20937 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
20938 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
20939 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
20940 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
20941 (name . "Message"))
20942 (message 1.0 point))))
20945 @findex gnus-add-configuration
20946 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
20947 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
20948 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
20949 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
20952 (gnus-add-configuration
20953 '(article (vertical 1.0
20955 (summary .25 point)
20959 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
20960 @file{~/.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
20961 Gnus has been loaded.
20963 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
20964 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
20965 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
20966 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
20967 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
20969 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
20970 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
20971 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
20974 @subsection Example Window Configurations
20978 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
20979 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
20994 (gnus-add-configuration
20997 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
20999 (summary 0.16 point)
21002 (gnus-add-configuration
21005 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
21006 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
21012 @node Faces and Fonts
21013 @section Faces and Fonts
21018 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
21019 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
21020 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
21025 @section Compilation
21026 @cindex compilation
21027 @cindex byte-compilation
21029 @findex gnus-compile
21031 Remember all those line format specification variables?
21032 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
21033 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
21034 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
21035 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
21036 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
21039 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
21040 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
21041 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
21042 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
21043 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
21044 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
21045 them into the @file{~/.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
21049 @section Mode Lines
21052 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
21053 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
21054 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
21055 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
21056 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
21057 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
21058 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
21061 @cindex display-time
21063 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
21064 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
21065 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
21066 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
21067 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
21068 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
21069 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
21070 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
21073 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
21075 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
21076 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
21078 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
21079 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
21080 (length display-time-string)))))
21083 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
21084 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
21085 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
21086 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
21087 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
21090 @node Highlighting and Menus
21091 @section Highlighting and Menus
21093 @cindex highlighting
21096 @vindex gnus-visual
21097 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
21098 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
21099 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
21102 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
21103 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
21106 @item group-highlight
21107 Do highlights in the group buffer.
21108 @item summary-highlight
21109 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
21110 @item article-highlight
21111 Do highlights in the article buffer.
21113 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
21115 Create menus in the group buffer.
21117 Create menus in the summary buffers.
21119 Create menus in the article buffer.
21121 Create menus in the browse buffer.
21123 Create menus in the server buffer.
21125 Create menus in the score buffers.
21127 Create menus in all buffers.
21130 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
21131 buffers, you could say something like:
21134 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
21137 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
21140 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
21143 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
21144 in all Gnus buffers.
21146 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
21149 @item gnus-mouse-face
21150 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
21151 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
21152 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
21156 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
21160 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
21161 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
21162 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
21164 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
21165 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
21166 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
21168 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
21169 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
21170 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
21172 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
21173 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
21174 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
21176 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
21177 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
21178 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
21180 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
21181 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
21182 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
21193 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
21194 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
21195 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
21196 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
21197 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
21201 @vindex gnus-carpal
21202 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
21203 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
21204 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
21209 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
21210 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
21211 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
21213 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
21214 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
21215 Face used on buttons.
21217 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
21218 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
21219 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
21221 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
21222 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
21223 Buttons in the group buffer.
21225 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
21226 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
21227 Buttons in the summary buffer.
21229 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
21230 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
21231 Buttons in the server buffer.
21233 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
21234 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
21235 Buttons in the browse buffer.
21238 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
21239 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
21240 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
21248 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
21249 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
21250 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
21251 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
21252 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
21254 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
21255 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
21256 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
21258 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
21259 been idle for thirty minutes:
21262 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
21265 Here's a handler that scans for @acronym{PGP} headers every hour when
21269 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
21272 This @var{time} parameter and that @var{idle} parameter work together
21273 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
21274 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
21276 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
21277 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
21278 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
21279 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
21281 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
21282 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
21283 @var{idle} minutes.
21285 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
21286 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
21289 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
21290 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
21291 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
21293 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
21294 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
21295 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
21296 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
21298 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
21299 your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
21301 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
21303 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
21306 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
21307 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
21308 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
21309 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
21310 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
21311 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
21312 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
21313 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
21314 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
21315 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
21316 @file{~/.gnus.el} if you want those abilities.
21318 @findex gnus-demon-init
21319 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
21320 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
21321 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
21322 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
21323 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
21325 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
21326 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
21327 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
21336 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
21337 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
21339 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
21340 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
21341 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
21342 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
21345 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
21346 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
21347 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
21348 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
21350 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
21351 this will make spam disappear.
21353 There are some variables to customize, of course:
21356 @item gnus-use-nocem
21357 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
21358 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
21361 @item gnus-nocem-groups
21362 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
21363 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
21366 ("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
21367 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")
21370 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
21371 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
21372 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
21373 people you want to listen to. The default is
21375 ("Automoose-1" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
21376 "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo" "hweede@@snafu.de")
21378 fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
21380 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at@*
21381 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
21383 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
21384 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
21385 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
21386 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
21387 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
21388 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
21389 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
21390 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
21391 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
21392 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
21394 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
21395 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
21398 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
21401 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
21402 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
21405 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
21408 The specs are applied left-to-right.
21411 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
21412 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
21414 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
21415 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
21416 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
21417 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
21419 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
21420 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
21423 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
21425 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
21433 This might be dangerous, though.
21435 @item gnus-nocem-directory
21436 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
21437 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is@*
21438 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
21440 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
21441 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
21442 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
21443 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
21444 might then see old spam.
21446 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
21447 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
21448 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
21449 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
21450 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
21453 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
21454 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
21455 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
21456 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
21460 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
21461 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
21462 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
21463 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
21470 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
21471 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
21472 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
21474 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
21475 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
21476 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
21477 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
21478 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
21479 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
21480 @code{undo} function.
21482 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
21483 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
21484 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
21485 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
21486 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
21487 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
21488 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
21489 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
21490 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
21491 never be totally undoable.
21493 @findex gnus-undo-mode
21494 @vindex gnus-use-undo
21496 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
21497 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
21498 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
21499 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
21503 @node Predicate Specifiers
21504 @section Predicate Specifiers
21505 @cindex predicate specifiers
21507 Some Gnus variables are @dfn{predicate specifiers}. This is a special
21508 form that allows flexible specification of predicates without having
21509 to type all that much.
21511 These specifiers are lists consisting of functions, symbols and lists.
21516 (or gnus-article-unseen-p
21517 gnus-article-unread-p)
21520 The available symbols are @code{or}, @code{and} and @code{not}. The
21521 functions all take one parameter.
21523 @findex gnus-make-predicate
21524 Internally, Gnus calls @code{gnus-make-predicate} on these specifiers
21525 to create a function that can be called. This input parameter to this
21526 function will be passed along to all the functions in the predicate
21531 @section Moderation
21534 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
21535 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
21536 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
21539 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
21543 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
21546 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
21548 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
21553 You split your incoming mail by matching on
21554 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
21555 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
21558 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
21559 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
21562 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
21563 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
21567 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
21570 (setq gnus-moderated-list
21571 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
21575 @node Image Enhancements
21576 @section Image Enhancements
21578 XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21@footnote{Emacs 21 on MS Windows doesn't
21579 support images yet.}, is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has
21580 taken advantage of that.
21583 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
21584 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
21585 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
21586 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
21587 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
21595 @code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white (1 bit
21596 depth) image that's supposed to represent the author of the message.
21597 It seems to be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news
21601 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
21602 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
21603 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
21611 Decoding an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
21612 @samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions has), or that you
21613 have @samp{compface} installed on your system. If either is true,
21614 Gnus will default to displaying @code{X-Face} headers.
21616 The variable that controls this is the
21617 @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable. If this variable is a
21618 string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
21619 function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
21620 If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches
21621 the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
21623 The default action under Emacs 20 is to fork off the @code{display}
21624 program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For
21625 the @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
21626 like @code{compface} or @code{faces-xface} on a GNU/Linux system.} to
21629 Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image support, the default
21630 action is to display the face before the @code{From} header. (It's
21631 nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support---that
21632 will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native @code{X-Face}
21633 support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
21634 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
21635 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
21636 like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.})
21638 (Note: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
21641 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
21642 easier insertion of X-Face headers in outgoing messages.
21644 @findex gnus-random-x-face
21645 @vindex gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command
21646 @vindex gnus-x-face-directory
21647 @code{gnus-random-x-face} goes through all the @samp{pbm} files in
21648 @code{gnus-x-face-directory} and picks one at random, and then
21649 converts it to the X-Face format by using the
21650 @code{gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command} shell command. The
21651 @samp{pbm} files should be 48x48 pixels big. It returns the X-Face
21652 header data as a string.
21654 @findex gnus-insert-random-x-face-header
21655 @code{gnus-insert-random-x-face-header} calls
21656 @code{gnus-random-x-face} and inserts a @samp{X-Face} header with the
21657 randomly generated data.
21659 @findex gnus-x-face-from-file
21660 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command
21661 @code{gnus-x-face-from-file} takes a GIF file as the parameter, and then
21662 converts the file to X-Face format by using the
21663 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command} shell command.
21665 Here's how you would typically use the first function. Put something
21666 like the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
21669 (setq message-required-news-headers
21670 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21671 (list '(X-Face . gnus-random-x-face))))
21674 Using the last function would be something like this:
21677 (setq message-required-news-headers
21678 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21679 (list '(X-Face . (lambda ()
21680 (gnus-x-face-from-file
21681 "~/My-face.gif"))))))
21689 @c #### FIXME: faces and x-faces'implementations should really be harmonized.
21691 @code{Face} headers are essentially a funkier version of @code{X-Face}
21692 ones. They describe a 48x48 pixel colored image that's supposed to
21693 represent the author of the message.
21696 @findex gnus-article-display-face
21697 The contents of a @code{Face} header must be a base64 encoded PNG image.
21698 See @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/circus/face/} for the precise
21701 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
21702 easier insertion of Face headers in outgoing messages.
21704 @findex gnus-convert-png-to-face
21705 @code{gnus-convert-png-to-face} takes a 48x48 PNG image, no longer than
21706 726 bytes long, and converts it to a face.
21708 @findex gnus-face-from-file
21709 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-face-command
21710 @code{gnus-face-from-file} takes a JPEG file as the parameter, and then
21711 converts the file to Face format by using the
21712 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-face-command} shell command.
21714 Here's how you would typically use this function. Put something like the
21715 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
21718 (setq message-required-news-headers
21719 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21720 (list '(Face . (lambda ()
21721 (gnus-face-from-file "~/face.jpg"))))))
21726 @subsection Smileys
21731 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
21736 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
21737 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
21739 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
21740 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
21743 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
21746 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{8-)}, @samp{:-(} and
21747 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
21748 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
21749 text and maps that to file names.
21751 @vindex smiley-regexp-alist
21752 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist}
21753 variable. The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched;
21754 the second element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by
21755 the picture; and the third element is the name of the file to be
21758 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
21763 @item smiley-data-directory
21764 @vindex smiley-data-directory
21765 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
21767 @item gnus-smiley-file-types
21768 @vindex gnus-smiley-file-types
21769 List of suffixes on smiley file names to try.
21783 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
21784 good way to do so. It's also a great way to impress people staring
21785 over your shoulder as you read news.
21787 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
21796 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
21797 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
21798 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
21799 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
21800 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
21801 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
21802 @code{GIF} formats.
21805 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
21806 For instructions on obtaining and installing the picons databases,
21807 point your Web browser at
21808 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}.
21810 If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
21811 picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
21813 To enable displaying picons, simply make sure that
21814 @code{gnus-picon-databases} points to the directory containing the
21817 The following variables offer control over where things are located.
21821 @item gnus-picon-databases
21822 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
21823 The location of the picons database. This is a list of directories
21824 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
21825 subdirectories. Defaults to @code{("/usr/lib/picon"
21826 "/usr/local/faces")}.
21828 @item gnus-picon-news-directories
21829 @vindex gnus-picon-news-directories
21830 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
21831 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
21833 @item gnus-picon-user-directories
21834 @vindex gnus-picon-user-directories
21835 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for user
21836 faces. @code{("users" "usenix" "local" "misc")} is the default.
21838 @item gnus-picon-domain-directories
21839 @vindex gnus-picon-domain-directories
21840 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
21841 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
21842 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
21844 @item gnus-picon-file-types
21845 @vindex gnus-picon-file-types
21846 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
21847 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not built-in your Emacs.
21853 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
21856 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
21857 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
21858 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
21859 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
21860 unusual directory structure.
21862 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
21863 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
21864 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
21865 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
21867 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
21868 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
21869 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
21870 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
21871 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
21872 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
21874 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
21875 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
21876 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
21881 @subsubsection Toolbar
21885 @item gnus-use-toolbar
21886 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
21887 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
21888 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
21889 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
21891 @item gnus-group-toolbar
21892 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
21893 The toolbar in the group buffer.
21895 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
21896 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
21897 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
21899 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
21900 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
21901 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
21912 @node Fuzzy Matching
21913 @section Fuzzy Matching
21914 @cindex fuzzy matching
21916 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
21917 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
21919 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
21920 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
21921 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
21923 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
21924 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
21925 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
21926 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
21927 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
21930 @node Thwarting Email Spam
21931 @section Thwarting Email Spam
21935 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
21937 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
21938 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
21939 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
21940 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
21941 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
21942 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
21943 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
21944 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
21947 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
21948 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
21949 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
21950 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
21951 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
21952 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
21954 This is annoying. Here's what you can do about it.
21957 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
21958 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
21959 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
21960 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
21961 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
21962 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
21965 @node The problem of spam
21966 @subsection The problem of spam
21968 @cindex spam filtering approaches
21969 @cindex filtering approaches, spam
21971 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
21973 First, some background on spam.
21975 If you have access to e-mail, you are familiar with spam (technically
21976 termed @acronym{UCE}, Unsolicited Commercial E-mail). Simply put, it exists
21977 because e-mail delivery is very cheap compared to paper mail, so only
21978 a very small percentage of people need to respond to an UCE to make it
21979 worthwhile to the advertiser. Ironically, one of the most common
21980 spams is the one offering a database of e-mail addresses for further
21981 spamming. Senders of spam are usually called @emph{spammers}, but terms like
21982 @emph{vermin}, @emph{scum}, and @emph{morons} are in common use as well.
21984 Spam comes from a wide variety of sources. It is simply impossible to
21985 dispose of all spam without discarding useful messages. A good
21986 example is the TMDA system, which requires senders
21987 unknown to you to confirm themselves as legitimate senders before
21988 their e-mail can reach you. Without getting into the technical side
21989 of TMDA, a downside is clearly that e-mail from legitimate sources may
21990 be discarded if those sources can't or won't confirm themselves
21991 through the TMDA system. Another problem with TMDA is that it
21992 requires its users to have a basic understanding of e-mail delivery
21995 The simplest approach to filtering spam is filtering. If you get 200
21996 spam messages per day from @samp{random-address@@vmadmin.com}, you
21997 block @samp{vmadmin.com}. If you get 200 messages about
21998 @samp{VIAGRA}, you discard all messages with @samp{VIAGRA} in the
21999 message. This, unfortunately, is a great way to discard legitimate
22000 e-mail. For instance, the very informative and useful RISKS digest
22001 has been blocked by overzealous mail filters because it
22002 @strong{contained} words that were common in spam messages.
22003 Nevertheless, in isolated cases, with great care, direct filtering of
22004 mail can be useful.
22006 Another approach to filtering e-mail is the distributed spam
22007 processing, for instance DCC implements such a system. In essence,
22008 @var{N} systems around the world agree that a machine @var{X} in
22009 China, Ghana, or California is sending out spam e-mail, and these
22010 @var{N} systems enter @var{X} or the spam e-mail from @var{X} into
22011 a database. The criteria for spam detection vary---it may be the
22012 number of messages sent, the content of the messages, and so on. When
22013 a user of the distributed processing system wants to find out if a
22014 message is spam, he consults one of those @var{N} systems.
22016 Distributed spam processing works very well against spammers that send
22017 a large number of messages at once, but it requires the user to set up
22018 fairly complicated checks. There are commercial and free distributed
22019 spam processing systems. Distributed spam processing has its risks as
22020 well. For instance legitimate e-mail senders have been accused of
22021 sending spam, and their web sites have been shut down for some time
22022 because of the incident.
22024 The statistical approach to spam filtering is also popular. It is
22025 based on a statistical analysis of previous spam messages. Usually
22026 the analysis is a simple word frequency count, with perhaps pairs of
22027 words or 3-word combinations thrown into the mix. Statistical
22028 analysis of spam works very well in most of the cases, but it can
22029 classify legitimate e-mail as spam in some cases. It takes time to
22030 run the analysis, the full message must be analyzed, and the user has
22031 to store the database of spam analyses.
22033 @node Anti-Spam Basics
22034 @subsection Anti-Spam Basics
22038 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
22040 One way of dealing with spam is having Gnus split out all spam into a
22041 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
22043 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
22044 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
22045 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
22046 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
22047 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
22048 part of the mail address.)
22051 (setq message-default-news-headers
22052 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
22055 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
22056 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
22061 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
22062 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
22063 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
22069 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
22070 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
22071 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
22072 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
22074 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @acronym{SMTP} server
22075 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
22076 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
22077 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
22078 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
22079 your fancy split rule in this way:
22084 (to "larsi" "misc")
22088 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
22089 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
22090 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
22091 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
22092 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
22094 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
22095 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
22096 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
22097 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
22102 @subsection SpamAssassin, Vipul's Razor, DCC, etc
22103 @cindex SpamAssassin
22104 @cindex Vipul's Razor
22107 The days where the hints in the previous section was sufficient in
22108 avoiding spam are coming to an end. There are many tools out there
22109 that claim to reduce the amount of spam you get. This section could
22110 easily become outdated fast, as new products replace old, but
22111 fortunately most of these tools seem to have similar interfaces. Even
22112 though this section will use SpamAssassin as an example, it should be
22113 easy to adapt it to most other tools.
22115 If the tool you are using is not installed on the mail server, you
22116 need to invoke it yourself. Ideas on how to use the
22117 @code{:postscript} mail source parameter (@pxref{Mail Source
22118 Specifiers}) follow.
22122 '((file :prescript "formail -bs spamassassin < /var/mail/%u")
22125 :postscript "mv %t /tmp/foo; formail -bs spamc < /tmp/foo > %t")))
22128 Once you manage to process your incoming spool somehow, thus making
22129 the mail contain e.g.@: a header indicating it is spam, you are ready to
22130 filter it out. Using normal split methods (@pxref{Splitting Mail}):
22133 (setq nnmail-split-methods '(("spam" "^X-Spam-Flag: YES")
22137 Or using fancy split methods (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
22140 (setq nnmail-split-methods 'nnmail-split-fancy
22141 nnmail-split-fancy '(| ("X-Spam-Flag" "YES" "spam")
22145 Some people might not like the idea of piping the mail through various
22146 programs using a @code{:prescript} (if some program is buggy, you
22147 might lose all mail). If you are one of them, another solution is to
22148 call the external tools during splitting. Example fancy split method:
22151 (setq nnmail-split-fancy '(| (: kevin-spamassassin)
22153 (defun kevin-spamassassin ()
22155 (let ((buf (or (get-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
22156 (get-buffer " *nnml move*"))))
22158 (progn (message "Oops, cannot find message buffer") nil)
22160 (if (eq 1 (call-process-region (point-min) (point-max)
22161 "spamc" nil nil nil "-c"))
22165 That is about it. As some spam is likely to get through anyway, you
22166 might want to have a nifty function to call when you happen to read
22167 spam. And here is the nifty function:
22170 (defun my-gnus-raze-spam ()
22171 "Submit SPAM to Vipul's Razor, then mark it as expirable."
22173 (gnus-summary-show-raw-article)
22174 (gnus-summary-save-in-pipe "razor-report -f -d")
22175 (gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable 1))
22179 @subsection Hashcash
22182 A novel technique to fight spam is to require senders to do something
22183 costly for each message they send. This has the obvious drawback that
22184 you cannot rely on everyone in the world using this technique,
22185 since it is not part of the Internet standards, but it may be useful
22186 in smaller communities.
22188 While the tools in the previous section work well in practice, they
22189 work only because the tools are constantly maintained and updated as
22190 new form of spam appears. This means that a small percentage of spam
22191 will always get through. It also means that somewhere, someone needs
22192 to read lots of spam to update these tools. Hashcash avoids that, but
22193 instead requires that everyone you communicate with supports the
22194 scheme. You can view the two approaches as pragmatic vs dogmatic.
22195 The approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages, but as
22196 often in the real world, a combination of them is stronger than either
22197 one of them separately.
22200 The ``something costly'' is to burn CPU time, more specifically to
22201 compute a hash collision up to a certain number of bits. The
22202 resulting hashcash cookie is inserted in a @samp{X-Hashcash:}
22203 header. For more details, and for the external application
22204 @code{hashcash} you need to install to use this feature, see
22205 @uref{http://www.cypherspace.org/~adam/hashcash/}. Even more
22206 information can be found at @uref{http://www.camram.org/}.
22208 If you wish to call hashcash for each message you send, say something
22212 (require 'hashcash)
22213 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'mail-add-payment)
22216 The @file{hashcash.el} library can be found in the Gnus development
22217 contrib directory or at
22218 @uref{http://users.actrix.gen.nz/mycroft/hashcash.el}.
22220 You will need to set up some additional variables as well:
22224 @item hashcash-default-payment
22225 @vindex hashcash-default-payment
22226 This variable indicates the default number of bits the hash collision
22227 should consist of. By default this is 0, meaning nothing will be
22228 done. Suggested useful values include 17 to 29.
22230 @item hashcash-payment-alist
22231 @vindex hashcash-payment-alist
22232 Some receivers may require you to spend burn more CPU time than the
22233 default. This variable contains a list of @samp{(@var{addr}
22234 @var{amount})} cells, where @var{addr} is the receiver (email address
22235 or newsgroup) and @var{amount} is the number of bits in the collision
22236 that is needed. It can also contain @samp{(@var{addr} @var{string}
22237 @var{amount})} cells, where the @var{string} is the string to use
22238 (normally the email address or newsgroup name is used).
22242 Where the @code{hashcash} binary is installed.
22246 Currently there is no built in functionality in Gnus to verify
22247 hashcash cookies, it is expected that this is performed by your hand
22248 customized mail filtering scripts. Improvements in this area would be
22249 a useful contribution, however.
22251 @node Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
22252 @subsection Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
22253 @cindex spam filtering
22256 The idea behind @file{spam.el} is to have a control center for spam detection
22257 and filtering in Gnus. To that end, @file{spam.el} does two things: it
22258 filters incoming mail, and it analyzes mail known to be spam or ham.
22259 @dfn{Ham} is the name used throughout @file{spam.el} to indicate
22262 So, what happens when you load @file{spam.el}? First of all, you get
22263 the following keyboard commands:
22273 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
22274 @code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}.
22276 Mark current article as spam, showing it with the @samp{$} mark.
22277 Whenever you see a spam article, make sure to mark its summary line
22278 with @kbd{M-d} before leaving the group. This is done automatically
22279 for unread articles in @emph{spam} groups.
22285 @findex spam-bogofilter-score
22286 @code{spam-bogofilter-score}.
22288 You must have Bogofilter installed for that command to work properly.
22294 Also, when you load @file{spam.el}, you will be able to customize its
22295 variables. Try @code{customize-group} on the @samp{spam} variable
22298 @vindex gnus-spam-process-newsgroups
22299 The concepts of ham processors and spam processors are very important.
22300 Ham processors and spam processors for a group can be set with the
22301 @code{spam-process} group parameter, or the
22302 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. Ham processors take
22303 mail known to be non-spam (@emph{ham}) and process it in some way so
22304 that later similar mail will also be considered non-spam. Spam
22305 processors take mail known to be spam and process it so similar spam
22306 will be detected later.
22308 @vindex gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents
22309 Gnus learns from the spam you get. You have to collect your spam in
22310 one or more spam groups, and set or customize the variable
22311 @code{spam-junk-mailgroups} as appropriate. You can also declare
22312 groups to contain spam by setting their group parameter
22313 @code{spam-contents} to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam}, or
22314 by customizing the corresponding variable
22315 @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}. The @code{spam-contents} group
22316 parameter and the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} variable can
22317 also be used to declare groups as @emph{ham} groups if you set their
22318 classification to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-ham}. If
22319 groups are not classified by means of @code{spam-junk-mailgroups},
22320 @code{spam-contents}, or @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}, they are
22321 considered @emph{unclassified}. All groups are unclassified by
22324 @vindex gnus-spam-mark
22326 In spam groups, all messages are considered to be spam by default:
22327 they get the @samp{$} mark (@code{gnus-spam-mark}) when you enter the
22328 group. If you have seen a message, had it marked as spam, then
22329 unmarked it, it won't be marked as spam when you enter the group
22330 thereafter. You can disable that behavior, so all unread messages
22331 will get the @samp{$} mark, if you set the
22332 @code{spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam} parameter to nil. You should
22333 remove the @samp{$} mark when you are in the group summary buffer for
22334 every message that is not spam after all. To remove the @samp{$}
22335 mark, you can use @kbd{M-u} to ``unread'' the article, or @kbd{d} for
22336 declaring it read the non-spam way. When you leave a group, all
22337 spam-marked (@samp{$}) articles are sent to a spam processor which
22338 will study them as spam samples.
22340 Messages may also be deleted in various other ways, and unless
22341 @code{ham-marks} group parameter gets overridden below, marks @samp{R}
22342 and @samp{r} for default read or explicit delete, marks @samp{X} and
22343 @samp{K} for automatic or explicit kills, as well as mark @samp{Y} for
22344 low scores, are all considered to be associated with articles which
22345 are not spam. This assumption might be false, in particular if you
22346 use kill files or score files as means for detecting genuine spam, you
22347 should then adjust the @code{ham-marks} group parameter.
22350 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
22351 marks you want to consider ham. By default, the list contains the
22352 deleted, read, killed, kill-filed, and low-score marks.
22356 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
22357 marks you want to consider spam. By default, the list contains only
22361 When you leave @emph{any} group, regardless of its
22362 @code{spam-contents} classification, all spam-marked articles are sent
22363 to a spam processor, which will study these as spam samples. If you
22364 explicit kill a lot, you might sometimes end up with articles marked
22365 @samp{K} which you never saw, and which might accidentally contain
22366 spam. Best is to make sure that real spam is marked with @samp{$},
22369 @vindex gnus-ham-process-destinations
22370 When you leave a @emph{spam} group, all spam-marked articles are
22371 marked as expired after processing with the spam processor. This is
22372 not done for @emph{unclassified} or @emph{ham} groups. Also, any
22373 @strong{ham} articles in a spam group will be moved to a location
22374 determined by either the @code{ham-process-destination} group
22375 parameter or a match in the @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}
22376 variable, which is a list of regular expressions matched with group
22377 names (it's easiest to customize this variable with
22378 @code{customize-variable gnus-ham-process-destinations}). The ultimate
22379 location is a group name. If the @code{ham-process-destination}
22380 parameter is not set, ham articles are left in place. If the
22381 @code{spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group} parameter is
22382 set, the ham articles are marked as unread before being moved.
22384 When you leave a @emph{ham} group, all ham-marked articles are sent to
22385 a ham processor, which will study these as non-spam samples.
22387 @vindex gnus-spam-process-destinations
22388 When you leave a @emph{ham} or @emph{unclassified} group, all
22389 @strong{spam} articles are moved to a location determined by either
22390 the @code{spam-process-destination} group parameter or a match in the
22391 @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations} variable, which is a list of
22392 regular expressions matched with group names (it's easiest to
22393 customize this variable with @code{customize-variable
22394 gnus-spam-process-destinations}). The ultimate location is a group
22395 name. If the @code{spam-process-destination} parameter is not set,
22396 the spam articles are only expired.
22398 To use the @file{spam.el} facilities for incoming mail filtering, you
22399 must add the following to your fancy split list
22400 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy}:
22406 Note that the fancy split may be called @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or
22407 @code{nnimap-split-fancy}, depending on whether you use the nnmail or
22408 nnimap back ends to retrieve your mail.
22410 The @code{spam-split} function will process incoming mail and send the
22411 mail considered to be spam into the group name given by the variable
22412 @code{spam-split-group}. By default that group name is @samp{spam},
22413 but you can customize @code{spam-split-group}.
22415 You can also give @code{spam-split} a parameter,
22416 e.g. @samp{'spam-use-regex-headers}. Why is this useful?
22418 Take these split rules (with @code{spam-use-regex-headers} and
22419 @code{spam-use-blackholes} set):
22422 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
22423 (any "ding" "ding")
22429 Now, the problem is that you want all ding messages to make it to the
22430 ding folder. But that will let obvious spam (for example, spam
22431 detected by SpamAssassin, and @code{spam-use-regex-headers}) through,
22432 when it's sent to the ding list. On the other hand, some messages to
22433 the ding list are from a mail server in the blackhole list, so the
22434 invocation of @code{spam-split} can't be before the ding rule.
22436 You can let SpamAssassin headers supercede ding rules, but all other
22437 @code{spam-split} rules (including a second invocation of the
22438 regex-headers check) will be after the ding rule:
22441 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
22442 (: spam-split 'spam-use-regex-headers)
22443 (any "ding" "ding")
22449 Basically, this lets you invoke specific @code{spam-split} checks
22450 depending on your particular needs. You don't have to throw all mail
22451 into all the spam tests. Another reason why this is nice is that
22452 messages to mailing lists you have rules for don't have to have
22453 resource-intensive blackhole checks performed on them. You could also
22454 specify different spam checks for your nnmail split vs. your nnimap
22457 You still have to have specific checks such as
22458 @code{spam-use-regex-headers} set to @code{t}, even if you specifically
22459 invoke @code{spam-split} with the check. The reason is that when
22460 loading @file{spam.el}, some conditional loading is done depending on
22461 what @code{spam-use-xyz} variables you have set.
22463 @emph{Note for IMAP users}
22465 The boolean variable @code{nnimap-split-download-body} needs to be
22466 set, if you want to split based on the whole message instead of just
22467 the headers. By default, the nnimap back end will only retrieve the
22468 message headers. If you use @code{spam-check-bogofilter},
22469 @code{spam-check-ifile}, or @code{spam-check-stat} (the splitters that
22470 can benefit from the full message body), you should set this variable.
22471 It is not set by default because it will slow @acronym{IMAP} down, and
22472 that is not an appropriate decision to make on behalf of the user.
22474 @xref{Splitting in IMAP}.
22476 @emph{TODO: Currently, spam.el only supports insertion of articles
22477 into a back end. There is no way to tell spam.el that an article is no
22478 longer spam or ham.}
22480 @emph{TODO: spam.el needs to provide a uniform way of training all the
22481 statistical databases. Some have that functionality built-in, others
22484 The following are the methods you can use to control the behavior of
22485 @code{spam-split} and their corresponding spam and ham processors:
22488 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
22489 * BBDB Whitelists::
22490 * Gmane Spam Reporting::
22491 * Anti-spam Hashcash Payments::
22493 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
22495 * ifile spam filtering::
22496 * spam-stat spam filtering::
22498 * Extending the spam elisp package::
22501 @node Blacklists and Whitelists
22502 @subsubsection Blacklists and Whitelists
22503 @cindex spam filtering
22504 @cindex whitelists, spam filtering
22505 @cindex blacklists, spam filtering
22508 @defvar spam-use-blacklist
22510 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use blacklists when
22511 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are in the blacklist
22512 will be sent to the @code{spam-split-group}. This is an explicit
22513 filter, meaning that it acts only on mail senders @emph{declared} to
22518 @defvar spam-use-whitelist
22520 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists when
22521 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are not in the
22522 whitelist will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
22523 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the whitelist, their
22524 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
22528 @defvar spam-use-whitelist-exclusive
22530 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists as an
22531 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
22532 unless the sender is in the whitelist. Use with care.
22536 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist
22538 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22539 customizing the group parameters or the
22540 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22541 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
22542 spam-marked articles will be added to the blacklist.
22546 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist
22548 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22549 customizing the group parameters or the
22550 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22551 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
22552 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
22553 whitelist. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam}
22554 or @emph{unclassified} groups.
22558 Blacklists are lists of regular expressions matching addresses you
22559 consider to be spam senders. For instance, to block mail from any
22560 sender at @samp{vmadmin.com}, you can put @samp{vmadmin.com} in your
22561 blacklist. You start out with an empty blacklist. Blacklist entries
22562 use the Emacs regular expression syntax.
22564 Conversely, whitelists tell Gnus what addresses are considered
22565 legitimate. All messages from whitelisted addresses are considered
22566 non-spam. Also see @ref{BBDB Whitelists}. Whitelist entries use the
22567 Emacs regular expression syntax.
22569 The blacklist and whitelist file locations can be customized with the
22570 @code{spam-directory} variable (@file{~/News/spam} by default), or
22571 the @code{spam-whitelist} and @code{spam-blacklist} variables
22572 directly. The whitelist and blacklist files will by default be in the
22573 @code{spam-directory} directory, named @file{whitelist} and
22574 @file{blacklist} respectively.
22576 @node BBDB Whitelists
22577 @subsubsection BBDB Whitelists
22578 @cindex spam filtering
22579 @cindex BBDB whitelists, spam filtering
22580 @cindex BBDB, spam filtering
22583 @defvar spam-use-BBDB
22585 Analogous to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
22586 Whitelists}), but uses the BBDB as the source of whitelisted
22587 addresses, without regular expressions. You must have the BBDB loaded
22588 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} to work properly. Messages whose senders are
22589 not in the BBDB will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
22590 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the BBDB, their
22591 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
22595 @defvar spam-use-BBDB-exclusive
22597 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use the BBDB as an
22598 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
22599 unless the sender is in the BBDB. Use with care. Only sender
22600 addresses in the BBDB will be allowed through; all others will be
22601 classified as spammers.
22605 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB
22607 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22608 customizing the group parameters or the
22609 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22610 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
22611 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
22612 BBDB. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam}
22613 or @emph{unclassified} groups.
22617 @node Gmane Spam Reporting
22618 @subsubsection Gmane Spam Reporting
22619 @cindex spam reporting
22620 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
22621 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
22624 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane
22626 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22627 customizing the group parameters or the
22628 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22629 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
22630 articles groups will be reported to the Gmane administrators.
22634 @node Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
22635 @subsubsection Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
22636 @cindex spam filtering
22637 @cindex hashcash, spam filtering
22640 @defvar spam-use-hashcash
22642 Similar to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
22643 Whitelists}), but uses hashcash tokens for whitelisting messages
22644 instead of the sender address. You must have the @code{hashcash.el}
22645 package loaded for @code{spam-use-hashcash} to work properly.
22646 Messages without a hashcash payment token will be sent to the next
22647 spam-split rule. This is an explicit filter, meaning that unless a
22648 hashcash token is found, the messages are not assumed to be spam or
22654 @subsubsection Blackholes
22655 @cindex spam filtering
22656 @cindex blackholes, spam filtering
22659 @defvar spam-use-blackholes
22661 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus consult the
22662 blackhole-type distributed spam processing systems (DCC, for instance)
22663 when you set this option. The variable @code{spam-blackhole-servers}
22664 holds the list of blackhole servers Gnus will consult. The current
22665 list is fairly comprehensive, but make sure to let us know if it
22666 contains outdated servers.
22668 The blackhole check uses the @code{dig.el} package, but you can tell
22669 @file{spam.el} to use @code{dns.el} instead for better performance if
22670 you set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil}. It is not recommended at
22671 this time to set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil} despite the
22672 possible performance improvements, because some users may be unable to
22673 use it, but you can try it and see if it works for you.
22677 @defvar spam-blackhole-servers
22679 The list of servers to consult for blackhole checks.
22683 @defvar spam-blackhole-good-server-regex
22685 A regular expression for IPs that should not be checked against the
22686 blackhole server list. When set to @code{nil}, it has no effect.
22690 @defvar spam-use-dig
22692 Use the @code{dig.el} package instead of the @code{dns.el} package.
22693 The default setting of @code{t} is recommended.
22697 Blackhole checks are done only on incoming mail. There is no spam or
22698 ham processor for blackholes.
22700 @node Regular Expressions Header Matching
22701 @subsubsection Regular Expressions Header Matching
22702 @cindex spam filtering
22703 @cindex regular expressions header matching, spam filtering
22706 @defvar spam-use-regex-headers
22708 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus check the
22709 message headers against lists of regular expressions when you set this
22710 option. The variables @code{spam-regex-headers-spam} and
22711 @code{spam-regex-headers-ham} hold the list of regular expressions.
22712 Gnus will check against the message headers to determine if the
22713 message is spam or ham, respectively.
22717 @defvar spam-regex-headers-spam
22719 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
22720 the message, positively identify it as spam.
22724 @defvar spam-regex-headers-ham
22726 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
22727 the message, positively identify it as ham.
22731 Regular expression header checks are done only on incoming mail.
22732 There is no specific spam or ham processor for regular expressions.
22735 @subsubsection Bogofilter
22736 @cindex spam filtering
22737 @cindex bogofilter, spam filtering
22740 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter
22742 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
22745 With a minimum of care for associating the @samp{$} mark for spam
22746 articles only, Bogofilter training all gets fairly automatic. You
22747 should do this until you get a few hundreds of articles in each
22748 category, spam or not. The command @kbd{S t} in summary mode, either
22749 for debugging or for curiosity, shows the @emph{spamicity} score of
22750 the current article (between 0.0 and 1.0).
22752 Bogofilter determines if a message is spam based on a specific
22753 threshold. That threshold can be customized, consult the Bogofilter
22756 If the @code{bogofilter} executable is not in your path, Bogofilter
22757 processing will be turned off.
22759 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}.
22763 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter-headers
22765 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
22766 speedy Bogofilter, looking only at the message headers. It works
22767 similarly to @code{spam-use-bogofilter}, but the @code{X-Bogosity} header
22768 must be in the message already. Normally you would do this with a
22769 procmail recipe or something similar; consult the Bogofilter
22770 installation documents for details.
22772 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter}.
22776 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter
22777 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22778 customizing the group parameters or the
22779 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22780 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles
22781 will be added to the Bogofilter spam database.
22784 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter
22785 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22786 customizing the group parameters or the
22787 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22788 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
22789 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the Bogofilter database
22790 of non-spam messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in
22791 @emph{spam} or @emph{unclassified} groups.
22794 @defvar spam-bogofilter-database-directory
22796 This is the directory where Bogofilter will store its databases. It
22797 is not specified by default, so Bogofilter will use its own default
22798 database directory.
22802 The Bogofilter mail classifier is similar to @command{ifile} in intent and
22803 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
22804 @code{spam-use-bogofilter} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}
22805 variables to indicate to spam-split that Bogofilter should either be
22806 used, or has already been used on the article. The 0.9.2.1 version of
22807 Bogofilter was used to test this functionality.
22809 @node ifile spam filtering
22810 @subsubsection ifile spam filtering
22811 @cindex spam filtering
22812 @cindex ifile, spam filtering
22815 @defvar spam-use-ifile
22817 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use @command{ifile}, a
22818 statistical analyzer similar to Bogofilter.
22822 @defvar spam-ifile-all-categories
22824 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-use-ifile} to give you all
22825 the ifile categories, not just spam/non-spam. If you use this, make
22826 sure you train ifile as described in its documentation.
22830 @defvar spam-ifile-spam-category
22832 This is the category of spam messages as far as ifile is concerned.
22833 The actual string used is irrelevant, but you probably want to leave
22834 the default value of @samp{spam}.
22837 @defvar spam-ifile-database-path
22839 This is the filename for the ifile database. It is not specified by
22840 default, so ifile will use its own default database name.
22844 The ifile mail classifier is similar to Bogofilter in intent and
22845 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
22846 @code{spam-use-ifile} variable to indicate to spam-split that ifile
22847 should be used. The 1.2.1 version of ifile was used to test this
22850 @node spam-stat spam filtering
22851 @subsubsection spam-stat spam filtering
22852 @cindex spam filtering
22853 @cindex spam-stat, spam filtering
22857 @xref{Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat}.
22859 @defvar spam-use-stat
22861 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use
22862 spam-stat.el, an Emacs Lisp statistical analyzer.
22866 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat
22867 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22868 customizing the group parameters or the
22869 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22870 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
22871 articles will be added to the spam-stat database of spam messages.
22874 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat
22875 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22876 customizing the group parameters or the
22877 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22878 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
22879 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the spam-stat database
22880 of non-spam messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in
22881 @emph{spam} or @emph{unclassified} groups.
22884 This enables @file{spam.el} to cooperate with @file{spam-stat.el}.
22885 @file{spam-stat.el} provides an internal (Lisp-only) spam database,
22886 which unlike ifile or Bogofilter does not require external programs.
22887 A spam and a ham processor, and the @code{spam-use-stat} variable for
22888 @code{spam-split} are provided.
22891 @subsubsection Using SpamOracle with Gnus
22892 @cindex spam filtering
22896 An easy way to filter out spam is to use SpamOracle. SpamOracle is an
22897 statistical mail filtering tool written by Xavier Leroy and needs to be
22898 installed separately.
22900 There are several ways to use SpamOracle with Gnus. In all cases, your
22901 mail is piped through SpamOracle in its @emph{mark} mode. SpamOracle will
22902 then enter an @samp{X-Spam} header indicating whether it regards the
22903 mail as a spam mail or not.
22905 One possibility is to run SpamOracle as a @code{:prescript} from the
22906 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}, (@pxref{SpamAssassin}). This method has
22907 the advantage that the user can see the @emph{X-Spam} headers.
22909 The easiest method is to make @file{spam.el} (@pxref{Filtering Spam
22910 Using The Spam ELisp Package}) call SpamOracle.
22912 @vindex spam-use-spamoracle
22913 To enable SpamOracle usage by @file{spam.el}, set the variable
22914 @code{spam-use-spamoracle} to @code{t} and configure the
22915 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy} as described in
22916 the section @xref{Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package}. In
22917 this example the @samp{INBOX} of an nnimap server is filtered using
22918 SpamOracle. Mails recognized as spam mails will be moved to
22919 @code{spam-split-group}, @samp{Junk} in this case. Ham messages stay
22923 (setq spam-use-spamoracle t
22924 spam-split-group "Junk"
22925 nnimap-split-inbox '("INBOX")
22926 nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
22927 nnimap-split-fancy '(| (: spam-split) "INBOX"))
22930 @defvar spam-use-spamoracle
22931 Set to @code{t} if you want Gnus to enable spam filtering using
22935 @defvar spam-spamoracle-binary
22936 Gnus uses the SpamOracle binary called @file{spamoracle} found in the
22937 user's PATH. Using the variable @code{spam-spamoracle-binary}, this
22941 @defvar spam-spamoracle-database
22942 By default, SpamOracle uses the file @file{~/.spamoracle.db} as a database to
22943 store its analyses. This is controlled by the variable
22944 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} which defaults to @code{nil}. That means
22945 the default SpamOracle database will be used. In case you want your
22946 database to live somewhere special, set
22947 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} to this path.
22950 SpamOracle employs a statistical algorithm to determine whether a
22951 message is spam or ham. In order to get good results, meaning few
22952 false hits or misses, SpamOracle needs training. SpamOracle learns the
22953 characteristics of your spam mails. Using the @emph{add} mode
22954 (training mode) one has to feed good (ham) and spam mails to
22955 SpamOracle. This can be done by pressing @kbd{|} in the Summary buffer
22956 and pipe the mail to a SpamOracle process or using @file{spam.el}'s
22957 spam- and ham-processors, which is much more convenient. For a
22958 detailed description of spam- and ham-processors, @xref{Filtering Spam
22959 Using The Spam ELisp Package}.
22961 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle
22962 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22963 customizing the group parameter or the
22964 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
22965 to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles will be
22966 sent to SpamOracle as spam samples.
22969 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle
22970 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22971 customizing the group parameter or the
22972 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
22973 to a grup's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked articles in
22974 @emph{ham} groups will be sent to the SpamOracle as samples of ham
22975 messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam} or
22976 @emph{unclassified} groups.
22979 @emph{Example:} These are the Group Parameters of an group that has been
22980 classified as a ham group, meaning that it should only contain ham
22983 ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham)
22985 (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle)))
22987 For this group the @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle} is
22988 installed. If the group contains spam message (e.g. because SpamOracle
22989 has not had enough sample messages yet) and the user marks some
22990 messages as spam messages, these messages will be processed by
22991 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle}. This processor sends
22992 the messages to SpamOracle as new samples for spam.
22994 @node Extending the spam elisp package
22995 @subsubsection Extending the spam elisp package
22996 @cindex spam filtering
22997 @cindex spam elisp package, extending
22998 @cindex extending the spam elisp package
23000 Say you want to add a new back end called blackbox. For filtering
23001 incoming mail, provide the following:
23009 (defvar spam-use-blackbox nil
23010 "True if blackbox should be used.")
23015 (spam-use-blackbox . spam-check-blackbox)
23017 to @code{spam-list-of-checks}.
23022 Write the @code{spam-check-blackbox} function. It should return
23023 @samp{nil} or @code{spam-split-group}. See the existing
23024 @code{spam-check-*} functions for examples of what you can do.
23026 Make sure to add @code{spam-use-blackbox} to
23027 @code{spam-list-of-statistical-checks} if Blackbox is a statistical
23028 mail analyzer that needs the full message body to operate.
23032 For processing spam and ham messages, provide the following:
23039 Note you don't have to provide a spam or a ham processor. Only
23040 provide them if Blackbox supports spam or ham processing.
23043 (defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox"
23044 "The Blackbox summary exit spam processor.
23045 Only applicable to spam groups.")
23047 (defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox"
23048 "The whitelist summary exit ham processor.
23049 Only applicable to non-spam (unclassified and ham) groups.")
23057 (defun spam-blackbox-register-spam-routine ()
23058 (spam-generic-register-routine
23059 ;; @r{the spam function}
23061 (let ((from (spam-fetch-field-from-fast article)))
23062 (when (stringp from)
23063 (blackbox-do-something-with-this-spammer from))))
23064 ;; @r{the ham function}
23067 (defun spam-blackbox-register-ham-routine ()
23068 (spam-generic-register-routine
23069 ;; @r{the spam function}
23071 ;; @r{the ham function}
23073 (let ((from (spam-fetch-field-from-fast article)))
23074 (when (stringp from)
23075 (blackbox-do-something-with-this-ham-sender from))))))
23078 Write the @code{blackbox-do-something-with-this-ham-sender} and
23079 @code{blackbox-do-something-with-this-spammer} functions. You can add
23080 more complex code than fetching the message sender, but keep in mind
23081 that retrieving the whole message takes significantly longer than the
23082 sender through @code{spam-fetch-field-from-fast}, because the message
23083 senders are kept in memory by Gnus.
23088 @node Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
23089 @subsection Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
23090 @cindex Paul Graham
23091 @cindex Graham, Paul
23092 @cindex naive Bayesian spam filtering
23093 @cindex Bayesian spam filtering, naive
23094 @cindex spam filtering, naive Bayesian
23096 Paul Graham has written an excellent essay about spam filtering using
23097 statistics: @uref{http://www.paulgraham.com/spam.html,A Plan for
23098 Spam}. In it he describes the inherent deficiency of rule-based
23099 filtering as used by SpamAssassin, for example: Somebody has to write
23100 the rules, and everybody else has to install these rules. You are
23101 always late. It would be much better, he argues, to filter mail based
23102 on whether it somehow resembles spam or non-spam. One way to measure
23103 this is word distribution. He then goes on to describe a solution
23104 that checks whether a new mail resembles any of your other spam mails
23107 The basic idea is this: Create a two collections of your mail, one
23108 with spam, one with non-spam. Count how often each word appears in
23109 either collection, weight this by the total number of mails in the
23110 collections, and store this information in a dictionary. For every
23111 word in a new mail, determine its probability to belong to a spam or a
23112 non-spam mail. Use the 15 most conspicuous words, compute the total
23113 probability of the mail being spam. If this probability is higher
23114 than a certain threshold, the mail is considered to be spam.
23116 Gnus supports this kind of filtering. But it needs some setting up.
23117 First, you need two collections of your mail, one with spam, one with
23118 non-spam. Then you need to create a dictionary using these two
23119 collections, and save it. And last but not least, you need to use
23120 this dictionary in your fancy mail splitting rules.
23123 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
23124 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
23125 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
23128 @node Creating a spam-stat dictionary
23129 @subsubsection Creating a spam-stat dictionary
23131 Before you can begin to filter spam based on statistics, you must
23132 create these statistics based on two mail collections, one with spam,
23133 one with non-spam. These statistics are then stored in a dictionary
23134 for later use. In order for these statistics to be meaningful, you
23135 need several hundred emails in both collections.
23137 Gnus currently supports only the nnml back end for automated dictionary
23138 creation. The nnml back end stores all mails in a directory, one file
23139 per mail. Use the following:
23141 @defun spam-stat-process-spam-directory
23142 Create spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every file
23143 is treated as one spam mail.
23146 @defun spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory
23147 Create non-spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every
23148 file is treated as one non-spam mail.
23151 Usually you would call @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory} on a
23152 directory such as @file{~/Mail/mail/spam} (this usually corresponds
23153 the the group @samp{nnml:mail.spam}), and you would call
23154 @code{spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory} on a directory such as
23155 @file{~/Mail/mail/misc} (this usually corresponds the the group
23156 @samp{nnml:mail.misc}).
23158 When you are using @acronym{IMAP}, you won't have the mails available
23159 locally, so that will not work. One solution is to use the Gnus Agent
23160 to cache the articles. Then you can use directories such as
23161 @file{"~/News/agent/nnimap/mail.yourisp.com/personal_spam"} for
23162 @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory}. @xref{Agent as Cache}.
23165 This variable holds the hash-table with all the statistics---the
23166 dictionary we have been talking about. For every word in either
23167 collection, this hash-table stores a vector describing how often the
23168 word appeared in spam and often it appeared in non-spam mails.
23171 If you want to regenerate the statistics from scratch, you need to
23172 reset the dictionary.
23174 @defun spam-stat-reset
23175 Reset the @code{spam-stat} hash-table, deleting all the statistics.
23178 When you are done, you must save the dictionary. The dictionary may
23179 be rather large. If you will not update the dictionary incrementally
23180 (instead, you will recreate it once a month, for example), then you
23181 can reduce the size of the dictionary by deleting all words that did
23182 not appear often enough or that do not clearly belong to only spam or
23183 only non-spam mails.
23185 @defun spam-stat-reduce-size
23186 Reduce the size of the dictionary. Use this only if you do not want
23187 to update the dictionary incrementally.
23190 @defun spam-stat-save
23191 Save the dictionary.
23194 @defvar spam-stat-file
23195 The filename used to store the dictionary. This defaults to
23196 @file{~/.spam-stat.el}.
23199 @node Splitting mail using spam-stat
23200 @subsubsection Splitting mail using spam-stat
23202 In order to use @code{spam-stat} to split your mail, you need to add the
23203 following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23206 (require 'spam-stat)
23210 This will load the necessary Gnus code, and the dictionary you
23213 Next, you need to adapt your fancy splitting rules: You need to
23214 determine how to use @code{spam-stat}. The following examples are for
23215 the nnml back end. Using the nnimap back end works just as well. Just
23216 use @code{nnimap-split-fancy} instead of @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
23218 In the simplest case, you only have two groups, @samp{mail.misc} and
23219 @samp{mail.spam}. The following expression says that mail is either
23220 spam or it should go into @samp{mail.misc}. If it is spam, then
23221 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will return @samp{mail.spam}.
23224 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
23225 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
23229 @defvar spam-stat-split-fancy-spam-group
23230 The group to use for spam. Default is @samp{mail.spam}.
23233 If you also filter mail with specific subjects into other groups, use
23234 the following expression. Only mails not matching the regular
23235 expression are considered potential spam.
23238 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
23239 `(| ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
23240 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
23244 If you want to filter for spam first, then you must be careful when
23245 creating the dictionary. Note that @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} must
23246 consider both mails in @samp{mail.emacs} and in @samp{mail.misc} as
23247 non-spam, therefore both should be in your collection of non-spam
23248 mails, when creating the dictionary!
23251 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
23252 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
23253 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
23257 You can combine this with traditional filtering. Here, we move all
23258 HTML-only mails into the @samp{mail.spam.filtered} group. Note that since
23259 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will never see them, the mails in
23260 @samp{mail.spam.filtered} should be neither in your collection of spam mails,
23261 nor in your collection of non-spam mails, when creating the
23265 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
23266 `(| ("Content-Type" "text/html" "mail.spam.filtered")
23267 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
23268 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
23273 @node Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
23274 @subsubsection Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
23276 The main interface to using @code{spam-stat}, are the following functions:
23278 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-spam
23279 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new spam mail.
23280 Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
23283 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-no-spam
23284 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new non-spam
23285 mail. Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
23288 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-spam
23289 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be normal
23290 mail but spam. Use this to change the status of a mail that has
23291 already been processed as non-spam.
23294 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-non-spam
23295 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be spam but
23296 normal mail. Use this to change the status of a mail that has already
23297 been processed as spam.
23300 @defun spam-stat-save
23301 Save the hash table to the file. The filename used is stored in the
23302 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
23305 @defun spam-stat-load
23306 Load the hash table from a file. The filename used is stored in the
23307 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
23310 @defun spam-stat-score-word
23311 Return the spam score for a word.
23314 @defun spam-stat-score-buffer
23315 Return the spam score for a buffer.
23318 @defun spam-stat-split-fancy
23319 Use this function for fancy mail splitting. Add the rule @samp{(:
23320 spam-stat-split-fancy)} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
23323 Make sure you load the dictionary before using it. This requires the
23324 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23327 (require 'spam-stat)
23331 Typical test will involve calls to the following functions:
23334 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
23335 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
23336 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
23337 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
23338 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
23339 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
23340 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
23341 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
23342 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
23343 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
23344 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
23345 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
23346 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
23347 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
23350 Here is how you would create your dictionary:
23353 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
23354 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
23355 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
23356 Repeat for any other non-spam group you need...
23357 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
23358 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
23361 @node Various Various
23362 @section Various Various
23368 @item gnus-home-directory
23369 @vindex gnus-home-directory
23370 All Gnus file and directory variables will be initialized from this
23371 variable, which defaults to @file{~/}.
23373 @item gnus-directory
23374 @vindex gnus-directory
23375 Most Gnus storage file and directory variables will be initialized from
23376 this variable, which defaults to the @env{SAVEDIR} environment
23377 variable, or @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
23379 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{~/.gnus.el} file is read.
23380 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
23381 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
23382 @file{~/.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
23384 @item gnus-default-directory
23385 @vindex gnus-default-directory
23386 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
23387 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
23388 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
23389 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
23390 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
23391 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
23394 @vindex gnus-verbose
23395 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
23396 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
23397 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
23398 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
23399 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
23401 @item gnus-verbose-backends
23402 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
23403 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
23404 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
23406 @item nnheader-max-head-length
23407 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
23408 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
23409 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
23410 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
23411 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
23412 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
23413 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
23414 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
23415 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
23417 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
23418 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
23419 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
23420 read when doing the operation described above.
23422 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
23423 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
23425 @cindex invalid characters in file names
23426 @cindex characters in file names
23427 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
23428 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
23429 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
23433 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
23438 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
23439 Windows (phooey) systems.
23441 @item gnus-hidden-properties
23442 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
23443 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
23444 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
23445 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
23447 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
23448 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
23449 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
23450 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
23451 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
23453 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
23454 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
23455 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
23457 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
23458 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
23460 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
23461 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
23462 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
23463 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
23466 @acronym{IMAP} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
23474 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
23475 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
23477 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
23479 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
23485 Not because of victories @*
23488 but for the common sunshine,@*
23490 the largess of the spring.
23494 but for the day's work done@*
23495 as well as I was able;@*
23496 not for a seat upon the dais@*
23497 but at the common table.@*
23502 @chapter Appendices
23505 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
23506 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
23507 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
23508 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
23509 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
23510 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
23511 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
23512 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
23513 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
23520 @cindex installing under XEmacs
23522 XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
23523 whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
23524 requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{w3}, @samp{mh-e},
23525 @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{rmail}, @samp{eterm}, @samp{mail-lib},
23526 @samp{xemacs-base}, @samp{sh-script} and @samp{fsf-compat}. The
23527 @samp{misc-games} package is required for Morse decoding.
23534 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
23535 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
23537 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
23538 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
23539 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
23540 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
23541 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
23543 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
23544 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
23545 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
23546 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
23547 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
23548 appropriate name, don't you think?)
23550 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
23551 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
23552 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
23553 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
23556 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
23557 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
23558 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
23559 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
23560 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
23561 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
23562 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
23563 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
23564 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
23568 @node Gnus Versions
23569 @subsection Gnus Versions
23571 @cindex September Gnus
23573 @cindex Quassia Gnus
23574 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
23577 @cindex Gnus versions
23579 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
23580 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
23581 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
23583 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
23584 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
23586 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
23587 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
23589 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
23590 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
23592 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
23593 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
23596 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun.
23598 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
23599 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
23600 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'' -- don't panic. Don't let it know
23601 that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever you do, don't
23602 run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach. Find a proper
23603 released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
23606 @node Other Gnus Versions
23607 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
23610 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
23611 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
23612 Japan. It's based on a library called @acronym{SEMI}, which provides
23613 @acronym{MIME} capabilities.
23615 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
23616 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
23617 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
23618 @acronym{MIME} and multilingualization things, especially important for
23625 What's the point of Gnus?
23627 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
23628 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
23629 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
23630 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
23631 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
23632 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
23633 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
23634 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
23635 keep track of millions of people who post?
23637 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
23638 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
23639 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
23640 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
23641 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
23642 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
23643 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
23644 every one of you to explore and invent.
23646 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
23647 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
23650 @node Compatibility
23651 @subsection Compatibility
23653 @cindex compatibility
23654 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
23655 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
23656 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
23661 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
23665 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
23668 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
23671 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
23672 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
23673 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
23674 important variables have their values copied into their global
23675 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
23676 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
23678 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
23679 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
23680 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
23681 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
23682 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
23686 @cindex highlighting
23687 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
23688 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
23689 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
23690 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
23691 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
23692 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
23695 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
23696 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
23697 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
23698 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
23700 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
23701 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
23702 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
23703 to stop doing it the old way.
23705 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
23707 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
23709 @cindex reporting bugs
23711 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
23712 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
23713 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
23715 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
23716 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
23717 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
23718 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
23723 @subsection Conformity
23725 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
23726 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
23734 There are no known breaches of this standard.
23738 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
23740 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
23741 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
23742 We do have some breaches to this one.
23748 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
23749 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
23750 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
23751 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
23752 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
23757 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
23758 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
23759 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
23760 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
23762 @item MIME - RFC 2045-2049 etc
23763 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
23764 All the various @acronym{MIME} RFCs are supported.
23766 @item Disposition Notifications - RFC 2298
23767 Message Mode is able to request notifications from the receiver.
23769 @item PGP - RFC 1991 and RFC 2440
23772 RFC 1991 is the original @acronym{PGP} message specification,
23773 published as an informational RFC. RFC 2440 was the follow-up, now
23774 called Open PGP, and put on the Standards Track. Both document a
23775 non-@acronym{MIME} aware @acronym{PGP} format. Gnus supports both
23776 encoding (signing and encryption) and decoding (verification and
23779 @item PGP/MIME - RFC 2015/3156
23780 RFC 2015 (superseded by 3156 which references RFC 2440 instead of RFC
23781 1991) describes the @acronym{MIME}-wrapping around the RF 1991/2440 format.
23782 Gnus supports both encoding and decoding.
23784 @item S/MIME - RFC 2633
23785 RFC 2633 describes the @acronym{S/MIME} format.
23787 @item IMAP - RFC 1730/2060, RFC 2195, RFC 2086, RFC 2359, RFC 2595, RFC 1731
23788 RFC 1730 is @acronym{IMAP} version 4, updated somewhat by RFC 2060
23789 (@acronym{IMAP} 4 revision 1). RFC 2195 describes CRAM-MD5
23790 authentication for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2086 describes access control
23791 lists (ACLs) for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2359 describes a @acronym{IMAP}
23792 protocol enhancement. RFC 2595 describes the proper @acronym{TLS}
23793 integration (STARTTLS) with @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 1731 describes the
23794 GSSAPI/Kerberos4 mechanisms for @acronym{IMAP}.
23798 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
23799 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
23804 @subsection Emacsen
23810 Gnus should work on :
23818 XEmacs 21.1 and up.
23822 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
23823 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
23826 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
23827 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
23828 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
23832 @node Gnus Development
23833 @subsection Gnus Development
23835 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
23836 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
23837 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
23838 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
23839 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
23840 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
23841 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
23842 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
23844 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
23845 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
23846 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
23847 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
23848 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
23851 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
23852 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
23853 In particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
23854 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
23855 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
23857 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
23858 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
23859 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
23860 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
23861 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
23862 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
23863 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
23864 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
23865 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
23866 can't be assumed to do so.
23871 @subsection Contributors
23872 @cindex contributors
23874 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
23875 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
23876 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
23877 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
23878 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
23879 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
23880 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
23881 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
23882 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
23883 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
23885 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for@dots{} oops,
23891 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
23894 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
23895 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @acronym{MIME} and
23896 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
23897 functionality and stuff.
23900 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
23901 well as numerous other things).
23904 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
23907 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
23910 Justin Sheehy---the @acronym{FAQ} maintainer.
23913 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
23916 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
23917 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
23920 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
23923 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
23924 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
23927 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
23930 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
23933 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
23936 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
23939 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
23940 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
23943 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
23946 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
23949 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
23952 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
23956 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
23959 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
23962 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
23965 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
23966 well as autoconf support.
23970 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
23971 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
23973 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
23988 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
23990 Katsumi Yamaoka, @c Yamaoka
23994 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
24004 Alexei V. Barantsev,
24019 Massimo Campostrini,
24024 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
24025 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
24029 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
24032 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
24038 Michael Welsh Duggan,
24043 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
24047 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
24055 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
24057 Michelangelo Grigni,
24061 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
24063 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c Hayashi
24065 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
24072 François Felix Ingrand,
24073 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c Ichikawa
24074 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
24076 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
24086 Peter Skov Knudsen,
24087 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
24089 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
24090 Thor Kristoffersen,
24093 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
24111 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
24112 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
24119 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
24124 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
24128 John McClary Prevost,
24134 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
24139 Christian von Roques,
24142 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
24149 Philippe Schnoebelen,
24151 Randal L. Schwartz,
24165 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
24170 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
24190 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
24191 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
24192 (550kB and counting).
24194 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
24197 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
24198 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
24202 @subsection New Features
24203 @cindex new features
24206 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
24207 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
24208 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
24209 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
24210 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
24211 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10.
24214 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
24215 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
24216 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
24219 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
24221 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
24226 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
24227 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
24230 Local spool and several @acronym{NNTP} servers can be used at once
24231 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
24234 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
24237 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
24238 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
24239 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
24242 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
24243 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
24244 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
24245 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
24248 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
24249 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
24252 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
24253 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
24254 (@pxref{The Active File}).
24257 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
24258 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
24261 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
24262 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
24263 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
24266 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
24267 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
24268 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
24271 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{~/.gnus.el}) to avoid
24272 cluttering up the @file{.emacs} file.
24275 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
24276 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
24279 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
24280 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
24283 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
24284 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
24287 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
24288 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
24291 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
24292 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
24295 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
24298 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
24299 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
24302 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
24303 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
24306 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
24307 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
24310 Gnus can fetch @acronym{FAQ}s and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
24313 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
24314 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
24317 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
24321 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
24325 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
24326 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
24329 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
24335 @node September Gnus
24336 @subsubsection September Gnus
24340 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
24344 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
24349 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
24350 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
24354 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
24355 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
24359 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
24363 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
24364 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
24367 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
24371 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
24374 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
24377 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
24380 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
24384 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
24385 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
24388 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
24392 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
24396 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
24400 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
24404 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
24407 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
24408 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
24411 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
24415 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
24416 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
24419 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
24422 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
24423 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
24424 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
24427 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
24431 The Gnus cache is much faster.
24434 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
24438 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
24439 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
24442 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
24443 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
24446 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
24447 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
24450 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
24451 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
24452 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
24455 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
24456 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
24459 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
24462 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
24465 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
24468 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
24471 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
24472 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
24475 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
24479 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
24482 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
24487 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
24490 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
24494 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
24497 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
24501 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
24504 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
24507 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
24508 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
24511 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
24512 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
24516 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
24517 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
24520 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
24524 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
24525 buffer to allow easier treatment.
24528 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
24531 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
24535 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
24539 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
24540 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
24543 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
24547 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
24548 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
24551 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
24552 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
24555 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
24559 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
24562 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
24565 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
24571 @subsubsection Red Gnus
24573 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
24577 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
24584 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
24587 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
24588 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
24591 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
24592 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
24596 Article washing status can be displayed in the
24597 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
24600 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
24603 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
24604 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
24607 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
24611 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
24612 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
24616 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
24617 Server Internals}).
24620 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
24624 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
24627 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
24628 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
24631 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
24632 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
24633 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
24636 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
24637 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
24640 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
24641 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
24644 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
24648 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
24649 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
24652 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
24653 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
24656 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
24660 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
24663 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
24667 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
24668 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
24671 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
24672 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
24675 A new command for reading collections of documents
24676 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
24677 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
24680 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
24684 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @acronym{NNTP}
24685 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
24688 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
24689 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
24690 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
24693 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
24694 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
24698 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
24702 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
24706 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
24711 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
24715 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
24719 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
24720 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
24723 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
24729 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
24731 New features in Gnus 5.6:
24736 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
24737 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added.
24738 @xref{Gnus Unplugged}, for the full story.
24741 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
24742 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
24743 group, which is created automatically.
24746 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
24750 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
24753 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
24754 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
24757 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
24761 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
24764 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
24765 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
24768 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
24771 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. @xref{Symbolic Prefixes}, for
24775 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
24776 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the @file{all.SCORE} file.
24779 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
24780 control over simplification.
24783 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
24786 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
24790 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
24793 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
24796 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
24797 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
24798 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
24801 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
24802 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
24805 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
24809 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
24810 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
24813 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
24814 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @acronym{NNTP} servers.
24817 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
24821 A history of where mails have been split is available.
24824 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
24827 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
24828 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
24831 A new function for citing in Message has been
24832 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
24835 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
24838 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
24842 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
24843 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
24846 The ``lapsed date'' article header can be kept continually
24847 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
24850 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
24853 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
24857 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
24858 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
24860 New features in Gnus 5.8:
24865 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
24866 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
24868 If you used procmail like in
24871 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
24872 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
24873 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
24874 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
24877 this now has changed to
24881 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
24885 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}.
24888 Gnus is now a @acronym{MIME}-capable reader. This affects many parts of
24889 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
24892 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
24893 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
24896 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
24897 called to position point.
24900 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
24901 summary buffers and @acronym{NOV} files.
24904 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
24905 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
24908 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
24909 subtly different manner.
24912 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
24913 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
24914 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
24917 Gnus can now read @acronym{IMAP} mail via @code{nnimap}.
24922 @subsubsection Oort Gnus
24925 New features in Gnus 5.10:
24930 The revised Gnus @acronym{FAQ} is included in the manual,
24931 @xref{Frequently Asked Questions}.
24934 Upgrading from previous (stable) version if you have used Oort.
24936 If you have tried Oort (the unstable Gnus branch leading to this
24937 release) but went back to a stable version, be careful when upgrading to
24938 this version. In particular, you will probably want to remove all
24939 @file{.marks} (nnml) and @file{.mrk} (nnfolder) files, so that flags are
24940 read from your @file{.newsrc.eld} instead of from the
24941 @file{.marks}/@file{.mrk} file where this release store flags. See a
24942 later entry for more information about marks. Note that downgrading
24943 isn't save in general.
24948 More buttons for URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man
24949 pages and Emacs or Gnus related references. @xref{Article Buttons}. The
24950 variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} can be used to control the
24951 appearance of all article buttons. @xref{Article Button Levels}.
24956 @code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} installs key bindings in dired buffers to send
24957 a file as an attachment (@kbd{C-c C-a}), open a file using the appropriate
24958 mailcap entry (@kbd{C-c C-l}), and print a file using the mailcap entry
24959 (@kbd{C-c P}). It is enabled with
24961 (add-hook 'dired-mode-hook 'turn-on-gnus-dired-mode)
24965 Gnus can display RSS newsfeeds as a newsgroup. @xref{RSS}.
24968 Single-part yenc encoded attachments can be decoded.
24973 The picons code has been reimplemented to work in GNU Emacs---some of
24974 the previous options have been removed or renamed.
24976 Picons are small ``personal icons'' representing users, domain and
24977 newsgroups, which can be displayed in the Article buffer.
24981 If the new option @code{gnus-treat-body-boundary} is non-@code{nil}, a
24982 boundary line is drawn at the end of the headers.
24985 Retrieval of charters and control messages
24987 There are new commands for fetching newsgroup charters (@kbd{H c}) and
24988 control messages (@kbd{H C}).
24993 You can delay the sending of a message with @kbd{C-c C-j} in the Message
24994 buffer. The messages are delivered at specified time. This is useful
24995 for sending yourself reminders. @xref{Delayed Articles}.
24998 If @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled, attachments are automatically
24999 decompressed when activated.
25002 If the new option @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is non-@code{nil},
25003 the nnml back end allows compressed message files.
25006 Signed article headers (X-PGP-Sig) can be verified with @kbd{W p}.
25009 The Summary Buffer uses an arrow in the fringe to indicate the current
25010 article. Use @code{(setq gnus-summary-display-arrow nil)} to disable it.
25013 Warn about email replies to news
25015 Do you often find yourself replying to news by email by mistake? Then
25016 the new option @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} is just the thing for
25020 If the new option @code{gnus-summary-display-while-building} is
25021 non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer is shown and updated as it's being
25025 The new @code{recent} mark @samp{.} indicates newly arrived messages (as
25026 opposed to old but unread messages).
25029 The new option @code{gnus-gcc-mark-as-read} automatically marks
25030 Gcc articles as read.
25033 The nndoc back end now supports mailman digests and exim bounces.
25036 Gnus supports RFC 2369 mailing list headers, and adds a number of
25037 related commands in mailing list groups. @xref{Mailing List}.
25040 The Date header can be displayed in a format that can be read aloud
25041 in English. @xref{Article Date}.
25044 The envelope sender address can be customized when using Sendmail.
25045 @xref{Mail Variables, Mail Variables,, message, Message Manual}.
25048 diffs are automatically highlighted in groups matching
25049 @code{mm-uu-diff-groups-regexp}
25052 @acronym{TLS} wrapper shipped with Gnus
25054 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is now supported in @acronym{IMAP} and
25055 @acronym{NNTP} via @file{tls.el} and GNUTLS. The old
25056 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} support via (external third party)
25057 @file{ssl.el} and OpenSSL still works.
25060 New @file{make.bat} for compiling and installing Gnus under MS Windows
25062 Use @file{make.bat} if you want to install Gnus under MS Windows, the
25063 first argument to the batch-program should be the directory where
25064 @file{xemacs.exe} respectively @file{emacs.exe} is located, iff you want
25065 to install Gnus after compiling it, give @file{make.bat} @code{/copy} as
25066 the second parameter.
25068 @file{make.bat} has been rewritten from scratch, it now features
25069 automatic recognition of XEmacs and GNU Emacs, generates
25070 @file{gnus-load.el}, checks if errors occur while compilation and
25071 generation of info files and reports them at the end of the build
25072 process. It now uses @code{makeinfo} if it is available and falls
25073 back to @file{infohack.el} otherwise. @file{make.bat} should now
25074 install all files which are necessary to run Gnus and be generally a
25075 complete replacement for the @code{configure; make; make install}
25076 cycle used under Unix systems.
25078 The new @file{make.bat} makes @file{make-x.bat} superfluous, so it has
25082 Support for non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names
25084 Message supports non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To: and
25085 Cc: and will query you whether to perform encoding when you try to
25086 send a message. The variable @code{message-use-idna} controls this.
25087 Gnus will also decode non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To:
25088 and Cc: when you view a message. The variable @code{gnus-use-idna}
25092 Better handling of Microsoft citation styles
25094 Gnus now tries to recognize the mangled header block that some Microsoft
25095 mailers use to indicate that the rest of the message is a citation, even
25096 though it is not quoted in any way. The variable
25097 @code{gnus-cite-unsightly-citation-regexp} matches the start of these
25101 @code{gnus-article-skip-boring}
25103 If you set @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} to @code{t}, then Gnus will
25104 not scroll down to show you a page that contains only boring text,
25105 which by default means cited text and signature. You can customize
25106 what is skippable using @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}.
25108 This feature is especially useful if you read many articles that
25109 consist of a little new content at the top with a long, untrimmed
25110 message cited below.
25113 The format spec @code{%C} for positioning point has changed to @code{%*}.
25116 The new variable @code{gnus-parameters} can be used to set group parameters.
25118 Earlier this was done only via @kbd{G p} (or @kbd{G c}), which stored
25119 the parameters in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, but via this variable you can
25120 enjoy the powers of customize, and simplified backups since you set the
25121 variable in @file{~/.emacs} instead of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. The
25122 variable maps regular expressions matching group names to group
25125 (setq gnus-parameters
25127 (gnus-show-threads nil)
25128 (gnus-use-scoring nil))
25129 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
25130 (to-group . "\\1"))))
25134 Smileys (@samp{:-)}, @samp{;-)} etc) are now iconized for Emacs too.
25136 Put @code{(setq gnus-treat-display-smileys nil)} in @file{~/.emacs} to
25140 Gnus no longer generate the Sender: header automatically.
25142 Earlier it was generated iff the user configurable email address was
25143 different from the Gnus guessed default user address. As the guessing
25144 algorithm is rarely correct these days, and (more controversially) the
25145 only use of the Sender: header was to check if you are entitled to
25146 cancel/supersede news (which is now solved by Cancel Locks instead,
25147 see another entry), generation of the header has been disabled by
25148 default. See the variables @code{message-required-headers},
25149 @code{message-required-news-headers}, and
25150 @code{message-required-mail-headers}.
25153 Features from third party @file{message-utils.el} added to @file{message.el}.
25155 Message now asks if you wish to remove @samp{(was: <old subject>)} from
25156 subject lines (see @code{message-subject-trailing-was-query}). @kbd{C-c
25157 M-m} and @kbd{C-c M-f} inserts markers indicating included text.
25158 @kbd{C-c C-f a} adds a X-No-Archive: header. @kbd{C-c C-f x} inserts
25159 appropriate headers and a note in the body for cross-postings and
25160 followups (see the variables @code{message-cross-post-@var{*}}).
25163 References and X-Draft-Headers are no longer generated when you start
25164 composing messages and @code{message-generate-headers-first} is
25168 Improved anti-spam features.
25170 Gnus is now able to take out spam from your mail and news streams
25171 using a wide variety of programs and filter rules. Among the supported
25172 methods are RBL blocklists, bogofilter and white/blacklists. Hooks
25173 for easy use of external packages such as SpamAssassin and Hashcash
25174 are also new. @xref{Thwarting Email Spam}.
25177 Easy inclusion of X-Faces headers.
25180 Face headers handling.
25183 In the summary buffer, the new command @kbd{/ N} inserts new messages
25184 and @kbd{/ o} inserts old messages.
25187 Gnus decodes morse encoded messages if you press @kbd{W m}.
25190 Unread count correct in nnimap groups.
25192 The estimated number of unread articles in the group buffer should now
25193 be correct for nnimap groups. This is achieved by calling
25194 @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} from the
25195 @code{gnus-setup-news-hook} (called on startup) and
25196 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook}. (called after getting new
25197 mail). If you have modified those variables from the default, you may
25198 want to add @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} again. If
25199 you were happy with the estimate and want to save some (minimal) time
25200 when getting new mail, remove the function.
25203 Group Carbon Copy (GCC) quoting
25205 To support groups that contains SPC and other weird characters, groups
25206 are quoted before they are placed in the Gcc: header. This means
25207 variables such as @code{gnus-message-archive-group} should no longer
25208 contain quote characters to make groups containing SPC work. Also, if
25209 you are using the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar} (indicating Gcc
25210 into two groups) you must change it to return the list
25211 @code{("nnml:foo" "nnml:bar")}, otherwise the Gcc: line will be quoted
25212 incorrectly. Note that returning the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar}
25213 was incorrect earlier, it just didn't generate any problems since it
25214 was inserted directly.
25217 @file{~/News/overview/} not used.
25219 As a result of the following change, the @file{~/News/overview/}
25220 directory is not used any more. You can safely delete the entire
25226 The Gnus Agent has seen a major updated and is now enabled by default,
25227 and all nntp and nnimap servers from @code{gnus-select-method} and
25228 @code{gnus-secondary-select-method} are agentized by default. Earlier
25229 only the server in @code{gnus-select-method} was agentized by the
25230 default, and the agent was disabled by default. When the agent is
25231 enabled, headers are now also retrieved from the Agent cache instead
25232 of the back ends when possible. Earlier this only happened in the
25233 unplugged state. You can enroll or remove servers with @kbd{J a} and
25234 @kbd{J r} in the server buffer. Gnus will not download articles into
25235 the Agent cache, unless you instruct it to do so, though, by using
25236 @kbd{J u} or @kbd{J s} from the Group buffer. You revert to the old
25237 behaviour of having the Agent disabled with @code{(setq gnus-agent
25238 nil)}. Note that putting @code{(gnus-agentize)} in @file{~/.gnus.el}
25239 is not needed any more.
25242 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}
25244 The default value changed to @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%)
25245 %s\n}. Moreover @code{gnus-extra-headers},
25246 @code{nnmail-extra-headers} and @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses}
25247 changed their default so that the users name will be replaced by the
25248 recipient's name or the group name posting to for @acronym{NNTP}
25252 @file{deuglify.el} (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article})
25254 A new file from Raymond Scholz @email{rscholz@@zonix.de} for deuglifying
25255 broken Outlook (Express) articles.
25258 @code{(require 'gnus-load)}
25260 If you use a stand-alone Gnus distribution, you'd better add
25261 @code{(require 'gnus-load)} into your @file{~/.emacs} after adding the Gnus
25262 lisp directory into load-path.
25264 File @file{gnus-load.el} contains autoload commands, functions and variables,
25265 some of which may not be included in distributions of Emacsen.
25268 @code{gnus-slave-unplugged}
25270 A new command which starts Gnus offline in slave mode.
25273 @code{message-insinuate-rmail}
25275 Adding @code{(message-insinuate-rmail)} and @code{(setq
25276 mail-user-agent 'gnus-user-agent)} in @file{.emacs} convinces Rmail to
25277 compose, reply and forward messages in message-mode, where you can
25278 enjoy the power of @acronym{MML}.
25281 @code{message-minibuffer-local-map}
25283 The line below enables BBDB in resending a message:
25285 (define-key message-minibuffer-local-map [(tab)]
25286 'bbdb-complete-name)
25290 Externalizing and deleting of attachments.
25292 If @code{gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments} or
25293 @code{message-fcc-externalize-attachments} is non-@code{nil}, attach
25294 local files as external parts.
25296 The command @code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip} (bound to @kbd{C-o}
25297 on @acronym{MIME} buttons) saves a part and replaces the part with an
25298 external one. @code{gnus-mime-delete-part} (bound to @kbd{d} on
25299 @acronym{MIME} buttons) removes a part. It works only on back ends
25300 that support editing.
25303 @code{gnus-default-charset}
25305 The default value is determined from the
25306 @code{current-language-environment} variable, instead of
25307 @code{iso-8859-1}. Also the @samp{.*} item in
25308 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} is removed.
25311 @code{gnus-posting-styles}
25313 Add a new format of match like
25315 ((header "to" "larsi.*org")
25316 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
25318 The old format like the lines below is obsolete, but still accepted.
25320 (header "to" "larsi.*org"
25321 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
25325 @code{message-ignored-news-headers} and @code{message-ignored-mail-headers}
25327 @samp{X-Draft-From} and @samp{X-Gnus-Agent-Meta-Information} have been
25328 added into these two variables. If you customized those, perhaps you
25329 need add those two headers too.
25332 Gnus reads the @acronym{NOV} and articles in the Agent if plugged.
25334 If one reads an article while plugged, and the article already exists
25335 in the Agent, it won't get downloaded once more. @code{(setq
25336 gnus-agent-cache nil)} reverts to the old behavior.
25339 Gnus supports the ``format=flowed'' (RFC 2646) parameter. On
25340 composing messages, it is enabled by @code{use-hard-newlines}.
25341 Decoding format=flowed was present but not documented in earlier
25345 Gnus supports the generation of RFC 2298 Disposition Notification requests.
25347 This is invoked with the @kbd{C-c M-n} key binding from message mode.
25350 Gnus supports Maildir groups.
25352 Gnus includes a new back end @file{nnmaildir.el}. @xref{Maildir}.
25355 Printing capabilities are enhanced.
25357 Gnus supports Muttprint natively with @kbd{O P} from the Summary and
25358 Article buffers. Also, each individual @acronym{MIME} part can be
25359 printed using @kbd{p} on the @acronym{MIME} button.
25362 Message supports the Importance: (RFC 2156) header.
25364 In the message buffer, @kbd{C-c C-f C-i} or @kbd{C-c C-u} cycles through
25368 Gnus supports Cancel Locks in News.
25370 This means a header @samp{Cancel-Lock} is inserted in news posting. It is
25371 used to determine if you wrote an article or not (for cancelling and
25372 superseding). Gnus generates a random password string the first time
25373 you post a message, and saves it in your @file{~/.emacs} using the Custom
25374 system. While the variable is called @code{canlock-password}, it is not
25375 security sensitive data. Publishing your canlock string on the web
25376 will not allow anyone to be able to anything she could not already do.
25377 The behaviour can be changed by customizing @code{message-insert-canlock}.
25380 Gnus supports server-side mail filtering using Sieve.
25382 Sieve rules can be added as Group Parameters for groups, and the
25383 complete Sieve script is generated using @kbd{D g} from the Group
25384 buffer, and then uploaded to the server using @kbd{C-c C-l} in the
25385 generated Sieve buffer. @xref{Sieve Commands}, and the new Sieve
25386 manual @ref{Top, , Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
25389 Extended format specs.
25391 Format spec @samp{%&user-date;} is added into
25392 @code{gnus-summary-line-format-alist}. Also, user defined extended
25393 format specs are supported. The extended format specs look like
25394 @samp{%u&foo;}, which invokes function
25395 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{foo}}. Because @samp{&} is used as the
25396 escape character, old user defined format @samp{%u&} is no longer supported.
25399 @kbd{/ *} (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}) is rewritten.
25401 It was aliased to @kbd{Y c}
25402 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}). The new function filters
25403 out other articles.
25405 @item Some limiting commands accept a @kbd{C-u} prefix to negate the match.
25407 If @kbd{C-u} is used on subject, author or extra headers, i.e., @kbd{/
25408 s}, @kbd{/ a}, and @kbd{/ x}
25409 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-@{subject,author,extra@}}) respectively, the
25410 result will be to display all articles that do not match the expression.
25413 Group names are treated as UTF-8 by default.
25415 This is supposedly what USEFOR wanted to migrate to. See
25416 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist} and
25417 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist} for customization.
25420 The nnml and nnfolder back ends store marks for each groups.
25422 This makes it possible to take backup of nnml/nnfolder servers/groups
25423 separately of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, while preserving marks. It also
25424 makes it possible to share articles and marks between users (without
25425 sharing the @file{~/.newsrc.eld} file) within e.g. a department. It
25426 works by storing the marks stored in @file{~/.newsrc.eld} in a per-group
25427 file @file{.marks} (for nnml) and @file{@var{groupname}.mrk} (for
25428 nnfolder, named @var{groupname}). If the nnml/nnfolder is moved to
25429 another machine, Gnus will automatically use the @file{.marks} or
25430 @file{.mrk} file instead of the information in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
25431 The new server variables @code{nnml-marks-is-evil} and
25432 @code{nnfolder-marks-is-evil} can be used to disable this feature.
25435 The menu bar item (in Group and Summary buffer) named ``Misc'' has
25436 been renamed to ``Gnus''.
25439 The menu bar item (in Message mode) named ``@acronym{MML}'' has been
25440 renamed to ``Attachments''. Note that this menu also contains security
25441 related stuff, like signing and encryption (@pxref{Security, Security,,
25442 message, Message Manual}).
25445 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} and
25446 @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
25448 The regexps in these variables are compared with full group names
25449 instead of real group names in 5.8. Users who customize these
25450 variables should change those regexps accordingly. For example:
25452 ("^han\\>" euc-kr) -> ("\\(^\\|:\\)han\\>" euc-kr)
25456 Gnus supports @acronym{PGP} (RFC 1991/2440), @acronym{PGP/MIME} (RFC
25457 2015/3156) and @acronym{S/MIME} (RFC 2630-2633).
25459 It needs an external @acronym{S/MIME} and OpenPGP implementation, but no
25460 additional Lisp libraries. This add several menu items to the
25461 Attachments menu, and @kbd{C-c RET} key bindings, when composing
25462 messages. This also obsoletes @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook}.
25465 Gnus inlines external parts (message/external).
25468 @acronym{MML} (Mime compose) prefix changed from @kbd{M-m} to @kbd{C-c
25471 This change was made to avoid conflict with the standard binding of
25472 @code{back-to-indentation}, which is also useful in message mode.
25479 @section The Manual
25483 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
25484 either @code{texi2dvi}
25486 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
25487 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
25489 to get what you hold in your hands now.
25491 The following conventions have been used:
25496 This is a @samp{string}
25499 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
25502 This is a @file{file}
25505 This is a @code{symbol}
25509 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
25513 (setq flargnoze "yes")
25516 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
25519 (setq flumphel 'yes)
25522 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
25523 ever get them confused.
25527 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
25528 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
25529 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
25530 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
25531 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
25532 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
25533 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
25539 @node On Writing Manuals
25540 @section On Writing Manuals
25542 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
25543 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
25544 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
25545 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
25546 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
25547 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
25550 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
25551 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
25552 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
25555 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
25556 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
25561 @section Terminology
25563 @cindex terminology
25568 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
25569 News is generally fetched from a nearby @acronym{NNTP} server, and is
25570 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
25571 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
25572 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
25576 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
25577 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
25578 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
25579 not posting, and replying is not following up.
25583 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
25587 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
25592 Gnus considers mail and news to be mostly the same, really. The only
25593 difference is how to access the actual articles. News articles are
25594 commonly fetched via the protocol @acronym{NNTP}, whereas mail
25595 messages could be read from a file on the local disk. The internal
25596 architecture of Gnus thus comprises a ``front end'' and a number of
25597 ``back ends''. Internally, when you enter a group (by hitting
25598 @key{RET}, say), you thereby invoke a function in the front end in
25599 Gnus. The front end then ``talks'' to a back end and says things like
25600 ``Give me the list of articles in the foo group'' or ``Show me article
25603 So a back end mainly defines either a protocol (the @code{nntp} back
25604 end accesses news via @acronym{NNTP}, the @code{nnimap} back end
25605 accesses mail via @acronym{IMAP}) or a file format and directory
25606 layout (the @code{nnspool} back end accesses news via the common
25607 ``spool directory'' format, the @code{nnml} back end access mail via a
25608 file format and directory layout that's quite similar).
25610 Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this is all
25611 done by the back ends. A back end is a collection of functions to
25612 access the articles.
25614 However, sometimes the term ``back end'' is also used where ``server''
25615 would have been more appropriate. And then there is the term ``select
25616 method'' which can mean either. The Gnus terminology can be quite
25621 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
25622 default, way of getting news.
25626 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
25627 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends for getting
25632 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
25633 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
25637 A message that has been posted as news.
25640 @cindex mail message
25641 A message that has been mailed.
25645 A mail message or news article
25649 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
25654 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
25659 A line from the head of an article.
25663 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
25664 collection of @acronym{NOV} lines.
25666 @item @acronym{NOV}
25667 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
25668 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
25669 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
25670 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
25671 normal @sc{head} format.
25675 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
25676 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
25677 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
25678 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
25679 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
25680 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
25682 @item killed groups
25683 @cindex killed groups
25684 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
25685 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
25687 @item zombie groups
25688 @cindex zombie groups
25689 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
25692 @cindex active file
25693 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
25694 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
25695 is rather large, as you might surmise.
25698 @cindex bogus groups
25699 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
25700 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
25701 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
25704 @cindex activating groups
25705 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
25706 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
25707 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
25711 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
25713 @item select method
25714 @cindex select method
25715 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
25718 @item virtual server
25719 @cindex virtual server
25720 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
25721 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
25722 whole is a virtual server.
25726 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
25727 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
25730 @item ephemeral groups
25731 @cindex ephemeral groups
25732 @cindex temporary groups
25733 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
25734 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
25735 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
25738 @cindex solid groups
25739 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
25740 group buffer are solid groups.
25742 @item sparse articles
25743 @cindex sparse articles
25744 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
25745 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
25749 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
25750 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
25754 @cindex thread root
25755 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
25756 articles in the thread.
25760 An article that has responses.
25764 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
25768 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
25769 specified by RFC 1153.
25772 @cindex splitting, terminolgy
25773 @cindex mail sorting
25774 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
25775 The action of sorting your emails according to certain rules. Sometimes
25776 incorrectly called mail filtering.
25782 @node Customization
25783 @section Customization
25784 @cindex general customization
25786 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
25787 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
25788 for some quite common situations.
25791 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
25792 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
25793 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
25794 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
25798 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
25799 @subsection Slow/Expensive NNTP Connection
25801 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
25802 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
25803 Gnus has to get from the @acronym{NNTP} server.
25807 @item gnus-read-active-file
25808 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
25809 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
25810 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
25811 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
25812 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
25814 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
25815 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
25816 the @acronym{NNTP} server will not be very fast. Not all @acronym{NNTP} servers
25817 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
25821 @node Slow Terminal Connection
25822 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
25824 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
25825 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
25826 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
25830 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
25831 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
25832 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
25833 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
25834 horizontal and vertical recentering.
25836 @item gnus-visible-headers
25837 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
25838 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
25839 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
25840 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
25842 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
25844 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
25845 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
25846 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
25849 @item gnus-use-full-window
25850 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
25851 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
25852 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
25853 want to read them anyway.
25855 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
25856 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
25860 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
25861 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
25862 lines, which might save some time.
25866 @node Little Disk Space
25867 @subsection Little Disk Space
25870 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
25871 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
25875 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
25876 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
25877 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
25878 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
25881 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
25882 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
25883 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
25884 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
25887 @item gnus-save-killed-list
25888 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
25889 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
25890 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
25891 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
25897 @subsection Slow Machine
25898 @cindex slow machine
25900 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
25901 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
25903 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
25904 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
25906 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
25907 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
25908 summary buffer faster.
25912 @node Troubleshooting
25913 @section Troubleshooting
25914 @cindex troubleshooting
25916 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
25924 Make sure your computer is switched on.
25927 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
25928 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
25932 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
25933 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
25934 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
25935 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
25938 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a
25939 @acronym{FAQ} and a how-to.
25942 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
25943 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
25944 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
25945 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
25946 something like that.
25949 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
25952 @cindex reporting bugs
25954 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
25956 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
25957 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
25958 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
25959 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
25961 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
25962 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
25963 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
25964 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
25967 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
25968 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
25969 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
25970 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
25971 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
25972 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
25974 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
25975 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
25976 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
25980 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
25981 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
25984 If you want to debug your problem further before reporting, possibly
25985 in order to solve the problem yourself and send a patch, you can use
25986 edebug. Debugging Lisp code is documented in the Elisp manual
25987 (@pxref{Debugging, , Debugging Lisp Programs, elisp, The GNU Emacs
25988 Lisp Reference Manual}). To get you started with edebug, consider if
25989 you discover some weird behaviour when pressing @kbd{c}, the first
25990 step is to do @kbd{C-h k c} and click on the hyperlink (Emacs only) in
25991 the documentation buffer that leads you to the function definition,
25992 then press @kbd{M-x edebug-defun RET} with point inside that function,
25993 return to Gnus and press @kbd{c} to invoke the code. You will be
25994 placed in the lisp buffer and can single step using @kbd{SPC} and
25995 evaluate expressions using @kbd{M-:} or inspect variables using
25996 @kbd{C-h v}, abort execution with @kbd{q}, and resume execution with
25997 @kbd{c} or @kbd{g}.
26002 Sometimes, a problem do not directly generate an elisp error but
26003 manifests itself by causing Gnus to be very slow. In these cases, you
26004 can use @kbd{M-x toggle-debug-on-quit} and press @kbd{C-g} when things are
26005 slow, and then try to analyze the backtrace (repeating the procedure
26006 helps isolating the real problem areas).
26008 A fancier approach is to use the elisp profiler, ELP. The profiler is
26009 (or should be) fully documented elsewhere, but to get you started
26010 there are a few steps that need to be followed. First, instrument the
26011 part of Gnus you are interested in for profiling, e.g. @kbd{M-x
26012 elp-instrument-package RET gnus} or @kbd{M-x elp-instrument-package
26013 RET message}. Then perform the operation that is slow and press
26014 @kbd{M-x elp-results}. You will then see which operations that takes
26015 time, and can debug them further. If the entire operation takes much
26016 longer than the time spent in the slowest function in the profiler
26017 output, you probably profiled the wrong part of Gnus. To reset
26018 profiling statistics, use @kbd{M-x elp-reset-all}. @kbd{M-x
26019 elp-restore-all} is supposed to remove profiling, but given the
26020 complexities and dynamic code generation in Gnus, it might not always
26023 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
26024 @cindex ding mailing list
26025 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
26026 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful. You can also ask on
26027 @email{ding@@gnus.org, the ding mailing list}. Write to
26028 @email{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
26032 @node Gnus Reference Guide
26033 @section Gnus Reference Guide
26035 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
26036 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
26037 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
26038 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
26041 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
26042 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
26043 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
26044 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
26045 and general methods of operation.
26048 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
26049 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
26050 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
26051 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
26052 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
26053 * Group Info:: The group info format.
26054 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
26055 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
26056 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
26060 @node Gnus Utility Functions
26061 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
26062 @cindex Gnus utility functions
26063 @cindex utility functions
26065 @cindex internal variables
26067 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
26068 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
26069 Below is a list of the most common ones.
26073 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
26074 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
26075 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
26077 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
26078 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
26079 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
26081 @item gnus-group-real-name
26082 @findex gnus-group-real-name
26083 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
26086 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
26087 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
26088 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
26089 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
26091 @item gnus-get-info
26092 @findex gnus-get-info
26093 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
26095 @item gnus-group-unread
26096 @findex gnus-group-unread
26097 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
26101 @findex gnus-active
26102 The active entry for @var{group}.
26104 @item gnus-set-active
26105 @findex gnus-set-active
26106 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
26108 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
26109 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
26110 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
26113 @item gnus-continuum-version
26114 @findex gnus-continuum-version
26115 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
26116 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
26119 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
26120 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
26121 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
26123 @item gnus-news-group-p
26124 @findex gnus-news-group-p
26125 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
26127 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
26128 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
26129 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
26131 @item gnus-server-to-method
26132 @findex gnus-server-to-method
26133 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
26135 @item gnus-server-equal
26136 @findex gnus-server-equal
26137 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
26139 @item gnus-group-native-p
26140 @findex gnus-group-native-p
26141 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
26143 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
26144 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
26145 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
26147 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
26148 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
26149 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
26151 @item gnus-group-find-parameter
26152 @findex gnus-group-find-parameter
26153 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
26154 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
26156 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
26157 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
26158 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
26160 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
26161 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
26162 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
26164 @item gnus-check-backend-function
26165 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
26166 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
26167 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
26170 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
26174 @item gnus-read-method
26175 @findex gnus-read-method
26176 Prompts the user for a select method.
26181 @node Back End Interface
26182 @subsection Back End Interface
26184 Gnus doesn't know anything about @acronym{NNTP}, spools, mail or virtual
26185 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
26186 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
26187 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
26188 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
26189 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
26191 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
26192 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
26193 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
26194 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
26195 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
26196 been opened, the function should fail.
26198 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
26199 name. Take this example:
26203 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
26204 (nntp-port-number 4324))
26207 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
26208 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
26210 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
26211 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
26212 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
26214 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
26215 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
26216 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
26218 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
26219 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
26220 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
26221 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
26222 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
26223 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
26226 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
26227 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
26228 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
26229 ---they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
26232 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
26233 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
26234 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
26235 possible for later articles to ``re-use'' older article numbers without
26236 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
26237 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
26238 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
26239 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
26240 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
26241 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
26243 The previous paragraph already mentions all the ``hard'' restrictions that
26244 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
26245 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
26246 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
26247 the ``no-reuse'' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
26248 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
26249 of numbers as long as possible.
26251 Note that by convention, back ends are named @code{nnsomething}, but
26252 Gnus also comes with some @code{nnnotbackends}, such as
26253 @file{nnheader.el}, @file{nnmail.el} and @file{nnoo.el}.
26255 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
26258 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
26261 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
26262 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
26263 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
26264 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
26265 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
26266 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
26270 @node Required Back End Functions
26271 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
26275 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
26277 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
26278 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
26279 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
26280 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
26282 The result data should either be HEADs or @acronym{NOV} lines, and the result
26283 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
26284 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
26285 of HEADs and @acronym{NOV} lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
26287 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching ``extra
26288 headers'', in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
26289 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
26290 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
26291 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
26292 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
26293 number, do maximum fetches.
26295 Here's an example HEAD:
26298 221 1056 Article retrieved.
26299 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
26300 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
26301 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
26302 Subject: Re: Something very droll
26303 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
26304 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
26306 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
26307 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
26308 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
26312 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
26313 these in the data buffer.
26315 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
26319 head = error / valid-head
26320 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
26321 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
26322 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
26323 header = <text> eol
26327 (The version of BNF used here is the one used in RFC822.)
26329 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
26330 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
26334 nov-buffer = *nov-line
26335 nov-line = field 7*8[ <TAB> field ] eol
26336 field = <text except TAB>
26339 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
26343 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
26345 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
26346 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
26348 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
26349 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
26350 server. In fact, it should do so.
26352 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
26353 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
26356 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
26358 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
26359 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
26362 There should be no data returned.
26365 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
26367 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
26368 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
26369 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
26370 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
26372 There should be no data returned.
26375 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
26377 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
26378 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
26379 non-@code{nil} value. This function should under no circumstances
26380 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
26382 There should be no data returned.
26385 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
26387 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
26389 There should be no data returned.
26392 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
26394 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
26395 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
26396 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
26397 it would be nice if that were possible.
26399 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
26400 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
26401 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
26402 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
26403 into its article buffer.
26405 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
26406 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
26407 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
26408 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
26409 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
26410 on successful article retrieval.
26413 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
26415 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
26416 making @var{group} the current group.
26418 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
26421 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
26424 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
26427 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
26428 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
26429 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
26430 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
26431 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
26432 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
26433 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
26434 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader. If the group contains no
26435 articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1 and the
26439 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
26440 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
26441 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
26445 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
26447 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
26448 a no-op on most back ends.
26450 There should be no data returned.
26453 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
26455 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
26458 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
26461 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
26462 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
26465 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
26466 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag. If the group
26467 contains no articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1
26468 and the highest as 0.
26471 active-file = *active-line
26472 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
26474 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
26477 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
26478 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
26479 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
26482 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
26484 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
26485 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
26486 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
26487 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
26488 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
26489 clear if the posting could not be completed.
26491 There should be no result data from this function.
26496 @node Optional Back End Functions
26497 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
26501 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
26503 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
26504 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
26505 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
26507 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
26508 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
26509 former is in the same format as the data from
26510 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
26511 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
26514 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
26518 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
26520 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
26521 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all
26522 the information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
26523 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
26524 should return a non-@code{nil} value.
26526 There should be no result data from this function.
26529 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
26531 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
26532 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
26533 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
26534 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
26535 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
26536 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
26537 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
26538 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
26540 There should be no result data from this function.
26543 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
26545 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
26546 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
26547 @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @acronym{IMAP}) however carry
26548 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
26549 propagate the mark information to the server.
26551 @var{action} is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
26554 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
26557 @var{range} is a range of articles you wish to update marks on.
26558 @var{action} is @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove
26559 marks (preserving all marks not mentioned). @var{mark} is a list of
26560 marks; where each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are
26561 @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
26562 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend},
26563 @code{forward} and @code{recent}, but your back end should, if
26564 possible, not limit itself to these.
26566 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
26567 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
26568 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
26569 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
26571 An example action list:
26574 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
26575 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
26576 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
26579 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
26580 mark on (currently not used for anything).
26582 There should be no result data from this function.
26584 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
26586 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
26587 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
26588 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
26589 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
26590 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
26592 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
26593 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
26594 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
26597 There should be no result data from this function.
26600 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
26602 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
26603 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
26604 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query
26605 the @acronym{POP} server when this function is invoked. The
26606 @var{group} doesn't have to be heeded---if the back end decides that
26607 it is too much work just scanning for a single group, it may do a
26608 total scan of all groups. It would be nice, however, to keep things
26609 local if that's practical.
26611 There should be no result data from this function.
26614 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
26616 The result data from this function should be a description of
26620 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
26622 description = <text>
26625 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
26627 The result data from this function should be the description of all
26628 groups available on the server.
26631 description-buffer = *description-line
26635 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
26637 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
26638 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
26639 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
26640 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
26641 in the active buffer format.
26643 It is okay for this function to return ``too many'' groups; some back ends
26644 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
26645 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
26646 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
26647 many groups, so @code{nnml} and the like are probably safe. But for
26648 back ends like @code{nntp}, where the groups have been created by the
26649 server, it is quite likely that there can be many groups.
26652 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
26654 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
26656 There should be no return data.
26659 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
26661 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
26662 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
26663 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
26664 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
26665 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
26668 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
26671 There should be no result data returned.
26674 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM &optional LAST)
26676 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
26677 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
26679 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
26680 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
26681 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
26682 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
26683 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
26684 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
26686 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
26687 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
26690 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
26691 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
26693 There should be no data returned.
26696 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
26698 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
26699 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
26700 this function in short order.
26702 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
26703 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
26705 The group should exist before the back end is asked to accept the
26706 article for that group.
26708 There should be no data returned.
26711 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
26713 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
26714 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
26716 There should be no data returned.
26719 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
26721 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
26722 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
26723 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
26725 There should be no data returned.
26728 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
26730 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
26731 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
26733 There should be no data returned.
26738 @node Error Messaging
26739 @subsubsection Error Messaging
26741 @findex nnheader-report
26742 @findex nnheader-get-report
26743 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
26744 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
26745 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
26746 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
26747 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
26748 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
26751 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
26753 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
26756 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
26757 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
26758 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
26759 takes one argument---the server symbol.
26761 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
26762 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
26763 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
26766 @node Writing New Back Ends
26767 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
26769 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
26770 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
26771 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
26772 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
26773 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
26776 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
26777 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
26778 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
26780 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
26781 package called @code{nnoo}.
26783 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
26784 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
26790 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
26791 parameters. For instance:
26794 (nnoo-declare nndir
26798 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
26799 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
26802 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
26803 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
26804 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
26806 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
26807 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
26808 a function in those back ends.
26811 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
26812 "Where nndir will look for groups."
26813 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
26816 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
26817 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
26818 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
26820 @item nnoo-define-basics
26821 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
26825 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
26829 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
26830 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
26831 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
26833 @item nnoo-map-functions
26834 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
26835 functions from the parent back ends.
26838 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
26839 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
26840 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
26843 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
26844 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
26845 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
26846 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
26849 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
26850 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
26851 haven't already been defined.
26857 nnmh-request-newgroups)
26861 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
26862 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
26863 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
26868 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
26871 ;;; @r{nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus}
26872 ;; @r{Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.}
26876 (require 'nnheader)
26880 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
26882 (nnoo-declare nndir
26885 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
26886 "Where nndir will look for groups."
26887 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
26889 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
26890 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
26893 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
26895 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
26896 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
26897 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
26899 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
26900 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
26902 ;;; @r{Interface functions.}
26904 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
26906 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
26907 (setq nndir-directory
26908 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
26910 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
26911 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
26912 (push `(nndir-current-group
26913 ,(file-name-nondirectory
26914 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
26916 (push `(nndir-top-directory
26917 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
26919 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
26921 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
26922 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
26923 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
26924 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
26925 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
26929 nnmh-status-message
26931 nnmh-request-newgroups))
26937 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
26938 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
26940 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
26941 @findex gnus-declare-backend
26942 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
26943 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
26944 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
26946 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
26947 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
26952 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
26955 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
26957 The abilities can be:
26961 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
26963 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
26965 This back end supports both mail and news.
26967 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
26970 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
26971 articles and groups.
26973 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
26974 true for almost all back ends.
26975 @item prompt-address
26976 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
26977 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
26978 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
26982 @node Mail-like Back Ends
26983 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
26985 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
26986 back ends is the heavy dependence by most of the mail back ends on
26987 common functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the
26988 definition of @code{nnml-request-scan}:
26991 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
26992 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
26993 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
26996 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
26997 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
27000 This function takes four parameters.
27004 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
27007 @item exit-function
27008 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
27010 @item temp-directory
27011 Where the temporary files should be stored.
27014 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
27015 performed for one group only.
27018 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
27019 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
27020 find the article number assigned to this article.
27022 The function also uses the following variables:
27023 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
27024 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
27025 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
27026 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
27030 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
27031 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
27035 @node Score File Syntax
27036 @subsection Score File Syntax
27038 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
27039 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
27040 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
27042 Here's a typical score file:
27046 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
27053 BNF definition of a score file:
27056 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
27057 element = rule / atom
27058 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
27059 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
27060 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
27061 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
27063 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
27064 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
27065 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
27066 date-header = "date"
27067 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
27068 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
27069 score = "nil" / <integer>
27070 date = "nil" / <natural number>
27071 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
27072 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
27073 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
27074 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
27075 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
27076 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
27077 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
27078 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
27079 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
27080 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
27081 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
27082 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
27083 exclude-files / read-only / touched
27084 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
27085 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
27086 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
27087 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
27088 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
27089 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
27090 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
27091 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
27092 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
27093 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
27094 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
27095 eval = "eval" space <form>
27096 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
27099 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
27102 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
27103 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
27104 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
27105 one looong line, then that's ok.
27107 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
27108 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
27112 @subsection Headers
27114 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
27115 corresponds to the @acronym{NOV} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
27116 almost suspect that the author looked at the @acronym{NOV} specification and
27117 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
27119 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
27120 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
27121 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
27122 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
27123 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
27124 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
27125 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
27127 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
27128 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
27129 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
27130 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
27131 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
27133 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
27134 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
27140 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
27141 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
27143 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
27144 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
27145 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
27146 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
27148 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
27152 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
27155 is transformed into
27158 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
27161 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
27162 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
27165 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
27168 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
27169 is slightly tricky:
27172 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
27178 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
27181 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
27187 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
27194 and is equal to the previous range.
27196 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
27197 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
27198 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
27202 range = simple-range / normal-range
27203 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
27204 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
27205 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
27206 number *[ " " contents ]
27209 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
27210 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
27211 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
27212 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
27213 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
27218 @subsection Group Info
27220 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
27221 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
27222 describes the group.
27224 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
27225 second is a more complex one:
27228 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
27230 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
27231 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
27233 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
27236 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
27237 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
27238 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
27239 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
27240 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
27241 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
27242 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
27243 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
27244 this section is about.
27246 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
27247 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
27248 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
27250 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
27253 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
27254 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
27255 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
27256 group = quote <string> quote
27257 ralevel = rank / level
27258 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
27259 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
27260 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
27262 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
27263 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
27264 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
27265 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
27268 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
27269 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
27272 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
27273 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
27276 @item gnus-info-group
27277 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
27278 @findex gnus-info-group
27279 @findex gnus-info-set-group
27280 Get/set the group name.
27282 @item gnus-info-rank
27283 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
27284 @findex gnus-info-rank
27285 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
27286 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
27288 @item gnus-info-level
27289 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
27290 @findex gnus-info-level
27291 @findex gnus-info-set-level
27292 Get/set the group level.
27294 @item gnus-info-score
27295 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
27296 @findex gnus-info-score
27297 @findex gnus-info-set-score
27298 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
27300 @item gnus-info-read
27301 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
27302 @findex gnus-info-read
27303 @findex gnus-info-set-read
27304 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
27306 @item gnus-info-marks
27307 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
27308 @findex gnus-info-marks
27309 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
27310 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
27312 @item gnus-info-method
27313 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
27314 @findex gnus-info-method
27315 @findex gnus-info-set-method
27316 Get/set the group select method.
27318 @item gnus-info-params
27319 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
27320 @findex gnus-info-params
27321 @findex gnus-info-set-params
27322 Get/set the group parameters.
27325 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
27326 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
27328 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
27329 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
27330 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
27331 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
27334 @node Extended Interactive
27335 @subsection Extended Interactive
27336 @cindex interactive
27337 @findex gnus-interactive
27339 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
27340 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
27341 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
27344 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
27345 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
27350 The best thing to do would have been to implement
27351 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
27352 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
27353 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
27354 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
27355 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
27356 @code{interactive}.
27358 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
27363 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
27364 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
27368 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
27369 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
27370 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
27373 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
27377 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
27381 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
27387 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
27388 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
27392 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
27393 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
27394 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
27396 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
27397 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
27398 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
27399 Gnus, that's very useful.
27401 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
27402 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
27403 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
27404 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
27405 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
27406 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
27407 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
27408 following function:
27411 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
27415 (,function ,@@args))
27419 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
27420 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
27421 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
27424 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
27425 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
27426 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
27428 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
27429 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
27430 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
27433 @node Various File Formats
27434 @subsection Various File Formats
27437 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
27438 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
27442 @node Active File Format
27443 @subsubsection Active File Format
27445 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
27446 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
27449 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
27452 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
27453 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
27454 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
27455 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
27456 no.general 1000 900 y
27459 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
27462 active = *group-line
27463 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
27464 group = <non-white-space string>
27466 high-number = <non-negative integer>
27467 low-number = <positive integer>
27468 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
27471 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
27472 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
27475 @node Newsgroups File Format
27476 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
27478 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
27479 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
27480 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
27483 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
27484 Here's the definition:
27488 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
27489 group = <non-white-space string>
27491 description = <string>
27496 @node Emacs for Heathens
27497 @section Emacs for Heathens
27499 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
27500 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
27501 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
27502 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
27503 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
27504 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
27505 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
27509 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
27510 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
27515 @subsection Keystrokes
27519 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
27522 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
27525 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
27526 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
27527 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
27528 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
27529 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
27530 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
27532 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
27533 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
27534 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
27535 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
27536 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
27537 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
27538 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
27540 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
27541 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
27542 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
27543 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
27544 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
27545 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
27546 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
27548 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
27549 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
27550 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
27551 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
27552 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
27558 @subsection Emacs Lisp
27560 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
27561 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
27562 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
27563 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
27565 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
27566 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
27567 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
27568 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
27569 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
27570 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
27571 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
27574 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
27575 write the following:
27578 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
27581 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
27582 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
27583 you can go and fill your @file{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
27586 If you have put that thing in your @file{.emacs} file, it will be read
27587 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
27588 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
27589 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
27590 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
27592 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
27593 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
27594 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
27598 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
27602 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
27605 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
27606 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
27609 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
27612 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
27613 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
27616 @include gnus-faq.texi
27636 @c Local Variables:
27638 @c coding: iso-8859-1