1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*- -*- coding: iso-latin-1 -*-
10 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
15 @setchapternewpage odd
19 \documentclass[twoside,a4paper,openright,11pt]{book}
20 \usepackage[latin1]{inputenc}
21 \usepackage{pagestyle}
29 \newcommand{\gnuschaptername}{}
30 \newcommand{\gnussectionname}{}
32 \newcommand{\gnusbackslash}{/}
34 \newcommand{\gnusxref}[1]{See ``#1'' on page \pageref{#1}}
35 \newcommand{\gnuspxref}[1]{see ``#1'' on page \pageref{#1}}
37 \newcommand{\gnuskindex}[1]{\index{#1}}
38 \newcommand{\gnusindex}[1]{\index{#1}}
40 \newcommand{\gnustt}[1]{{\fontfamily{pfu}\fontsize{10pt}{10}\selectfont #1}}
41 \newcommand{\gnuscode}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
42 \newcommand{\gnussamp}[1]{``{\fontencoding{OT1}\fontfamily{pfu}\fontsize{10pt}{10}\selectfont #1}''}
43 \newcommand{\gnuslisp}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
44 \newcommand{\gnuskbd}[1]{`\gnustt{#1}'}
45 \newcommand{\gnusfile}[1]{`\gnustt{#1}'}
46 \newcommand{\gnusdfn}[1]{\textit{#1}}
47 \newcommand{\gnusi}[1]{\textit{#1}}
48 \newcommand{\gnusstrong}[1]{\textbf{#1}}
49 \newcommand{\gnusemph}[1]{\textit{#1}}
50 \newcommand{\gnusvar}[1]{{\fontsize{10pt}{10}\selectfont\textsl{\textsf{#1}}}}
51 \newcommand{\gnussc}[1]{\textsc{#1}}
52 \newcommand{\gnustitle}[1]{{\huge\textbf{#1}}}
53 \newcommand{\gnusauthor}[1]{{\large\textbf{#1}}}
54 \newcommand{\gnusresult}[1]{\gnustt{=> #1}}
56 \newcommand{\gnusbullet}{{${\bullet}$}}
57 \newcommand{\gnusdollar}{\$}
58 \newcommand{\gnusampersand}{\&}
59 \newcommand{\gnuspercent}{\%}
60 \newcommand{\gnushash}{\#}
61 \newcommand{\gnushat}{\symbol{"5E}}
62 \newcommand{\gnusunderline}{\symbol{"5F}}
63 \newcommand{\gnusnot}{$\neg$}
64 \newcommand{\gnustilde}{\symbol{"7E}}
65 \newcommand{\gnusless}{{$<$}}
66 \newcommand{\gnusgreater}{{$>$}}
67 \newcommand{\gnusbraceleft}{{$>$}}
68 \newcommand{\gnusbraceright}{{$>$}}
70 \newcommand{\gnushead}{\raisebox{-1cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-head.eps,height=1cm}}}
71 \newcommand{\gnusinteresting}{
72 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\gnushead]{\gnushead}
75 \newcommand{\gnuscleardoublepage}{\ifodd\count0\mbox{}\clearpage\thispagestyle{empty}\mbox{}\clearpage\else\clearpage\fi}
77 \newcommand{\gnuspagechapter}[1]{
84 \newcommand{\gnuschapter}[2]{
86 \ifdim \gnusdimen = 0pt\setcounter{page}{1}\pagestyle{gnus}\pagenumbering{arabic} \gnusdimen 1pt\fi
88 \renewcommand{\gnussectionname}{}
89 \renewcommand{\gnuschaptername}{#2}
92 \begin{picture}(500,500)(0,0)
93 \put(480,350){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{#1}}
94 \put(40,300){\makebox(500,50)[bl]{{\Huge\bf{#2}}}}
99 \newcommand{\gnusfigure}[3]{
101 \mbox{}\ifodd\count0\hspace*{-0.8cm}\else\hspace*{-3cm}\fi\begin{picture}(440,#2)
108 \newcommand{\gnusicon}[1]{
109 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\raisebox{-1.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/#1-up.ps,height=1.5cm}}]{\raisebox{-1cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/#1-up.ps,height=1cm}}}
112 \newcommand{\gnuspicon}[1]{
113 \margindex{\epsfig{figure=#1,width=2cm}}
116 \newcommand{\gnusxface}[2]{
117 \margindex{\epsfig{figure=#1,width=1cm}\epsfig{figure=#2,width=1cm}}
120 \newcommand{\gnussmiley}[2]{
121 \margindex{\makebox[2cm]{\hfill\epsfig{figure=#1,width=0.5cm}\hfill\epsfig{figure=#2,width=0.5cm}\hfill}}
124 \newcommand{\gnusitemx}[1]{\mbox{}\vspace*{-\itemsep}\vspace*{-\parsep}\item#1}
126 \newcommand{\gnussection}[1]{
127 \renewcommand{\gnussectionname}{#1}
131 \newenvironment{codelist}%
136 \newenvironment{kbdlist}%
142 \newenvironment{dfnlist}%
147 \newenvironment{stronglist}%
152 \newenvironment{samplist}%
157 \newenvironment{varlist}%
162 \newenvironment{emphlist}%
167 \newlength\gnusheadtextwidth
168 \setlength{\gnusheadtextwidth}{\headtextwidth}
169 \addtolength{\gnusheadtextwidth}{1cm}
171 \newpagestyle{gnuspreamble}%
176 \hspace*{-0.23cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\mbox{}}\textbf{\hfill\roman{page}}}
180 \hspace*{-3.25cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\roman{page}\hfill\mbox{}}}
189 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo.eps,height=1cm}}
191 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo.eps,height=1cm}}
196 \newpagestyle{gnusindex}%
201 \hspace*{-0.23cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\gnuschaptername\hfill\arabic{page}}}}
205 \hspace*{-3.25cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\arabic{page}\hfill\gnuschaptername}}}
213 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo.eps,height=1cm}}
215 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo.eps,height=1cm}}
225 \makebox[12cm]{\hspace*{3.1cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\arabic{chapter}.\arabic{section}} \textbf{\gnussectionname\hfill\arabic{page}}}}}
229 \makebox[12cm]{\hspace*{-2.95cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\arabic{page}\hfill\gnuschaptername}}}}
237 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo.eps,height=1cm}}
239 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo.eps,height=1cm}}
244 \pagenumbering{roman}
245 \pagestyle{gnuspreamble}
255 %\addtolength{\oddsidemargin}{-5cm}
256 %\addtolength{\evensidemargin}{-5cm}
258 \addtolength{\textheight}{2cm}
260 \gnustitle{\gnustitlename}\\
263 \hspace*{0cm}\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo.eps,height=15cm}
266 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
273 \thispagestyle{empty}
275 Copyright \copyright{} 1995,96,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
277 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
278 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
279 are preserved on all copies.
281 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
282 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
283 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
284 permission notice identical to this one.
286 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
287 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
296 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
298 Copyright (C) 1995,96,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
300 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
301 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
302 are preserved on all copies.
305 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
306 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
307 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
308 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
311 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
312 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
313 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
314 permission notice identical to this one.
316 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
317 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
325 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
328 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
329 Copyright @copyright{} 1995,96,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
331 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
332 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
333 are preserved on all copies.
335 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
336 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
337 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
338 permission notice identical to this one.
340 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
341 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
350 @top The Gnus Newsreader
354 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
355 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
356 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
359 This manual corresponds to Gnus 5.8.7.
370 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
371 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
373 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
374 being accused of plagiarism:
376 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
377 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
378 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
379 can even read news with it!
381 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
382 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
383 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
384 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
385 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
391 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
392 * The Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
393 * The Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
394 * The Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
395 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
396 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
397 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
398 * Various:: General purpose settings.
399 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
400 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
401 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
402 * Key Index:: Key Index.
405 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
409 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
410 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
411 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
412 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
413 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
414 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
415 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
416 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
417 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
418 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
419 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
423 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
424 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
425 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
429 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
430 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
431 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
432 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
433 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
434 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
435 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
436 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
437 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
438 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
439 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
440 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
441 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
442 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
443 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
444 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
445 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
449 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
450 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
451 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
455 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
456 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
457 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
458 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
459 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
463 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
464 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
465 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
466 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
470 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
471 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
472 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
473 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
474 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
475 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
476 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
477 * Threading:: How threads are made.
478 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
479 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
480 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
481 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
482 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
483 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
484 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
485 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
486 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
487 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
488 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
489 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
490 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
491 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
492 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
493 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
494 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
495 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
496 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
497 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
499 Summary Buffer Format
501 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
502 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
503 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
504 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
508 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
509 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
511 Reply, Followup and Post
513 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
514 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
515 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
516 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
520 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
521 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
522 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
526 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
527 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
528 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
532 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
533 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
535 Customizing Threading
537 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
538 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
539 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
540 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
544 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
545 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
546 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
547 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
548 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
549 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
553 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
554 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
555 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
559 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
560 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
561 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
562 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
563 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
564 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
565 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
566 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
568 Alternative Approaches
570 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
571 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
573 Various Summary Stuff
575 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
576 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
577 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
578 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
582 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
583 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
584 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
585 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
586 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
590 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
591 * Post:: Posting and following up.
592 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
593 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
594 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
595 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
596 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
597 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
601 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
602 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
603 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
604 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
605 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
606 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
607 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
611 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
612 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
613 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
614 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
615 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
616 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
617 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
621 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
622 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
626 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
627 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
628 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
629 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
630 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
631 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
632 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
633 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
634 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
635 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
636 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
637 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
638 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
642 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
643 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
644 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
646 Choosing a Mail Backend
648 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
649 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
650 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
651 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
652 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
653 * Comparing Mail Backends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
657 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
658 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
659 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
660 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
664 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
665 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
666 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
667 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
668 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
669 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
673 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
677 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
678 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
679 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
683 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
684 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
685 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
689 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
690 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
694 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
695 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
696 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
697 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
698 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
699 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
700 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
701 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
702 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
706 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
707 * The Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
708 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
712 * Group Agent Commands::
713 * Summary Agent Commands::
714 * Server Agent Commands::
718 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
719 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
720 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
721 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
722 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
723 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
724 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
725 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
726 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
727 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
728 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
729 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
730 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
731 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
732 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
733 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
737 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
738 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
739 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
740 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
744 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
745 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
746 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
750 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
751 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
752 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
753 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
754 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
755 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
756 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
757 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
758 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
759 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
760 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
761 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
762 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
763 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
764 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
765 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
766 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
767 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
771 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
772 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
773 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
774 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
775 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
779 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
780 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
781 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
782 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
786 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
787 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
788 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
789 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
790 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
794 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
795 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
796 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
797 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
798 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
799 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
800 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
801 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
805 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
806 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
807 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
808 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
809 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
810 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
811 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
812 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
813 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
814 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
818 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
819 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.3/5.3.
820 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
821 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
825 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
826 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
827 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
828 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
832 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
833 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
834 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
835 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
836 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
837 * Group Info:: The group info format.
838 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
839 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
840 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
844 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
845 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
846 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
847 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
848 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
849 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
853 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
854 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
858 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
859 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
865 @chapter Starting Gnus
870 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
871 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
874 @findex gnus-other-frame
875 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
876 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
877 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
879 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
880 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
881 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
883 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
884 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
887 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
888 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
889 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
890 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
891 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
892 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
893 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
894 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
895 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
896 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
897 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
901 @node Finding the News
902 @section Finding the News
905 @vindex gnus-select-method
907 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
908 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
909 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
910 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
913 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
914 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
917 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
920 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
923 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
926 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
927 certainly be much faster.
929 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
931 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
932 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
933 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
934 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
935 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
936 that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
938 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
939 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
940 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
941 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
943 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
944 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
945 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
946 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
947 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
948 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
949 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
950 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
951 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
954 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
956 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
957 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
958 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
959 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
960 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
961 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
963 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
965 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
966 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
967 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
968 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
969 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
970 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
973 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
974 would typically set this variable to
977 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
982 @section The First Time
983 @cindex first time usage
985 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
986 be subscribed by default.
988 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
989 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
990 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
991 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
994 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
995 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
996 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
998 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
999 help you with most common problems.
1001 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
1002 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1006 @node The Server is Down
1007 @section The Server is Down
1008 @cindex server errors
1010 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
1011 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1012 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
1014 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1015 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1016 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1017 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1018 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1019 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1020 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1022 @findex gnus-no-server
1023 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1025 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1026 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1027 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
1028 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1029 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1030 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1035 @section Slave Gnusae
1038 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
1039 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1040 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
1041 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1043 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1044 @code{.newsrc} file.
1046 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
1047 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1048 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1049 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1050 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1051 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1052 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1054 Anyways, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1055 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
1056 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1057 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1058 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
1059 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1060 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1061 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1063 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1064 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
1067 @node Fetching a Group
1068 @section Fetching a Group
1069 @cindex fetching a group
1071 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1072 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1073 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
1074 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1075 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1076 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1082 @cindex subscription
1084 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1085 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1086 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1087 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1088 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1089 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1090 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1091 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the backends for new groups even
1092 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1095 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1096 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1097 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1101 @node Checking New Groups
1102 @subsection Checking New Groups
1104 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1105 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1106 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1107 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
1108 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1109 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1110 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1111 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1112 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1113 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1115 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1116 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1117 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1118 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1119 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1120 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
1121 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1122 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1123 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1124 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1125 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1127 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
1128 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1129 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1130 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1131 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1132 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1135 @node Subscription Methods
1136 @subsection Subscription Methods
1138 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1139 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1140 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1142 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1143 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1145 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1149 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1150 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1151 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1152 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1153 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1155 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1156 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1157 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1158 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1160 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1161 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1162 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1164 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1165 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1166 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1167 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1168 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1169 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1170 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1171 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1172 up. Or something like that.
1174 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1175 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1176 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
1177 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1178 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1180 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1181 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1182 Kill all new groups.
1184 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1185 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1186 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1187 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1188 topic parameter that looks like
1194 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1197 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1202 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1203 A closely related variable is
1204 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1205 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
1206 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1207 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1210 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1211 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1212 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1213 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1216 @node Filtering New Groups
1217 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1219 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1220 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1221 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1224 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1227 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1228 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1229 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1230 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1231 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1232 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1233 subscribing these groups.
1234 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1235 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1237 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1238 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1239 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1240 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1241 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1242 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1243 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1244 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1246 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1247 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1248 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1249 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
1250 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
1251 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
1252 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
1253 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1254 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
1255 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
1257 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1258 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1261 @node Changing Servers
1262 @section Changing Servers
1263 @cindex changing servers
1265 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
1266 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1267 very flaky and you want to use another.
1269 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1270 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1274 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1275 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1276 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1277 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1280 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1281 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1282 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1283 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1285 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1286 @findex gnus-change-server
1287 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1288 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1289 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1290 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1291 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1293 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1294 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1295 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1296 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1297 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1299 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1300 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1301 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1302 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1303 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1304 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1306 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1307 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1308 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1312 @section Startup Files
1313 @cindex startup files
1318 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1319 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1321 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1322 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1323 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1324 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1325 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1326 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1327 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1329 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1330 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1331 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1332 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1333 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1334 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1336 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1337 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1338 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1339 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1340 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
1341 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1342 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1343 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
1344 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1345 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1347 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1348 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1349 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1350 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1351 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1352 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1353 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1354 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1355 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1356 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1357 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1358 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1360 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1361 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1362 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1363 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1365 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1366 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1367 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1368 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1369 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1370 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1371 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1372 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1373 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1374 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1377 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1378 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1380 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1381 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1384 @vindex gnus-init-file
1385 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1386 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1387 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1388 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1389 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1390 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1391 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1392 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1393 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1399 @cindex dribble file
1402 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
1403 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1404 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1405 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1406 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1409 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1410 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1413 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1414 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
1415 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1417 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1418 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1419 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
1420 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1421 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1422 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
1424 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1425 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1426 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1429 @node The Active File
1430 @section The Active File
1432 @cindex ignored groups
1434 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1435 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1436 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1438 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1439 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
1440 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1441 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
1442 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1443 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1444 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1447 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1448 @c if you set it to anything else.
1450 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1452 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1453 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
1454 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1456 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1457 you actually subscribe to.
1459 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1460 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1461 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1462 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1464 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1465 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1466 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1467 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1468 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1469 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1471 Some news servers (Leafnode and old versions of INN, for instance) do
1472 not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these servers, @code{nil}
1473 is probably the most efficient value for this variable.
1475 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1476 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1477 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1478 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1479 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1480 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1482 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1483 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1485 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1486 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1488 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1489 secondary select methods.
1492 @node Startup Variables
1493 @section Startup Variables
1497 @item gnus-load-hook
1498 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1499 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1500 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1501 times you start Gnus.
1503 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1504 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1505 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1507 @item gnus-startup-hook
1508 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1509 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1511 @item gnus-started-hook
1512 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1513 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1516 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1517 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1518 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1519 generating the group buffer.
1521 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1522 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1523 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1524 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1525 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1526 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1527 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1528 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1530 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1531 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1532 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1533 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1534 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1535 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1537 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1538 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1539 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1541 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1542 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1543 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1545 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1546 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1547 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1548 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1553 @node The Group Buffer
1554 @chapter The Group Buffer
1555 @cindex group buffer
1557 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1558 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1559 long as Gnus is active.
1563 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1564 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group.ps,height=9cm}}
1565 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1566 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1567 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1568 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1569 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1570 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1576 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1577 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1578 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1579 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1580 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1581 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1582 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1583 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1584 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1585 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1586 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1587 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1588 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1589 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1590 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1591 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1592 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1596 @node Group Buffer Format
1597 @section Group Buffer Format
1600 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1601 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1602 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1606 @node Group Line Specification
1607 @subsection Group Line Specification
1608 @cindex group buffer format
1610 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1611 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1613 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1616 25: news.announce.newusers
1617 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1622 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1623 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1624 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1625 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1627 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1628 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1629 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1630 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1631 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1632 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1634 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1636 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1637 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
1638 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
1639 never examined by Gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
1642 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1643 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1644 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1646 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1651 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1654 Whether the group is subscribed.
1657 Level of subscribedness.
1660 Number of unread articles.
1663 Number of dormant articles.
1666 Number of ticked articles.
1669 Number of read articles.
1672 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1673 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1676 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1679 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1688 Newsgroup description.
1691 @samp{m} if moderated.
1694 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1703 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1707 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1710 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1711 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1712 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1713 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1714 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1717 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1719 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1723 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1727 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1728 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1729 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1730 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1731 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1732 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1737 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1738 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1739 group, or a bogus native group.
1742 @node Group Modeline Specification
1743 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1744 @cindex group modeline
1746 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1747 The mode line can be changed by setting
1748 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1749 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1753 The native news server.
1755 The native select method.
1759 @node Group Highlighting
1760 @subsection Group Highlighting
1761 @cindex highlighting
1762 @cindex group highlighting
1764 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1765 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1766 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1767 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1768 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1770 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1774 (cond (window-system
1775 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1776 (defface my-group-face-1
1777 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1778 (defface my-group-face-2
1779 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t))) "Second group face")
1780 (defface my-group-face-3
1781 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1782 (defface my-group-face-4
1783 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1784 (defface my-group-face-5
1785 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1787 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1788 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1789 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1790 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1791 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1792 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1795 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1797 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1804 The number of unread articles in the group.
1808 Whether the group is a mail group.
1810 The level of the group.
1812 The score of the group.
1814 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1816 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1817 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1819 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1820 topic being inserted.
1823 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1824 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1825 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1827 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1828 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1829 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1830 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1831 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1834 @node Group Maneuvering
1835 @section Group Maneuvering
1836 @cindex group movement
1838 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1839 expected, hopefully.
1845 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1846 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1847 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1853 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1854 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1855 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1859 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1860 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1864 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1865 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1869 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1870 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1871 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1875 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1876 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1877 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1880 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1886 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1887 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1888 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1893 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1894 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1895 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1899 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1900 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1901 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1904 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1905 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1906 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1907 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1911 @node Selecting a Group
1912 @section Selecting a Group
1913 @cindex group selection
1918 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1919 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1920 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1921 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1922 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1923 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1924 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
1925 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
1926 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
1927 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{N})} oldest articles.
1931 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1932 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1933 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1934 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1935 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1939 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1940 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1941 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1942 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1943 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1944 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1945 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
1946 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
1947 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
1948 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
1951 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
1952 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1953 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
1954 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1955 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1958 @kindex M-C-RET (Group)
1959 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
1960 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
1961 doing any processing of its contents
1962 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
1963 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
1964 manner will have no permanent effects.
1968 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1969 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
1970 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
1971 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
1972 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
1973 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
1974 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
1975 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
1978 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
1979 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
1980 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
1981 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
1986 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
1987 full summary buffer.
1990 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
1993 Select the highest scored article in the group when entering the
1998 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function will
1999 be called to place point on a subject line, and/or select some article.
2000 Useful functions include:
2003 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-subject
2004 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article, but
2005 don't select the article.
2007 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-article
2008 Select the first unread article.
2010 @item gnus-summary-best-unread-article
2011 Select the highest-scored unread article.
2015 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2016 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
2017 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2021 @node Subscription Commands
2022 @section Subscription Commands
2023 @cindex subscription
2031 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2032 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2033 Toggle subscription to the current group
2034 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2040 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2041 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2042 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2043 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2049 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2050 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2051 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2057 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2058 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2061 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2062 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2063 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2064 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2065 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2071 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2072 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2076 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2077 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2080 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2081 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2082 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2083 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2084 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2085 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2086 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2087 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2088 @file{.newsrc} file.
2092 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2102 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2103 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2104 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2105 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2106 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2107 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2112 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2113 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2114 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2118 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2119 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2120 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2122 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2123 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2124 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2125 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
2126 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2127 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2134 @section Group Levels
2138 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2139 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2140 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2141 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2142 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2144 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2150 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2151 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2152 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2153 prompted for a level.
2156 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2157 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2158 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2159 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2160 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2161 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2162 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2163 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2164 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2165 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2166 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2167 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2168 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2169 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2170 reasons of efficiency.
2172 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2173 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2175 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2176 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2177 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2179 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2180 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2181 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2182 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2183 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2184 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2185 relevant valid ranges.
2187 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2188 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2189 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2190 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2191 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2192 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2195 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2196 one with the best level.
2198 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2199 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2200 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2203 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2204 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2205 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2206 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2209 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2210 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2211 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2212 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2214 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2215 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2216 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2217 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2218 to 5. The default is 6.
2222 @section Group Score
2227 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2228 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2229 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2232 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2233 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2234 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2235 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2236 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2237 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2238 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2239 least significant part.))
2241 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2242 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2243 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2244 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2245 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2246 action after each summary exit, you can add
2247 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2248 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2249 slow things down somewhat.
2252 @node Marking Groups
2253 @section Marking Groups
2254 @cindex marking groups
2256 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2257 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2258 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2259 bidding on those groups.
2261 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2262 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2263 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2271 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2272 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2278 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2279 Remove the mark from the current group
2280 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2284 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2285 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2289 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2290 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2294 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2295 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2299 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2300 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2301 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2304 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2306 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2307 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2308 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2309 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2310 the command to be executed.
2313 @node Foreign Groups
2314 @section Foreign Groups
2315 @cindex foreign groups
2317 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2318 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2319 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2320 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2327 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2328 @cindex making groups
2329 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2330 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2331 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
2335 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2336 @cindex renaming groups
2337 Rename the current group to something else
2338 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2339 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2345 @findex gnus-group-customize
2346 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2350 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2351 @cindex renaming groups
2352 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2353 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2357 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2358 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2359 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2363 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2364 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2365 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2369 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2371 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2372 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2377 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2378 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2382 @cindex (ding) archive
2383 @cindex archive group
2384 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2385 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2386 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2387 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2388 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2389 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2390 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2394 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2396 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2397 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2398 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2399 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2403 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2405 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2406 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2407 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2411 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2412 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2414 Make a group based on some file or other
2415 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2416 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2417 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
2418 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs},
2419 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{nsmail} and @code{forward}.
2420 If you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2421 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2425 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2426 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2427 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2428 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2432 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2437 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2438 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2439 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2440 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2441 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
2442 @xref{Web Searches}.
2444 If you use the @code{dejanews} search engine, you can limit the search
2445 to a particular group by using a match string like
2446 @samp{~g alt.sysadmin.recovery shaving}.
2449 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2450 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2451 This function will delete the current group
2452 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2453 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2454 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2455 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2456 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
2460 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2461 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2462 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2466 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2467 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2468 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2471 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2474 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2475 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2476 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2477 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2478 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2479 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2483 @node Group Parameters
2484 @section Group Parameters
2485 @cindex group parameters
2487 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2488 Here's an example group parameter list:
2491 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2495 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
2496 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2497 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2498 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2500 The following group parameters can be used:
2505 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2508 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2511 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2512 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2513 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2514 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2515 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2517 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2518 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2519 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2520 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2521 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2522 list address instead.
2526 Address used when doing a @kbd{a} in that group.
2529 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2532 It is totally ignored
2533 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2534 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2536 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2537 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2538 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2539 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2540 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2542 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2543 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2544 sending the message.
2548 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2549 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2550 of whether it has any unread articles.
2552 @item broken-reply-to
2553 @cindex broken-reply-to
2554 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2555 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2556 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2557 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2558 broken behavior. So there!
2562 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2563 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2567 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2568 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2569 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2574 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2575 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2576 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2577 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2578 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2579 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2580 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2584 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2585 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2586 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2589 @cindex total-expire
2590 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2591 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2592 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2593 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2598 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2599 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
2600 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
2601 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
2602 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
2603 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2606 @cindex score file group parameter
2607 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2608 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2609 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2612 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2613 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2614 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2615 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2618 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2619 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2620 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2621 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2624 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2625 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2629 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2632 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2637 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")}
2638 are arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by
2639 Gnus, but provide a place for you to store information on particular
2643 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2644 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2645 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2647 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
2648 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2649 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2650 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2651 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2652 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2653 @code{eval}ed there.
2655 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2656 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2657 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2658 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2659 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2662 You can store additional posting style information for this group only
2663 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2664 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2665 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2666 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2668 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2669 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2670 like this in the group parameters:
2675 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2680 Use the @kbd{G p} command to edit group parameters of a group. You
2681 might also be interested in reading about topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
2685 @node Listing Groups
2686 @section Listing Groups
2687 @cindex group listing
2689 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2697 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2698 List all groups that have unread articles
2699 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2700 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2701 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2702 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2709 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2710 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2711 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
2712 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
2713 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
2714 unsubscribed groups).
2718 @findex gnus-group-list-level
2719 List all unread groups on a specific level
2720 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
2721 with no unread articles.
2725 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
2726 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
2727 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
2728 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
2733 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
2734 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
2738 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
2739 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
2740 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2744 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2745 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2749 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2750 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
2751 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2752 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2753 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2754 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
2755 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
2756 Take the output with some grains of salt.
2760 @findex gnus-group-apropos
2761 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
2762 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
2766 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
2767 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
2768 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
2772 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
2773 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
2777 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
2778 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
2782 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2783 @cindex visible group parameter
2784 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
2785 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
2786 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
2787 get the same effect.
2789 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
2790 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
2791 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
2792 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
2793 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
2796 @node Sorting Groups
2797 @section Sorting Groups
2798 @cindex sorting groups
2800 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
2801 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
2802 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
2803 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
2804 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
2805 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
2810 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2811 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2812 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
2814 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2815 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2816 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
2818 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
2819 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
2820 Sort by group level.
2822 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
2823 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
2824 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
2826 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2827 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2828 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
2829 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
2831 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2832 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2833 Sort by number of unread articles.
2835 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
2836 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
2837 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
2842 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
2843 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
2847 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
2848 some sorting criteria:
2852 @kindex G S a (Group)
2853 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2854 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
2855 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2858 @kindex G S u (Group)
2859 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
2860 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
2861 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2864 @kindex G S l (Group)
2865 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
2866 Sort the group buffer by group level
2867 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
2870 @kindex G S v (Group)
2871 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
2872 Sort the group buffer by group score
2873 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2876 @kindex G S r (Group)
2877 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
2878 Sort the group buffer by group rank
2879 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2882 @kindex G S m (Group)
2883 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
2884 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
2885 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
2889 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
2890 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2892 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
2893 commands will sort in reverse order.
2895 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
2899 @kindex G P a (Group)
2900 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
2901 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
2902 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
2905 @kindex G P u (Group)
2906 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
2907 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
2908 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
2911 @kindex G P l (Group)
2912 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
2913 Sort the groups by group level
2914 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
2917 @kindex G P v (Group)
2918 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
2919 Sort the groups by group score
2920 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2923 @kindex G P r (Group)
2924 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
2925 Sort the groups by group rank
2926 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2929 @kindex G P m (Group)
2930 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
2931 Sort the groups alphabetically by backend name
2932 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
2938 @node Group Maintenance
2939 @section Group Maintenance
2940 @cindex bogus groups
2945 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
2946 Find bogus groups and delete them
2947 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
2951 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
2952 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
2953 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
2954 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
2955 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
2959 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
2960 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
2961 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
2962 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
2965 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
2966 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
2967 Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
2968 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
2973 @node Browse Foreign Server
2974 @section Browse Foreign Server
2975 @cindex foreign servers
2976 @cindex browsing servers
2981 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
2982 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
2983 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
2984 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
2987 @findex gnus-browse-mode
2988 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
2989 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
2990 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
2992 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
2997 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2998 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3002 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3003 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3006 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3007 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3008 Enter the current group and display the first article
3009 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3012 @kindex RET (Browse)
3013 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3014 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3018 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3019 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3020 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3026 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3027 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3031 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3032 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3033 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3038 @section Exiting Gnus
3039 @cindex exiting Gnus
3041 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
3046 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3047 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
3048 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3049 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3053 @findex gnus-group-exit
3054 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3055 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3059 @findex gnus-group-quit
3060 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3061 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3064 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3065 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3066 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
3067 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
3068 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3073 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
3074 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
3075 trying to customize meta-variables.
3080 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3081 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3082 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3088 @section Group Topics
3091 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3092 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3093 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3094 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3095 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3096 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3100 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3101 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group-topic.ps,height=9cm}}
3112 2: alt.religion.emacs
3115 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3117 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3118 13: comp.sources.unix
3121 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3123 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3124 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3125 is a toggling command.)
3127 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3128 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
3129 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
3130 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
3133 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3134 the hook for the group mode:
3137 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3141 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3142 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3143 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3144 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3145 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3149 @node Topic Variables
3150 @subsection Topic Variables
3151 @cindex topic variables
3153 Now, if you select a topic, it will fold/unfold that topic, which is
3154 really neat, I think.
3156 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3157 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3158 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3171 Number of groups in the topic.
3173 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3175 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3178 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3179 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3180 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3183 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3184 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3186 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3187 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3188 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3191 @node Topic Commands
3192 @subsection Topic Commands
3193 @cindex topic commands
3195 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3196 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3197 definitions slightly.
3203 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3204 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3205 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3209 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3210 Move the current group to some other topic
3211 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3212 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3216 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3217 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3221 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3222 Copy the current group to some other topic
3223 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3224 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3228 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3229 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3230 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3234 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3235 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3236 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3240 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3241 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3242 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3243 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3244 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3245 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3246 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3249 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3250 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3254 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3255 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3256 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3260 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3261 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3262 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3266 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3267 Toggle hiding empty topics
3268 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3272 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3273 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3274 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
3277 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3278 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3279 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3280 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
3284 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3286 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3287 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3288 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3289 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3292 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3293 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3294 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3295 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3299 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3301 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3302 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3303 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3304 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3305 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3306 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3309 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3310 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3311 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the expiry
3312 process (if any) (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}).
3316 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3317 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3318 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3322 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3323 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3324 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3329 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3330 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3333 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3334 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3335 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3339 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3340 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3341 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3345 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3346 @cindex group parameters
3347 @cindex topic parameters
3349 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3350 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3356 @subsection Topic Sorting
3357 @cindex topic sorting
3359 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3365 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3366 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3367 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3368 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3371 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3372 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3373 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3374 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3377 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3378 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3379 Sort the current topic by group level
3380 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3383 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3384 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3385 Sort the current topic by group score
3386 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3389 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3390 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3391 Sort the current topic by group rank
3392 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3395 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3396 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3397 Sort the current topic alphabetically by backend name
3398 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3402 @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group sorting.
3405 @node Topic Topology
3406 @subsection Topic Topology
3407 @cindex topic topology
3410 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3416 2: alt.religion.emacs
3419 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3421 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3422 13: comp.sources.unix
3425 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3426 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3427 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3432 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3433 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3437 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3438 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3439 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3440 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3441 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3442 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3444 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3445 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3446 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3449 @node Topic Parameters
3450 @subsection Topic Parameters
3451 @cindex topic parameters
3453 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
3454 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
3455 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
3457 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3462 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3463 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3464 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3469 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3470 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
3471 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
3472 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
3478 2: alt.religion.emacs
3482 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3484 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3485 13: comp.sources.unix
3489 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
3490 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
3491 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
3492 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
3493 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
3494 . "religion.SCORE")}.
3496 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
3497 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
3498 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
3499 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
3500 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
3502 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
3503 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
3504 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
3505 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
3506 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
3507 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
3508 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
3509 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
3512 @node Misc Group Stuff
3513 @section Misc Group Stuff
3516 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
3517 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
3518 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
3519 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
3526 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3527 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3528 @xref{The Server Buffer}.
3532 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3533 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a
3534 prefix, the current group name will be used as the default.
3538 @findex gnus-group-mail
3539 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
3543 Variables for the group buffer:
3547 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
3548 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
3549 is called after the group buffer has been
3552 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
3553 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3554 is called after the group buffer is
3555 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
3558 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
3559 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3560 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
3561 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
3563 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3564 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3565 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
3566 whether they are empty or not.
3568 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3569 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3570 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
3571 non-ASCII group names.
3575 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3576 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
3579 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3580 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3581 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names.
3582 It is used to show non-ASCII group names.
3586 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3587 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
3592 @node Scanning New Messages
3593 @subsection Scanning New Messages
3594 @cindex new messages
3595 @cindex scanning new news
3601 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
3602 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
3603 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
3604 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
3605 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
3606 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
3611 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
3612 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
3613 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
3614 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
3615 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
3616 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
3617 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
3619 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
3620 @cindex activating groups
3622 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
3623 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
3628 @findex gnus-group-restart
3629 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
3630 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
3631 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
3635 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
3636 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
3638 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
3639 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
3643 @node Group Information
3644 @subsection Group Information
3645 @cindex group information
3646 @cindex information on groups
3653 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
3654 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
3657 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
3658 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
3659 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
3660 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
3661 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
3662 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
3663 for fetching the file.
3665 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
3666 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
3670 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
3672 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
3673 @cindex describing groups
3674 @cindex group description
3675 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
3676 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
3677 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
3681 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
3682 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
3683 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
3690 @findex gnus-version
3691 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
3695 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
3696 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
3699 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
3702 @findex gnus-info-find-node
3703 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
3707 @node Group Timestamp
3708 @subsection Group Timestamp
3710 @cindex group timestamps
3712 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
3713 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
3714 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
3717 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
3720 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
3722 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
3723 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
3726 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3727 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
3730 This will result in lines looking like:
3733 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
3734 0: custom 19961002T012713
3737 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
3738 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
3742 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3743 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
3748 @subsection File Commands
3749 @cindex file commands
3755 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
3756 @vindex gnus-init-file
3757 @cindex reading init file
3758 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
3759 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
3763 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
3764 @cindex saving .newsrc
3765 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
3766 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
3767 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
3770 @c @kindex Z (Group)
3771 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
3772 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
3777 @node The Summary Buffer
3778 @chapter The Summary Buffer
3779 @cindex summary buffer
3781 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
3782 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
3784 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
3785 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
3787 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
3790 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
3791 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
3792 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
3793 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
3794 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
3795 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
3796 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
3797 * Threading:: How threads are made.
3798 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
3799 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
3800 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
3801 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
3802 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
3803 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
3804 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
3805 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
3806 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
3807 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
3808 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
3809 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
3810 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
3811 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
3812 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
3813 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
3814 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
3815 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
3816 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
3817 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
3821 @node Summary Buffer Format
3822 @section Summary Buffer Format
3823 @cindex summary buffer format
3827 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
3828 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary.ps,width=7.5cm}}
3829 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-article.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
3835 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
3836 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
3837 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
3838 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
3841 @findex mail-extract-address-components
3842 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
3843 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
3844 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
3845 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
3846 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
3847 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
3848 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
3849 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
3850 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
3851 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
3854 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
3855 'mail-extract-address-components)
3858 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
3859 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
3860 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
3861 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
3864 @node Summary Buffer Lines
3865 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
3867 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3868 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
3869 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
3870 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
3871 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3873 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
3875 The following format specification characters are understood:
3881 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
3882 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
3884 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
3885 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
3886 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
3888 Full @code{From} header.
3890 The name (from the @code{From} header).
3892 The name, code @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header
3893 (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
3895 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
3896 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
3897 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
3898 may be more thorough.
3900 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
3903 Number of lines in the article.
3905 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported in some
3906 methods (like nnfolder).
3908 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3910 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
3911 pushes everything after it off the screen).
3913 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
3914 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3916 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
3917 for adopted articles.
3919 One space for each thread level.
3921 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
3926 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
3927 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
3931 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
3933 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
3934 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
3935 default level. If the difference between
3936 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
3937 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
3945 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
3947 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
3953 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
3954 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
3956 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
3957 article has any children.
3963 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
3964 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
3965 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
3966 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
3967 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
3968 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
3971 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
3972 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
3973 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
3974 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
3975 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
3976 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
3978 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
3979 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
3981 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
3984 @node To From Newsgroups
3985 @subsection To From Newsgroups
3989 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
3990 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
3991 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
3992 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
3993 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
3997 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
3998 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
3999 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4003 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4004 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4007 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4008 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4011 @findex gnus-extra-header
4012 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4013 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4014 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4017 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4021 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4022 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4023 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4024 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4025 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4026 headers are used instead.
4030 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4031 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4032 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files. If
4033 you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after changing
4036 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4037 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4038 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4039 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4041 In summary, you'd typically do something like the following:
4044 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4046 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4047 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4048 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20f%]%) %s\n")
4049 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4053 Now, this is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4054 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4061 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4062 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4065 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4066 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4068 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4069 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4070 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4071 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4073 Here are the elements you can play with:
4079 Unprefixed group name.
4081 Current article number.
4083 Current article score.
4087 Number of unread articles in this group.
4089 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4092 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4093 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4094 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4095 and no unselected ones.
4097 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4098 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4100 Subject of the current article.
4102 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4104 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4106 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4108 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4110 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4112 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4116 @node Summary Highlighting
4117 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4121 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4122 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4123 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4124 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4125 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4127 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4128 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4129 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4130 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4132 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4133 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4134 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4135 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4137 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4138 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4139 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4140 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4141 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4142 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4145 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4146 ((> score default) . bold))
4148 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4149 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4153 @node Summary Maneuvering
4154 @section Summary Maneuvering
4155 @cindex summary movement
4157 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4158 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4160 None of these commands select articles.
4165 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4166 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4167 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4168 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4169 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4173 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4174 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4175 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4176 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4177 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4182 @kindex G j (Summary)
4183 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
4184 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
4185 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
4188 @kindex G g (Summary)
4189 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4190 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4191 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4194 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4195 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4196 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4197 to the group buffer.
4199 Variables related to summary movement:
4203 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4204 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4205 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4206 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
4207 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4208 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4209 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
4210 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
4211 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the
4212 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
4213 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
4214 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
4215 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
4216 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
4218 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4219 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4220 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4221 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4222 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4223 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4224 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4226 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4228 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4229 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4230 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4231 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4232 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4234 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4235 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4236 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4237 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4238 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4239 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4240 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4241 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4244 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4245 the given number of lines from the top.
4250 @node Choosing Articles
4251 @section Choosing Articles
4252 @cindex selecting articles
4255 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4256 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
4260 @node Choosing Commands
4261 @subsection Choosing Commands
4263 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
4264 and they all select and display an article.
4268 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4269 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4270 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
4271 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4276 @kindex G n (Summary)
4277 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
4278 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
4279 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
4284 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
4285 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
4286 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
4291 @kindex G N (Summary)
4292 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
4293 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
4298 @kindex G P (Summary)
4299 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
4300 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
4303 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
4304 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
4305 Go to the next article with the same subject
4306 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
4309 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
4310 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
4311 Go to the previous article with the same subject
4312 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
4316 @kindex G f (Summary)
4318 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
4319 Go to the first unread article
4320 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
4324 @kindex G b (Summary)
4326 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
4327 Go to the article with the highest score
4328 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
4333 @kindex G l (Summary)
4334 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
4335 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
4338 @kindex G o (Summary)
4339 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
4341 @cindex article history
4342 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
4343 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
4344 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
4345 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
4346 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
4347 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
4351 @node Choosing Variables
4352 @subsection Choosing Variables
4354 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
4357 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4358 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4359 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
4360 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
4361 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
4362 the server and display it in the article buffer.
4364 @item gnus-select-article-hook
4365 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
4366 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
4367 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
4369 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
4370 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
4371 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
4372 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
4373 @findex gnus-unread-mark
4374 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
4375 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
4376 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
4377 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
4378 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
4379 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
4380 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
4381 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
4382 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
4387 @node Paging the Article
4388 @section Scrolling the Article
4389 @cindex article scrolling
4394 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4395 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4396 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
4397 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
4398 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4401 @kindex DEL (Summary)
4402 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
4403 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
4406 @kindex RET (Summary)
4407 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
4408 Scroll the current article one line forward
4409 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
4412 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
4413 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
4414 Scroll the current article one line backward
4415 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
4419 @kindex A g (Summary)
4421 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
4422 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4423 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
4424 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
4425 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
4426 the way it came from the server.
4428 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
4429 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
4430 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
4433 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4438 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
4443 @kindex A < (Summary)
4444 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
4445 Scroll to the beginning of the article
4446 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
4451 @kindex A > (Summary)
4452 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
4453 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
4457 @kindex A s (Summary)
4459 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
4460 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
4461 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
4465 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
4466 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
4471 @node Reply Followup and Post
4472 @section Reply, Followup and Post
4475 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
4476 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
4477 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
4478 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
4482 @node Summary Mail Commands
4483 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
4485 @cindex composing mail
4487 Commands for composing a mail message:
4493 @kindex S r (Summary)
4495 @findex gnus-summary-reply
4496 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
4497 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
4498 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
4499 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
4504 @kindex S R (Summary)
4505 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
4506 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
4507 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
4508 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
4509 command uses the process/prefix convention.
4512 @kindex S w (Summary)
4513 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
4514 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
4515 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
4516 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
4517 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
4520 @kindex S W (Summary)
4521 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
4522 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
4523 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
4524 the process/prefix convention.
4528 @kindex S o m (Summary)
4529 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
4530 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
4531 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
4532 Forward the current article to some other person
4533 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If no prefix is given, the message
4534 is forwarded according to the value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime})
4535 and (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
4536 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, foward message
4537 as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
4538 forward as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 4, foward message
4539 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
4540 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
4541 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 MIME section.
4546 @kindex S m (Summary)
4547 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
4548 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
4549 Send a mail to some other person
4550 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
4553 @kindex S D b (Summary)
4554 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
4555 @cindex bouncing mail
4556 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
4557 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
4558 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
4559 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
4560 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
4561 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
4562 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
4563 very well fail, though.
4566 @kindex S D r (Summary)
4567 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
4568 Not to be confused with the previous command,
4569 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
4570 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
4571 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
4572 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
4573 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
4574 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
4575 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
4577 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
4578 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
4579 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
4580 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
4581 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muß sein!
4583 This command understands the process/prefix convention
4584 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4587 @kindex S O m (Summary)
4588 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
4589 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
4590 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
4591 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4594 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
4595 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
4596 @cindex crossposting
4597 @cindex excessive crossposting
4598 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
4599 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
4601 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
4602 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
4603 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
4604 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
4605 command understands the process/prefix convention
4606 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
4610 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4613 @node Summary Post Commands
4614 @subsection Summary Post Commands
4616 @cindex composing news
4618 Commands for posting a news article:
4624 @kindex S p (Summary)
4625 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
4626 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
4627 Post an article to the current group
4628 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
4633 @kindex S f (Summary)
4634 @findex gnus-summary-followup
4635 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
4636 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
4640 @kindex S F (Summary)
4642 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
4643 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
4644 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
4645 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
4646 process/prefix convention.
4649 @kindex S n (Summary)
4650 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
4651 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4652 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
4655 @kindex S N (Summary)
4656 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
4657 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4658 message through mail and include the original message
4659 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
4660 the process/prefix convention.
4663 @kindex S o p (Summary)
4664 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
4665 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
4666 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
4667 If no prefix is given, the message is forwarded according to the value
4668 of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}) and
4669 (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
4670 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, foward message
4671 as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
4672 forward as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 4, foward message
4673 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
4674 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
4675 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 MIME section.
4678 @kindex S O p (Summary)
4679 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
4681 @cindex making digests
4682 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
4683 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
4684 process/prefix convention.
4687 @kindex S u (Summary)
4688 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
4689 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
4690 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
4691 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
4694 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4697 @node Summary Message Commands
4698 @subsection Summary Message Commands
4702 @kindex S y (Summary)
4703 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
4704 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
4705 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
4706 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
4707 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4712 @node Canceling and Superseding
4713 @subsection Canceling Articles
4714 @cindex canceling articles
4715 @cindex superseding articles
4717 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
4718 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
4720 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
4722 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
4724 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
4725 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
4726 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
4727 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
4728 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
4729 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4731 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
4732 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
4735 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
4736 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
4737 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
4739 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
4740 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
4741 your original article.
4743 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
4745 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
4746 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
4747 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
4750 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
4751 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
4752 have posted almost the same article twice.
4754 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
4755 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
4756 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
4757 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
4758 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
4759 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
4760 header by substituting one of those words for the word
4761 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
4762 you would do normally. The previous article will be
4763 canceled/superseded.
4765 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
4768 @node Marking Articles
4769 @section Marking Articles
4770 @cindex article marking
4771 @cindex article ticking
4774 There are several marks you can set on an article.
4776 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
4777 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
4778 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
4780 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
4783 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
4784 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
4785 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
4789 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
4793 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
4794 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
4795 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
4799 @node Unread Articles
4800 @subsection Unread Articles
4802 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
4807 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
4808 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
4810 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
4811 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
4812 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
4813 tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an
4814 article forever, you'll have to make it persistent (@pxref{Persistent
4818 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
4819 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
4821 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
4822 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
4823 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
4826 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
4827 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
4829 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
4834 @subsection Read Articles
4835 @cindex expirable mark
4837 All the following marks mark articles as read.
4842 @vindex gnus-del-mark
4843 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
4844 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
4847 @vindex gnus-read-mark
4848 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
4851 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
4852 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
4853 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
4856 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
4857 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
4860 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
4861 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
4864 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
4865 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
4868 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
4869 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
4872 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
4873 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
4876 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
4877 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
4880 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
4881 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
4885 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
4886 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
4887 (@code{gnus-duplicated-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
4891 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
4892 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
4894 One more special mark, though:
4898 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
4899 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
4901 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
4902 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
4903 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
4904 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
4910 @subsection Other Marks
4911 @cindex process mark
4914 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
4920 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
4921 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
4922 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
4923 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
4924 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
4927 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
4928 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
4929 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
4930 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
4933 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
4934 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
4935 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
4938 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
4939 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
4940 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
4941 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
4944 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
4945 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
4946 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
4947 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
4948 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
4951 @vindex gnus-process-mark
4952 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
4953 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
4954 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
4955 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
4956 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
4960 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
4961 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
4962 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
4964 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
4965 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
4966 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
4970 @subsection Setting Marks
4971 @cindex setting marks
4973 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
4978 @kindex M c (Summary)
4979 @kindex M-u (Summary)
4980 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
4981 @cindex mark as unread
4982 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
4983 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
4989 @kindex M t (Summary)
4990 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
4991 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
4992 @xref{Article Caching}.
4997 @kindex M ? (Summary)
4998 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
4999 Mark the current article as dormant
5000 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5004 @kindex M d (Summary)
5006 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
5007 Mark the current article as read
5008 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
5012 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
5013 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
5014 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
5019 @kindex M k (Summary)
5020 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
5021 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
5022 and then select the next unread article
5023 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
5027 @kindex M K (Summary)
5028 @kindex C-k (Summary)
5029 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
5030 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
5031 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
5034 @kindex M C (Summary)
5035 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
5036 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
5037 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
5040 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
5041 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
5042 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
5043 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
5046 @kindex M H (Summary)
5047 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
5048 Catchup the current group to point
5049 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
5052 @kindex C-w (Summary)
5053 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
5054 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
5055 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
5058 @kindex M V k (Summary)
5059 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
5060 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
5061 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
5065 @kindex M e (Summary)
5067 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
5068 Mark the current article as expirable
5069 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
5072 @kindex M b (Summary)
5073 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
5074 Set a bookmark in the current article
5075 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
5078 @kindex M B (Summary)
5079 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
5080 Remove the bookmark from the current article
5081 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
5084 @kindex M V c (Summary)
5085 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
5086 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
5087 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5090 @kindex M V u (Summary)
5091 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
5092 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
5093 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
5096 @kindex M V m (Summary)
5097 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
5098 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
5099 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
5100 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5103 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
5104 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
5105 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
5106 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
5107 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
5108 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
5109 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
5110 The default is @code{t}.
5113 @node Generic Marking Commands
5114 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
5116 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
5117 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
5118 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
5119 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
5120 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
5123 Multiply these five behaviours with five different marking commands, and
5124 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
5127 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
5128 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
5129 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
5130 to list in this manual.
5132 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
5133 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
5134 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
5135 article, you could say something like:
5138 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
5139 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5140 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
5146 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5147 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
5151 @node Setting Process Marks
5152 @subsection Setting Process Marks
5153 @cindex setting process marks
5160 @kindex M P p (Summary)
5161 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
5162 Mark the current article with the process mark
5163 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
5164 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
5168 @kindex M P u (Summary)
5169 @kindex M-# (Summary)
5170 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
5171 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
5174 @kindex M P U (Summary)
5175 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
5176 Remove the process mark from all articles
5177 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
5180 @kindex M P i (Summary)
5181 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
5182 Invert the list of process marked articles
5183 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
5186 @kindex M P R (Summary)
5187 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
5188 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5189 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
5192 @kindex M P G (Summary)
5193 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
5194 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5195 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
5198 @kindex M P r (Summary)
5199 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
5200 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
5203 @kindex M P t (Summary)
5204 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5205 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5206 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5209 @kindex M P T (Summary)
5210 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5211 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5212 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5215 @kindex M P v (Summary)
5216 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
5217 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
5218 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
5221 @kindex M P s (Summary)
5222 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
5223 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5226 @kindex M P S (Summary)
5227 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
5228 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
5229 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
5232 @kindex M P a (Summary)
5233 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
5234 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5237 @kindex M P b (Summary)
5238 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
5239 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
5240 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
5243 @kindex M P k (Summary)
5244 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
5245 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
5246 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
5249 @kindex M P y (Summary)
5250 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
5251 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
5252 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
5255 @kindex M P w (Summary)
5256 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
5257 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
5258 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
5262 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @pxref{Searching for Articles} for how to
5263 set process marks based on article body contents.
5270 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
5271 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
5272 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
5275 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
5276 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
5277 additional articles.
5283 @kindex / / (Summary)
5284 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
5285 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
5286 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
5289 @kindex / a (Summary)
5290 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
5291 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
5292 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
5295 @kindex / x (Summary)
5296 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
5297 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
5298 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
5299 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}).
5303 @kindex / u (Summary)
5305 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
5306 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
5307 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
5308 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
5309 dormant articles will also be excluded.
5312 @kindex / m (Summary)
5313 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
5314 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
5315 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
5318 @kindex / t (Summary)
5319 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
5320 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
5321 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
5322 articles younger than that number of days.
5325 @kindex / n (Summary)
5326 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
5327 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
5328 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
5329 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5332 @kindex / w (Summary)
5333 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
5334 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
5335 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
5339 @kindex / v (Summary)
5340 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
5341 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
5342 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
5346 @kindex M S (Summary)
5347 @kindex / E (Summary)
5348 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
5349 Include all expunged articles in the limit
5350 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
5353 @kindex / D (Summary)
5354 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
5355 Include all dormant articles in the limit
5356 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
5359 @kindex / * (Summary)
5360 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
5361 Include all cached articles in the limit
5362 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
5365 @kindex / d (Summary)
5366 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
5367 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
5368 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
5371 @kindex / M (Summary)
5372 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
5373 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
5376 @kindex / T (Summary)
5377 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
5378 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
5381 @kindex / c (Summary)
5382 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
5383 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
5384 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
5387 @kindex / C (Summary)
5388 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
5389 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
5390 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
5391 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
5399 @cindex article threading
5401 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
5402 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
5403 hierarchical fashion.
5405 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
5406 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
5407 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
5408 or simply missing. Weird news propagation excarcerbates the problem,
5409 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
5410 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
5411 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
5413 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
5417 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
5420 A tree-like article structure.
5423 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
5426 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
5427 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
5428 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
5429 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
5430 called loose threads.
5432 @item thread gathering
5433 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
5435 @item sparse threads
5436 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
5437 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
5443 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
5444 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
5448 @node Customizing Threading
5449 @subsection Customizing Threading
5450 @cindex customizing threading
5453 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
5454 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
5455 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
5456 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
5461 @subsubsection Loose Threads
5464 @cindex loose threads
5467 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
5468 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
5469 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
5470 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
5471 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
5472 read or killed the root in a previous session.
5474 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
5475 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
5476 There are four possible values:
5480 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
5481 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-adopt.ps,width=7.5cm}}
5482 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-empty.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
5483 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-none.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
5484 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-dummy.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
5489 @cindex adopting articles
5494 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
5495 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
5496 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
5497 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
5500 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
5501 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
5502 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
5503 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
5504 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
5505 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
5506 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
5509 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
5510 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
5511 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
5515 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
5516 display them after one another.
5519 Don't gather loose threads.
5522 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
5523 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
5524 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
5525 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
5526 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
5527 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
5528 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
5529 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
5530 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
5531 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
5532 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
5534 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
5535 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
5536 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
5539 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
5540 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
5541 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
5542 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
5543 simplification is used.
5545 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5546 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5547 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
5548 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
5550 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
5552 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5558 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
5559 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
5560 "answer" "reference" "announce"
5561 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
5566 (mapconcat 'identity
5567 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
5569 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
5572 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
5575 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
5576 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
5577 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
5578 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
5579 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
5580 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
5582 Useful functions to put in this list include:
5585 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
5586 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
5587 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
5589 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
5590 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
5593 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
5594 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
5595 Remove excessive whitespace.
5598 You may also write your own functions, of course.
5601 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
5602 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
5603 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
5604 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
5605 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
5606 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
5607 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
5608 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
5610 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5611 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5612 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
5613 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
5614 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
5615 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
5616 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
5617 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
5618 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
5622 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
5623 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
5624 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
5625 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
5627 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
5628 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
5629 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
5632 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
5636 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5637 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
5643 @node Filling In Threads
5644 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
5647 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
5648 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
5649 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
5650 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
5651 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
5652 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
5653 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
5654 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
5655 fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
5656 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
5657 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
5658 expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that.
5660 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
5661 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
5662 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
5664 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
5665 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
5666 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
5667 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
5668 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
5669 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
5670 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
5671 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
5672 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
5673 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
5674 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
5675 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
5676 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
5677 @code{nil} by default.
5682 @node More Threading
5683 @subsubsection More Threading
5686 @item gnus-show-threads
5687 @vindex gnus-show-threads
5688 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
5689 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
5690 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
5691 slower and more awkward.
5693 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5694 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5695 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
5698 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
5699 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
5700 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
5701 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
5702 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
5703 threads are expunged.
5705 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
5706 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
5707 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
5710 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5711 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5712 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
5713 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
5714 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
5717 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
5718 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
5719 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
5722 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
5723 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
5724 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
5725 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
5726 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
5727 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
5728 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
5729 Setting this variable to an alternate value
5730 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
5731 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
5732 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
5737 @node Low-Level Threading
5738 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
5742 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
5743 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
5744 Hook run before parsing any headers.
5746 @item gnus-alter-header-function
5747 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
5748 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
5749 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
5750 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
5751 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
5752 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
5753 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
5754 meaningful. Here's one example:
5757 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
5759 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
5760 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
5762 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
5764 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
5771 @node Thread Commands
5772 @subsection Thread Commands
5773 @cindex thread commands
5779 @kindex T k (Summary)
5780 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
5781 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
5782 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
5783 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
5784 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
5789 @kindex T l (Summary)
5790 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
5791 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
5792 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
5793 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
5796 @kindex T i (Summary)
5797 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
5798 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
5799 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
5802 @kindex T # (Summary)
5803 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5804 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
5805 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5808 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
5809 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5810 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
5811 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5814 @kindex T T (Summary)
5815 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
5816 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
5819 @kindex T s (Summary)
5820 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
5821 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
5822 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
5825 @kindex T h (Summary)
5826 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
5827 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
5830 @kindex T S (Summary)
5831 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
5832 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
5835 @kindex T H (Summary)
5836 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
5837 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
5840 @kindex T t (Summary)
5841 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
5842 Re-thread the current article's thread
5843 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
5844 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
5847 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
5848 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
5849 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
5850 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
5854 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
5855 understand the numeric prefix.
5860 @kindex T n (Summary)
5862 @kindex M-C-n (Summary)
5864 @kindex M-down (Summary)
5865 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
5866 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
5869 @kindex T p (Summary)
5871 @kindex M-C-p (Summary)
5873 @kindex M-up (Summary)
5874 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
5875 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
5878 @kindex T d (Summary)
5879 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
5880 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
5883 @kindex T u (Summary)
5884 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
5885 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
5888 @kindex T o (Summary)
5889 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
5890 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
5893 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
5894 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
5895 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
5896 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
5897 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
5898 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
5899 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
5900 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
5901 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
5902 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
5903 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
5904 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
5911 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
5912 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
5913 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
5914 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5915 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
5916 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5917 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
5918 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
5919 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
5920 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
5921 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
5923 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
5924 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
5925 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
5926 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
5927 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
5929 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
5930 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
5931 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
5933 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
5934 last function in the list. You should probably always include
5935 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
5936 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
5937 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
5938 ascending article order.
5940 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
5941 by number, you could do something like:
5944 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5945 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5946 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5947 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
5950 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
5951 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
5952 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
5953 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
5954 which the articles arrived.
5956 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
5960 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5962 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
5963 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
5966 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
5967 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
5968 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
5969 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
5972 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
5973 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
5974 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
5975 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
5976 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
5977 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
5978 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
5979 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
5980 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
5981 it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
5982 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
5983 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
5984 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
5986 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
5990 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
5991 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
5992 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
5997 @node Asynchronous Fetching
5998 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
5999 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
6000 @cindex article pre-fetch
6003 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
6004 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
6005 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
6006 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
6007 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
6009 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
6010 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
6012 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
6013 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
6014 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
6015 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
6016 connection is blocked.
6018 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
6019 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
6020 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
6021 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
6023 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
6024 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
6025 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
6026 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
6029 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
6032 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
6033 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
6034 happen automatically.
6036 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
6037 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
6038 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
6039 that when you read an article in the group, the backend will pre-fetch
6040 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the backend will
6041 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
6042 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
6044 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
6045 @findex gnus-async-read-p
6046 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
6047 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
6048 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
6049 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
6050 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
6051 data structure as the only parameter.
6053 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
6056 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
6057 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
6058 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
6059 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
6062 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
6065 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
6066 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
6067 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
6069 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
6070 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
6071 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
6072 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
6076 Remove articles when they are read.
6079 Remove articles when exiting the group.
6082 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
6084 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
6085 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
6086 @c from the next group.
6089 @node Article Caching
6090 @section Article Caching
6091 @cindex article caching
6094 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
6095 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
6096 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
6097 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
6098 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
6100 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
6102 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
6103 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
6104 @vindex gnus-use-cache
6105 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
6106 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
6107 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
6108 cache is flat or hierarchal is controlled by the
6109 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
6111 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
6112 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
6113 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
6114 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
6115 as dormant, and don't worry.
6117 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
6119 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
6120 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
6121 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
6122 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
6123 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
6124 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
6125 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
6126 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
6127 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
6128 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
6130 @findex gnus-jog-cache
6131 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
6132 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
6133 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
6134 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
6135 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
6136 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
6137 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
6138 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
6139 not then be downloaded by this command.
6141 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
6142 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
6143 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
6144 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
6145 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
6146 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
6148 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
6149 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
6150 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
6151 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
6152 variables, the group is not cached.
6154 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
6155 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
6156 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
6157 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
6158 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
6159 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
6160 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
6161 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
6162 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
6166 @node Persistent Articles
6167 @section Persistent Articles
6168 @cindex persistent articles
6170 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
6171 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
6172 useful in my opinion.
6174 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
6175 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
6176 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
6177 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
6178 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
6179 the expiry going on at the news server.
6181 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
6182 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
6183 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
6189 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
6190 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
6193 @kindex M-* (Summary)
6194 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
6195 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
6196 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
6200 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
6202 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
6203 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
6204 interested in persistent articles:
6207 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
6211 @node Article Backlog
6212 @section Article Backlog
6214 @cindex article backlog
6216 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
6217 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
6218 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
6219 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
6220 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
6221 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
6222 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
6223 increase memory usage some.
6225 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
6226 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
6227 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
6228 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
6229 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
6230 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
6231 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
6233 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
6236 @node Saving Articles
6237 @section Saving Articles
6238 @cindex saving articles
6240 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
6241 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
6242 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
6243 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
6244 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
6246 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
6247 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
6248 unwanted headers before saving the article.
6250 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
6251 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
6252 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
6253 deleted before saving.
6259 @kindex O o (Summary)
6261 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
6262 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
6263 Save the current article using the default article saver
6264 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
6267 @kindex O m (Summary)
6268 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
6269 Save the current article in mail format
6270 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
6273 @kindex O r (Summary)
6274 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
6275 Save the current article in rmail format
6276 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
6279 @kindex O f (Summary)
6280 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
6281 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
6282 Save the current article in plain file format
6283 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
6286 @kindex O F (Summary)
6287 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
6288 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
6289 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
6292 @kindex O b (Summary)
6293 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
6294 Save the current article body in plain file format
6295 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
6298 @kindex O h (Summary)
6299 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
6300 Save the current article in mh folder format
6301 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
6304 @kindex O v (Summary)
6305 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
6306 Save the current article in a VM folder
6307 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
6310 @kindex O p (Summary)
6311 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
6312 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
6313 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
6316 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
6317 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
6318 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
6319 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
6320 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
6321 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
6322 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
6323 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
6324 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
6325 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
6326 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
6327 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
6331 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
6332 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
6333 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
6334 functions below, or you can create your own.
6338 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
6339 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
6340 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
6341 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
6342 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
6343 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6344 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
6346 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
6347 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
6348 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
6349 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
6350 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6351 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
6353 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
6354 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
6355 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
6356 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
6357 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
6358 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6359 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
6361 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
6362 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
6363 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
6364 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6365 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
6367 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
6368 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
6369 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
6370 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
6371 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
6374 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
6375 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
6376 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
6377 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
6378 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
6380 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
6381 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
6382 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
6383 reader to use this setting.
6386 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
6387 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
6388 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
6389 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
6392 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
6393 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
6394 available functions that generate names:
6398 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
6399 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
6400 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
6402 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
6403 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
6404 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
6406 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
6407 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
6408 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
6410 @item gnus-plain-save-name
6411 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
6412 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
6415 @vindex gnus-split-methods
6416 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
6417 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
6418 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
6419 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
6423 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
6424 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
6425 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
6426 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
6429 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
6430 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
6431 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
6432 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
6433 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
6434 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
6435 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
6436 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
6437 called returns a string or a list of strings.
6439 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
6440 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
6441 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
6442 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
6444 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
6445 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
6446 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
6449 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
6450 lots of mail groups called things like
6451 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
6452 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
6453 following will do just that:
6456 (defun my-save-name (group)
6457 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
6458 (substring group (match-end 0))))
6460 (setq gnus-split-methods
6461 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
6466 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
6467 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
6468 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
6469 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
6470 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
6471 all the files in the top level directory
6472 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
6473 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
6474 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
6475 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
6477 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
6478 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
6479 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
6480 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
6481 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
6484 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
6488 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
6489 (setq gnus-default-article-saver 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
6492 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
6493 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
6494 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
6495 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
6498 @node Decoding Articles
6499 @section Decoding Articles
6500 @cindex decoding articles
6502 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
6503 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
6506 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
6507 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
6508 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
6509 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
6510 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
6511 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
6515 @cindex article series
6516 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
6517 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
6518 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
6519 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
6520 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
6522 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
6523 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
6524 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
6526 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
6527 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
6528 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
6530 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
6531 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
6532 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
6535 @node Uuencoded Articles
6536 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
6538 @cindex uuencoded articles
6543 @kindex X u (Summary)
6544 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
6545 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
6546 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
6549 @kindex X U (Summary)
6550 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
6551 Uudecodes and saves the current series
6552 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
6555 @kindex X v u (Summary)
6556 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
6557 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
6560 @kindex X v U (Summary)
6561 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
6562 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
6563 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
6567 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
6568 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
6569 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
6570 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
6571 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
6573 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
6574 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
6575 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
6576 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
6579 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
6580 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
6581 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
6582 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
6583 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
6584 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
6588 @node Shell Archives
6589 @subsection Shell Archives
6591 @cindex shell archives
6592 @cindex shared articles
6594 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
6595 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
6596 some commands to deal with these:
6601 @kindex X s (Summary)
6602 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
6603 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
6606 @kindex X S (Summary)
6607 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
6608 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
6611 @kindex X v s (Summary)
6612 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
6613 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
6616 @kindex X v S (Summary)
6617 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
6618 Unshars, views and saves the current series
6619 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
6623 @node PostScript Files
6624 @subsection PostScript Files
6630 @kindex X p (Summary)
6631 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
6632 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
6635 @kindex X P (Summary)
6636 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
6637 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
6638 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
6641 @kindex X v p (Summary)
6642 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
6643 View the current PostScript series
6644 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
6647 @kindex X v P (Summary)
6648 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
6649 View and save the current PostScript series
6650 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
6655 @subsection Other Files
6659 @kindex X o (Summary)
6660 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
6661 Save the current series
6662 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
6665 @kindex X b (Summary)
6666 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
6667 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
6668 doesn't really work yet.
6672 @node Decoding Variables
6673 @subsection Decoding Variables
6675 Adjective, not verb.
6678 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
6679 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
6680 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
6684 @node Rule Variables
6685 @subsubsection Rule Variables
6686 @cindex rule variables
6688 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
6689 variables are of the form
6692 (list '(regexp1 command2)
6699 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6700 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6702 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
6703 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
6706 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6707 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
6710 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6711 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6712 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
6713 user and default view rules.
6715 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6716 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6717 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
6722 @node Other Decode Variables
6723 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
6726 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6728 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6729 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
6730 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
6731 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
6732 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
6736 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
6737 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
6740 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
6741 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
6742 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
6745 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6746 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6747 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
6748 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
6749 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
6752 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6753 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6754 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
6756 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6757 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6758 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
6759 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
6760 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
6763 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6764 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6765 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
6767 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6768 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6769 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
6770 looking for files to display.
6772 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
6773 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
6774 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
6777 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6778 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6779 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
6782 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6783 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6784 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
6787 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6788 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6789 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
6792 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6793 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6794 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
6795 decoded articles as unread.
6797 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6798 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6799 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
6800 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
6802 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6803 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6804 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
6806 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6807 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6809 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
6810 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
6811 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
6812 @code{metamail} for viewing.
6814 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6815 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6816 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
6817 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
6818 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
6819 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
6820 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
6821 simply dropped them.
6826 @node Uuencoding and Posting
6827 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
6831 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6832 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6833 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
6834 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
6835 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
6836 for you when you post the article.
6838 @item gnus-uu-post-length
6839 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
6840 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
6841 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
6843 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
6844 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
6845 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
6846 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
6847 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
6848 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
6849 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
6851 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6852 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6853 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
6854 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
6855 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
6856 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
6857 Default is @code{t}.
6863 @subsection Viewing Files
6864 @cindex viewing files
6865 @cindex pseudo-articles
6867 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
6868 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
6869 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
6870 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
6871 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
6872 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
6873 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
6875 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
6876 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
6877 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
6878 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
6880 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
6881 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
6882 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
6884 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
6885 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
6886 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
6887 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
6888 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
6890 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
6891 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
6892 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
6893 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
6894 a list of parameters to that command.
6896 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
6897 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
6898 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
6900 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
6901 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
6902 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
6905 @node Article Treatment
6906 @section Article Treatment
6908 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
6909 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
6910 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
6911 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
6912 these articles easier.
6915 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
6916 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
6917 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
6918 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
6919 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
6920 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
6921 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
6922 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
6926 @node Article Highlighting
6927 @subsection Article Highlighting
6928 @cindex highlighting
6930 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
6931 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
6936 @kindex W H a (Summary)
6937 @findex gnus-article-highlight
6938 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
6939 Do much highlighting of the current article
6940 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
6941 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
6944 @kindex W H h (Summary)
6945 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
6946 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
6947 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
6948 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
6949 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
6950 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
6951 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
6952 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
6953 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
6954 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
6955 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
6958 @kindex W H c (Summary)
6959 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
6960 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
6962 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
6965 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6967 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6968 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
6969 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
6971 @item gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6972 @vindex gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6973 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
6975 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
6976 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
6977 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
6979 @item gnus-cite-face-list
6980 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
6981 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
6982 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
6983 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
6984 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
6986 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
6987 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
6988 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
6990 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6991 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6992 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
6994 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6995 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6996 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
6997 that it's a citation.
6999 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7000 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7001 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
7003 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7004 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7005 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
7007 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
7008 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
7009 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
7010 cited text belonging to the attribution.
7016 @kindex W H s (Summary)
7017 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7018 @vindex gnus-signature-face
7019 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
7020 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
7021 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
7022 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
7023 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
7028 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
7031 @node Article Fontisizing
7032 @subsection Article Fontisizing
7034 @cindex article emphasis
7036 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
7037 @kindex W e (Summary)
7038 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
7039 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
7040 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
7041 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
7043 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
7044 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
7045 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
7046 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
7047 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
7048 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
7049 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
7050 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
7054 (setq gnus-article-emphasis
7055 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
7056 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
7065 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
7066 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
7067 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
7068 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
7069 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
7070 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
7071 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
7072 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
7073 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
7074 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
7075 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
7076 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
7077 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
7079 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
7080 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
7081 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
7085 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
7088 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
7090 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
7091 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
7092 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
7093 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
7095 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
7098 @node Article Hiding
7099 @subsection Article Hiding
7100 @cindex article hiding
7102 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
7103 too much cruft in most articles.
7108 @kindex W W a (Summary)
7109 @findex gnus-article-hide
7110 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
7111 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
7112 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
7115 @kindex W W h (Summary)
7116 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
7117 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
7121 @kindex W W b (Summary)
7122 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
7123 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
7124 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
7127 @kindex W W s (Summary)
7128 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
7129 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
7133 @kindex W W l (Summary)
7134 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
7135 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7136 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}.
7137 These are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of
7138 all @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any
7139 leading @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping.
7143 @item gnus-list-identifiers
7144 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7145 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
7146 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
7151 @kindex W W p (Summary)
7152 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
7153 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7154 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
7155 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
7156 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
7157 articles that have signatures in them do:
7159 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
7161 (setq gnus-treat-strip-pgp t)
7163 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
7164 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
7166 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7169 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
7174 @kindex W W P (Summary)
7175 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
7176 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
7177 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
7180 @kindex W W B (Summary)
7181 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
7184 @cindex stripping advertisments
7185 @cindex advertisments
7186 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
7187 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
7188 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
7189 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
7190 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
7191 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
7192 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
7193 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
7194 signature should be removed.
7197 @kindex W W c (Summary)
7198 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
7199 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
7200 customizing the hiding:
7204 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
7205 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
7206 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
7207 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
7208 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
7209 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
7210 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
7215 Starting point of the hidden text.
7217 Ending point of the hidden text.
7219 Number of characters in the hidden region.
7221 Number of lines of hidden text.
7224 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
7225 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
7226 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
7227 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
7228 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
7233 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
7234 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
7236 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
7237 following two variables:
7240 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
7241 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
7242 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
7243 50), hide the cited text.
7245 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
7246 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
7247 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
7252 @kindex W W C (Summary)
7253 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
7254 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
7255 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
7256 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
7257 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
7261 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
7262 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
7263 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
7265 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
7266 citation customization.
7268 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
7272 @node Article Washing
7273 @subsection Article Washing
7275 @cindex article washing
7277 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
7278 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
7280 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
7281 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
7287 @kindex W l (Summary)
7288 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
7289 Remove page breaks from the current article
7290 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
7294 @kindex W r (Summary)
7295 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
7296 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
7297 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
7298 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
7299 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
7300 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
7302 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
7303 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
7304 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
7305 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
7309 @kindex W t (Summary)
7311 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
7312 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
7313 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
7316 @kindex W v (Summary)
7317 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
7318 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
7319 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
7322 @kindex W o (Summary)
7323 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
7324 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
7327 @kindex W d (Summary)
7328 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
7329 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
7331 @cindex M******** sm*rtq**t*s
7333 Treat M******** sm*rtq**t*s according to
7334 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
7335 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
7336 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
7340 @kindex W w (Summary)
7341 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
7342 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
7344 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
7348 @kindex W Q (Summary)
7349 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
7350 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
7353 @kindex W C (Summary)
7354 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
7355 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
7356 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
7359 @kindex W c (Summary)
7360 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
7361 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
7362 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
7363 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
7364 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
7367 @kindex W q (Summary)
7368 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
7369 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
7370 Quoted-Printable is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending
7371 non-ASCII (i. e., 8-bit) articles. It typically makes strings like
7372 @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which doesn't look very
7373 readable to me. Note that the this is usually done automatically by
7374 Gnus if the message in question has a @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding}
7375 header that says that this encoding has been done.
7378 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
7379 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
7380 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}).
7381 Base64 is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending non-ASCII
7382 (i. e., 8-bit) articles. Note that the this is usually done
7383 automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
7384 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding has
7388 @kindex W Z (Summary)
7389 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
7390 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
7391 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
7392 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
7395 @kindex W h (Summary)
7396 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
7397 Treat HTML (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}).
7398 Note that the this is usually done automatically by Gnus if the message
7399 in question has a @code{Content-Type} header that says that this type
7403 @kindex W f (Summary)
7405 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
7406 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
7407 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
7408 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
7414 Look for and display any X-Face headers
7415 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
7416 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
7417 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
7418 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
7419 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
7420 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
7421 The default action under Emacs is to fork off the @code{display}
7422 program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For the
7423 @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
7424 like `compface' or `faces-xface' on a GNU/Linux system.}
7425 to view the face. Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image
7426 support, the default action is to display the face before the
7427 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
7428 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
7429 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
7430 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
7431 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
7432 like @code{netpbm} or @code{libgr-progs}.}) If you
7433 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
7437 @kindex W b (Summary)
7438 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
7439 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
7440 @xref{Article Buttons}.
7443 @kindex W B (Summary)
7444 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
7445 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
7446 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
7449 @kindex W W H (Summary)
7450 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body
7451 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
7452 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body}).
7455 @kindex W E l (Summary)
7456 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
7457 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
7458 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
7461 @kindex W E m (Summary)
7462 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
7463 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
7464 lines with a single empty line.
7465 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
7468 @kindex W E t (Summary)
7469 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
7470 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
7471 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
7474 @kindex W E a (Summary)
7475 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
7476 Do all the three commands above
7477 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
7480 @kindex W E A (Summary)
7481 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
7482 Remove all blank lines
7483 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
7486 @kindex W E s (Summary)
7487 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
7488 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
7489 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
7492 @kindex W E e (Summary)
7493 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
7494 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
7495 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
7499 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
7502 @node Article Buttons
7503 @subsection Article Buttons
7506 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
7507 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
7508 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
7509 button on these references.
7511 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
7512 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
7513 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
7518 @item gnus-button-alist
7519 @vindex gnus-button-alist
7520 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
7523 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
7529 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
7530 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
7531 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
7534 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
7535 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
7536 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
7539 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
7540 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
7541 avoid false matches.
7544 This function will be called when you click on this button.
7547 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
7548 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
7552 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
7555 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
7558 @item gnus-header-button-alist
7559 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
7560 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
7561 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
7562 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
7565 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
7568 @var{header} is a regular expression.
7570 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
7571 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
7572 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
7573 default values of the variables above.
7575 @item gnus-article-button-face
7576 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
7577 Face used on buttons.
7579 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
7580 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
7581 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
7585 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
7589 @subsection Article Date
7591 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
7592 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
7593 when the article was sent.
7598 @kindex W T u (Summary)
7599 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
7600 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
7601 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
7604 @kindex W T i (Summary)
7605 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
7607 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
7608 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
7611 @kindex W T l (Summary)
7612 @findex gnus-article-date-local
7613 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
7616 @kindex W T s (Summary)
7617 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
7618 @findex gnus-article-date-user
7619 @findex format-time-string
7620 Display the date using a user-defined format
7621 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
7622 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
7623 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
7624 for a list of possible format specs.
7627 @kindex W T e (Summary)
7628 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
7629 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
7630 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
7631 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
7632 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
7635 X-Sent: 9 years, 6 weeks, 4 days, 9 hours, 3 minutes, 28 seconds ago
7638 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
7639 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
7642 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
7643 into wonderful absurdities.
7645 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
7648 (gnus-start-date-timer)
7651 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
7652 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
7656 @kindex W T o (Summary)
7657 @findex gnus-article-date-original
7658 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
7659 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
7660 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
7661 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
7662 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
7666 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
7667 preferred format automatically.
7670 @node Article Signature
7671 @subsection Article Signature
7673 @cindex article signature
7675 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7676 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
7677 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
7678 that says what is to be considered a signature is
7679 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
7680 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
7681 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
7682 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
7683 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
7686 (setq gnus-signature-separator
7687 '("^-- $" ; The standard
7688 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
7689 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
7690 ; line of dashes. Shame!
7691 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
7692 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
7693 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
7696 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
7699 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
7700 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
7701 signature when displaying articles.
7705 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
7708 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
7711 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
7712 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
7714 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
7715 in question is not a signature.
7718 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
7719 listed above. Here's an example:
7722 (setq gnus-signature-limit
7723 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
7726 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
7727 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
7728 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
7729 signature after all.
7732 @node Article Miscellania
7733 @subsection Article Miscellania
7737 @kindex A t (Summary)
7738 @findex gnus-article-babel
7739 Translate the article from one language to another
7740 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
7746 @section @sc{mime} Commands
7747 @cindex MIME decoding
7749 @cindex viewing attachments
7751 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
7752 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @sc{mime} part''.
7758 @kindex K v (Summary)
7759 View the @sc{mime} part.
7762 @kindex K o (Summary)
7763 Save the @sc{mime} part.
7766 @kindex K c (Summary)
7767 Copy the @sc{mime} part.
7770 @kindex K e (Summary)
7771 View the @sc{mime} part externally.
7774 @kindex K i (Summary)
7775 View the @sc{mime} part internally.
7778 @kindex K | (Summary)
7779 Pipe the @sc{mime} part to an external command.
7782 The rest of these @sc{mime} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
7787 @kindex K b (Summary)
7788 Make all the @sc{mime} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
7789 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
7793 @kindex K m (Summary)
7794 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
7795 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
7796 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
7797 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
7798 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
7801 @kindex X m (Summary)
7802 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
7803 Save all parts matching a @sc{mime} type to a directory
7804 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
7805 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7808 @kindex M-t (Summary)
7809 @findex gnus-summary-display-buttonized
7810 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
7811 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
7814 @kindex W M w (Summary)
7815 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
7816 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
7819 @kindex W M c (Summary)
7820 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
7821 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
7823 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
7824 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
7825 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
7826 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not include
7827 MIME headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic parameter to
7828 the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
7831 @kindex W M v (Summary)
7832 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
7833 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
7840 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
7841 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
7842 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
7843 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
7846 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
7849 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
7853 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
7854 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
7855 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
7856 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
7857 displayed. The default value is @code{(".*/.*")}.
7859 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
7860 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
7861 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
7862 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
7863 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
7864 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
7865 save all jpegs into some directory).
7867 Here's an example function the does the latter:
7870 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
7871 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
7873 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
7874 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
7875 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
7876 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
7877 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
7880 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
7881 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
7882 Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
7891 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
7892 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
7893 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
7894 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
7895 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
7896 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
7897 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
7899 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
7900 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
7901 variable, which is an alist of regexps (to match group names) and
7902 default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
7904 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
7905 aren't. These blitely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1} even
7906 if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
7907 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
7908 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be set
7909 on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
7910 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit)}, which is
7911 something some agents insist on having in there.
7913 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
7914 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
7915 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @sc{mime}
7916 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
7917 quoted-printable header encoding.
7919 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
7920 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
7921 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
7925 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
7928 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
7929 means encode all charsets),
7931 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
7932 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
7933 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
7940 @cindex coding system aliases
7941 @cindex preferred charset
7943 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
7945 If there are several @sc{mime} charsets that encode the same Emacs
7946 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
7949 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
7950 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
7953 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
7954 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @sc{mime} charset.
7956 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
7959 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
7962 This will almost do the right thing.
7964 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
7968 (codepage-setup 1251)
7969 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
7973 @node Article Commands
7974 @section Article Commands
7981 @kindex A P (Summary)
7982 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
7983 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
7984 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
7985 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will be
7986 run just before printing the buffer.
7991 @node Summary Sorting
7992 @section Summary Sorting
7993 @cindex summary sorting
7995 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
7996 can't really see why you'd want that.
8001 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
8002 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
8003 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
8006 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
8007 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
8008 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
8011 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
8012 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
8013 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
8016 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
8017 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
8018 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
8021 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
8022 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
8023 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
8026 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
8027 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
8028 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
8031 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
8032 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
8033 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
8036 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
8037 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
8038 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
8039 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
8040 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
8044 @node Finding the Parent
8045 @section Finding the Parent
8046 @cindex parent articles
8047 @cindex referring articles
8052 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
8053 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
8054 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
8055 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
8056 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
8057 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
8058 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
8059 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
8060 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
8062 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
8063 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
8064 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
8065 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
8066 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
8070 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
8071 @kindex A R (Summary)
8072 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
8073 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
8076 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
8077 @kindex A T (Summary)
8078 Display the full thread where the current article appears
8079 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
8080 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
8081 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
8082 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
8083 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
8084 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
8086 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
8087 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
8088 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
8089 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
8090 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
8091 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
8094 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
8095 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
8097 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
8098 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
8099 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
8100 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
8101 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
8102 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
8103 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
8106 The current select method will be used when fetching by
8107 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
8108 by giving this command a prefix.
8110 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
8111 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
8112 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
8113 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
8114 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
8115 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
8118 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
8119 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
8120 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
8123 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
8124 then ask Deja if that fails:
8127 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
8129 (nnweb "refer" (nnweb-type dejanews))))
8132 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
8133 not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
8134 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
8135 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
8136 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
8137 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
8140 @node Alternative Approaches
8141 @section Alternative Approaches
8143 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
8144 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
8147 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
8148 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
8153 @subsection Pick and Read
8154 @cindex pick and read
8156 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
8157 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
8158 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
8159 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
8161 @findex gnus-pick-mode
8162 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
8163 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
8164 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
8165 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
8166 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
8168 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
8173 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
8174 Pick the article or thread on the current line
8175 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
8176 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
8177 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
8178 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
8179 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
8180 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
8183 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
8184 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
8185 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
8186 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
8190 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
8191 Unpick the thread or article
8192 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
8193 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
8194 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
8195 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
8196 the thread or article at that line.
8200 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
8201 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
8202 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
8203 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
8204 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
8205 will still be visible when you are reading.
8209 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
8210 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
8211 which is mapped to the same function
8212 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
8214 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
8217 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
8220 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
8221 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
8223 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
8224 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
8225 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
8227 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
8228 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
8229 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
8230 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
8231 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
8232 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
8233 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
8237 @subsection Binary Groups
8238 @cindex binary groups
8240 @findex gnus-binary-mode
8241 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
8242 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
8243 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
8244 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
8245 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
8246 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
8249 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
8250 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
8251 command, when you have turned on this mode
8252 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
8254 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
8255 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
8259 @section Tree Display
8262 @vindex gnus-use-trees
8263 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
8264 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
8265 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
8268 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
8271 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
8272 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
8273 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
8275 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
8276 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
8277 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
8278 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
8279 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
8281 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
8282 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
8283 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
8284 default is @code{modeline}.
8286 @item gnus-tree-line-format
8287 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
8288 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
8289 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
8290 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
8291 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
8292 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
8298 The name of the poster.
8300 The @code{From} header.
8302 The number of the article.
8304 The opening bracket.
8306 The closing bracket.
8311 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
8313 Variables related to the display are:
8316 @item gnus-tree-brackets
8317 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
8318 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
8319 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @code{((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
8320 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close}) (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))}, and the
8321 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
8323 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
8324 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
8325 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
8326 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
8330 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
8331 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
8332 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
8333 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
8334 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
8335 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
8336 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
8337 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
8338 other windows displayed next to it.
8340 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
8341 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
8342 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
8343 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
8344 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
8345 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
8346 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
8350 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
8353 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
8363 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
8367 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
8368 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
8370 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
8372 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
8377 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
8378 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
8379 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
8382 (setq gnus-use-trees t
8383 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
8384 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
8385 (gnus-add-configuration
8389 (summary 0.75 point)
8394 @xref{Windows Configuration}.
8397 @node Mail Group Commands
8398 @section Mail Group Commands
8399 @cindex mail group commands
8401 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
8402 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
8404 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
8405 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8410 @kindex B e (Summary)
8411 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
8412 Expire all expirable articles in the group
8413 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
8416 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
8417 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
8418 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
8419 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
8420 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
8421 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
8424 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
8425 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
8426 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
8427 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
8428 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
8429 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
8432 @kindex B m (Summary)
8434 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
8435 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
8436 Move the article from one mail group to another
8437 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
8438 @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
8441 @kindex B c (Summary)
8443 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
8444 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
8445 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
8446 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
8447 @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
8450 @kindex B B (Summary)
8451 @cindex crosspost mail
8452 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
8453 Crosspost the current article to some other group
8454 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
8455 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
8456 be properly updated.
8459 @kindex B i (Summary)
8460 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
8461 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
8462 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
8463 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
8466 @kindex B r (Summary)
8467 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
8468 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
8469 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
8470 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
8471 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
8472 Marks will be preserved if @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
8473 (which is the default).
8477 @kindex B w (Summary)
8479 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
8480 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
8481 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
8482 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
8483 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
8484 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
8487 @kindex B q (Summary)
8488 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
8489 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
8490 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
8491 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
8494 @kindex B t (Summary)
8495 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
8496 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
8497 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
8500 @kindex B p (Summary)
8501 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
8502 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
8503 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
8504 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
8505 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
8506 article from your news server (or rather, from
8507 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
8508 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
8509 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
8510 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
8511 just not have arrived yet.
8515 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
8516 @cindex moving articles
8517 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
8518 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
8519 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
8520 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
8521 suggestions you find reasonable.
8524 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
8525 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
8526 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
8527 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
8531 @node Various Summary Stuff
8532 @section Various Summary Stuff
8535 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
8536 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
8537 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
8538 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
8542 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
8543 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
8544 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
8546 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
8547 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
8548 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
8549 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
8550 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
8551 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
8554 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
8555 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
8556 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
8557 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
8558 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
8560 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
8561 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
8562 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
8565 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
8566 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
8567 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
8568 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
8569 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
8570 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
8571 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
8572 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
8573 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
8574 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
8576 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
8577 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
8578 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
8579 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
8580 list of articles to be selected.
8582 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
8583 the list in one particular group:
8586 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
8587 (if (string= group "some.group")
8588 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
8595 @node Summary Group Information
8596 @subsection Summary Group Information
8601 @kindex H f (Summary)
8602 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
8603 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
8604 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
8605 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
8606 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
8607 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
8608 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
8609 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
8610 be used for fetching the file.
8613 @kindex H d (Summary)
8614 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
8615 Give a brief description of the current group
8616 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
8617 rereading the description from the server.
8620 @kindex H h (Summary)
8621 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
8622 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
8623 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
8626 @kindex H i (Summary)
8627 @findex gnus-info-find-node
8628 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
8632 @node Searching for Articles
8633 @subsection Searching for Articles
8638 @kindex M-s (Summary)
8639 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
8640 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
8641 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
8644 @kindex M-r (Summary)
8645 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
8646 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
8647 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
8651 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
8652 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
8653 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
8654 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
8655 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
8656 search backward instead.
8658 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string #} will put the process mark on
8659 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
8662 @kindex M-& (Summary)
8663 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
8664 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
8665 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
8668 @node Summary Generation Commands
8669 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
8674 @kindex Y g (Summary)
8675 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
8676 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
8679 @kindex Y c (Summary)
8680 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
8681 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
8682 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
8687 @node Really Various Summary Commands
8688 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
8694 @kindex C-d (Summary)
8695 @kindex A D (Summary)
8696 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
8697 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
8698 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
8699 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
8700 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
8701 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
8702 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
8703 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
8707 @kindex M-C-d (Summary)
8708 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
8709 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
8710 several documents into one biiig group
8711 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
8712 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
8713 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
8714 command understands the process/prefix convention
8715 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8718 @kindex C-t (Summary)
8719 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
8720 Toggle truncation of summary lines
8721 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
8722 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
8723 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
8727 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
8728 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
8729 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
8732 @kindex M-C-e (Summary)
8733 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
8734 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
8735 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
8738 @kindex M-C-a (Summary)
8739 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
8740 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
8741 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
8746 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
8747 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
8748 @cindex summary exit
8749 @cindex exiting groups
8751 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
8752 group and return you to the group buffer.
8758 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
8760 @findex gnus-summary-exit
8761 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
8762 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
8763 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
8764 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
8765 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
8766 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
8767 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
8768 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
8769 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
8770 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
8774 @kindex Z E (Summary)
8776 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
8777 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
8778 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
8782 @kindex Z c (Summary)
8784 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
8785 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
8786 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
8787 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
8790 @kindex Z C (Summary)
8791 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
8792 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
8793 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
8796 @kindex Z n (Summary)
8797 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
8798 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
8799 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
8802 @kindex Z R (Summary)
8803 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
8804 Exit this group, and then enter it again
8805 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
8806 all articles, both read and unread.
8810 @kindex Z G (Summary)
8811 @kindex M-g (Summary)
8812 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
8813 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
8814 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
8815 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
8816 articles, both read and unread.
8819 @kindex Z N (Summary)
8820 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
8821 Exit the group and go to the next group
8822 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
8825 @kindex Z P (Summary)
8826 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
8827 Exit the group and go to the previous group
8828 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
8831 @kindex Z s (Summary)
8832 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
8833 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
8834 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
8835 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
8836 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
8839 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
8840 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
8841 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
8842 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
8844 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
8845 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
8846 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
8847 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
8848 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
8849 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
8850 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
8851 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
8852 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
8853 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
8854 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
8855 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
8857 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
8859 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
8860 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
8861 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
8862 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
8863 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
8864 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
8865 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
8866 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
8867 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
8870 @node Crosspost Handling
8871 @section Crosspost Handling
8875 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
8876 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
8877 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
8878 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
8879 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
8880 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
8883 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
8884 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
8885 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
8886 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
8887 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
8889 @cindex cross-posting
8892 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
8893 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
8894 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
8895 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
8896 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
8897 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
8898 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
8899 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
8900 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
8901 the cross reference mechanism.
8903 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
8904 @cindex overview.fmt
8905 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
8906 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
8907 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
8908 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
8909 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
8910 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
8913 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
8914 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
8915 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
8920 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
8923 @node Duplicate Suppression
8924 @section Duplicate Suppression
8926 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
8927 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
8928 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
8929 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
8934 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
8935 is evil and not very common.
8938 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
8939 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
8942 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
8943 different @sc{nntp} servers.
8946 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
8949 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
8950 well, but these four are the most common situations.
8952 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
8953 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
8954 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
8955 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
8956 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
8957 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
8958 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
8961 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
8962 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
8963 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
8964 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
8965 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
8969 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
8970 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
8971 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
8973 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
8974 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
8975 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
8976 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
8977 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
8978 session are suppressed.
8980 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
8981 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
8982 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
8983 suppression list. The default is 10000.
8985 @item gnus-duplicate-file
8986 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
8987 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
8988 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
8991 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
8992 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
8993 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
8994 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
8995 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
8996 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
8997 to you to figure out, I think.
9000 @node The Article Buffer
9001 @chapter The Article Buffer
9002 @cindex article buffer
9004 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
9005 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
9006 tell Gnus otherwise.
9009 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
9010 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
9011 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
9012 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
9013 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
9017 @node Hiding Headers
9018 @section Hiding Headers
9019 @cindex hiding headers
9020 @cindex deleting headers
9022 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
9023 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
9025 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
9026 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
9027 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
9028 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
9029 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
9030 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
9031 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
9032 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
9033 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
9035 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
9039 @item gnus-visible-headers
9040 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
9041 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
9042 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
9043 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
9045 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
9046 the article and the subject, you'd say:
9049 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
9052 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
9055 @item gnus-ignored-headers
9056 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
9057 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
9058 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
9059 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
9060 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
9062 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
9063 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
9066 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
9069 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
9072 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
9073 variable will have no effect.
9077 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
9078 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
9079 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
9080 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
9081 the headers are to be displayed.
9083 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
9084 and then the subject, you might say something like:
9087 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
9090 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
9091 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
9093 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
9094 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
9095 You can hide further boring headers by setting
9096 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-header} to @code{head}. What this function
9097 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
9098 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
9099 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
9102 These conditions are:
9105 Remove all empty headers.
9107 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
9108 @code{Newsgroups} header.
9110 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
9113 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
9116 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
9119 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
9121 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
9124 To include the four three elements, you could say something like;
9127 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
9128 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
9131 This is also the default value for this variable.
9135 @section Using @sc{mime}
9138 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
9139 while people stand around yawning.
9141 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
9142 while all newsreaders die of fear.
9144 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
9145 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
9146 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
9148 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
9149 @findex gnus-display-mime
9150 Gnus pushes @sc{mime} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
9151 to display the @sc{mime} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
9152 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
9153 display, save and manipulate the @sc{mime} objects.
9155 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
9159 @findex gnus-article-press-button
9161 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
9162 Toggle displaying of the @sc{mime} object
9163 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}).
9165 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
9166 @item M-RET (Article)
9168 Prompt for a method, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
9169 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
9171 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
9173 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @sc{mime} object
9174 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
9176 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
9178 Copy the @sc{mime} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
9179 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}).
9181 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
9183 View the @sc{mime} object as if it were a different @sc{mime} media type
9184 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}).
9186 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
9188 Output the @sc{mime} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
9190 @findex gnus-mime-inline-part
9192 Insert the raw contents of the @sc{mime} object into the buffer
9193 (@code{gnus-mime-inline-part}).
9197 Gnus will display some @sc{mime} objects automatically. The way Gnus
9198 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs MIME
9201 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
9202 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
9203 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
9204 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
9205 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
9206 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
9207 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
9208 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
9209 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
9211 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
9213 Also see @pxref{MIME Commands}.
9216 @node Customizing Articles
9217 @section Customizing Articles
9218 @cindex article customization
9220 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
9221 exist. You can call these functions interactively, or you can have them
9222 called automatically when you select the articles.
9224 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
9225 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
9226 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
9227 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
9229 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
9230 for sensible values.
9234 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
9237 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
9240 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
9243 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
9246 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
9250 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
9251 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
9252 regexps in the list.
9255 A list where the first element is not a string:
9257 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
9258 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
9259 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
9263 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
9268 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
9269 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
9270 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
9271 considered to contain just a single part.
9273 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
9274 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
9275 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
9276 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
9277 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
9278 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
9279 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
9281 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
9282 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
9283 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
9284 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
9287 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last)
9288 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
9289 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
9290 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
9291 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
9292 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
9293 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
9294 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
9295 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
9296 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
9297 @item gnus-treat-strip-pgp (t, last, integer)
9298 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
9299 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
9300 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
9301 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
9302 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
9303 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
9304 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
9305 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
9306 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
9307 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
9308 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
9309 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
9310 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
9311 @item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
9312 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
9313 @item gnus-treat-display-picons (head)
9314 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
9315 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
9316 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
9317 @item gnus-treat-translate
9320 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
9321 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
9322 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
9323 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
9324 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
9328 @node Article Keymap
9329 @section Article Keymap
9331 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
9332 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
9333 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
9334 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
9337 A few additional keystrokes are available:
9342 @kindex SPACE (Article)
9343 @findex gnus-article-next-page
9344 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
9347 @kindex DEL (Article)
9348 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
9349 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
9352 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
9353 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
9354 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
9355 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
9356 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
9359 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
9360 @findex gnus-article-mail
9361 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
9362 given a prefix, include the mail.
9366 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
9367 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
9368 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
9372 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
9373 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
9374 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
9377 @kindex TAB (Article)
9378 @findex gnus-article-next-button
9379 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
9380 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
9383 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
9384 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
9385 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
9391 @section Misc Article
9395 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
9396 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
9397 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
9398 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
9401 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
9402 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
9404 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
9405 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
9407 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
9408 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
9409 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
9410 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
9411 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
9412 the contents of the article buffer.
9414 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
9415 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
9416 Hook called in article mode buffers.
9418 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
9419 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
9420 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
9421 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
9423 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
9424 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
9425 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
9426 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
9427 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
9432 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
9433 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
9436 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
9439 @vindex gnus-break-pages
9441 @item gnus-break-pages
9442 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
9443 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
9444 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
9445 paging will not be done.
9447 @item gnus-page-delimiter
9448 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
9449 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
9454 @node Composing Messages
9455 @chapter Composing Messages
9456 @cindex composing messages
9459 @cindex sending mail
9464 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
9465 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
9466 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
9467 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The
9468 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
9469 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
9472 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
9473 * Post:: Posting and following up.
9474 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
9475 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
9476 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
9477 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
9478 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
9479 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
9482 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
9483 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
9489 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
9492 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
9493 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
9494 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
9495 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
9497 @item gnus-add-to-list
9498 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
9499 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
9500 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
9502 @item message-send-mail-partially-limit
9503 @vindex message-send-mail-partially-limit
9504 The limitation of messages sent as message/partial.
9505 The lower bound of message size in characters, beyond which the message
9506 should be sent in several parts. If it is nil, the size is unlimited.
9514 Variables for composing news articles:
9517 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-file
9518 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-file
9519 Gnus will keep a @code{Message-ID} history file of all the mails it has
9520 sent. If it discovers that it has already sent a mail, it will ask the
9521 user whether to re-send the mail. (This is primarily useful when
9522 dealing with @sc{soup} packets and the like where one is apt to send the
9523 same packet multiple times.) This variable says what the name of this
9524 history file is. It is @file{~/News/Sent-Message-IDs} by default. Set
9525 this variable to @code{nil} if you don't want Gnus to keep a history
9528 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-length
9529 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-length
9530 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the history
9531 file. It is 1000 by default.
9536 @node Posting Server
9537 @section Posting Server
9539 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
9540 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
9542 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
9544 @vindex gnus-post-method
9546 It can be quite complicated. Normally, Gnus will use the same native
9547 server. However. If your native server doesn't allow posting, just
9548 reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
9549 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
9550 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
9553 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
9556 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
9557 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
9558 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
9559 the ``current'' server for posting.
9561 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
9562 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
9564 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
9565 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
9568 Finally, if you want to always post using the same select method as
9569 you're reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
9570 groups from different private servers), you can set this variable to
9575 @section Mail and Post
9577 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
9581 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
9582 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
9583 @cindex mailing lists
9585 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
9586 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
9587 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
9588 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
9589 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
9590 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
9591 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
9592 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
9593 still a pain, though.
9597 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
9598 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
9599 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
9602 @findex ispell-message
9604 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
9607 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
9608 you're in, you could say something like the following:
9611 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
9614 ((string-match "^de\\." gnus-newsgroup-name)
9615 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
9617 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
9620 Modify to suit your needs.
9623 @node Archived Messages
9624 @section Archived Messages
9625 @cindex archived messages
9626 @cindex sent messages
9628 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
9629 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
9630 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
9631 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
9634 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
9635 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
9636 use to store sent messages. The default is:
9640 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
9641 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
9642 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
9643 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
9646 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
9647 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likeable select method
9648 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
9649 directory chosen, you could say something like:
9652 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
9653 '(nnfolder "archive"
9654 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
9655 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
9656 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
9659 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
9661 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
9662 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
9663 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
9665 This variable can be used to do the following:
9669 Messages will be saved in that group.
9670 @item a list of strings
9671 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
9672 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
9673 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
9675 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
9680 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
9682 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
9685 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
9687 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
9690 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
9692 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
9693 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
9694 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
9695 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
9700 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
9701 '((if (message-news-p)
9706 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
9707 messages in one file per month:
9710 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
9711 '((if (message-news-p)
9713 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
9716 (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
9717 use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
9719 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
9720 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
9721 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
9722 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
9723 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
9724 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
9725 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
9726 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
9727 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
9728 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
9730 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
9731 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
9732 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
9733 this will disable archiving.
9736 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
9737 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
9738 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
9739 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
9740 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
9743 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
9744 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
9745 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
9748 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
9749 but the latter is the preferred method.
9753 @node Posting Styles
9754 @section Posting Styles
9755 @cindex posting styles
9758 All them variables, they make my head swim.
9760 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
9761 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
9762 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
9765 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
9766 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
9767 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
9768 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
9769 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
9774 (signature "Peace and happiness")
9775 (organization "What me?"))
9777 (signature "Death to everybody"))
9778 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
9779 (organization "Emacs is it")))
9782 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
9783 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
9784 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
9785 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
9786 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
9787 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
9788 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
9789 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
9791 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
9792 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
9793 If it is the symbol @code{header}, then Gnus will look for header that
9794 match the next element in the match, and compare that to the last header
9795 in the match. If it's a function symbol, that function will be called
9796 with no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
9797 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
9798 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
9801 Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
9802 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} . @var{value})} pair. The
9803 attribute name can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
9804 @code{organization}, @code{address}, @code{name} or @code{body}. The
9805 attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
9806 a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
9807 article; if the value is @code{nil}, the header name will be removed.
9808 If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated, and the
9809 result is thrown away.
9811 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
9812 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
9813 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
9814 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
9815 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
9816 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable.
9818 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
9819 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
9820 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
9822 @findex message-mail-p
9823 @findex message-news-p
9825 So here's a new example:
9828 (setq gnus-posting-styles
9830 (signature-file "~/.signature")
9832 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
9833 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
9835 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
9836 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
9837 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
9839 (signature my-news-signature))
9840 (header "From.*To" "larsi.*org"
9841 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
9842 ((posting-from-work-p)
9843 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
9844 (address "user@@bar.foo")
9845 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
9846 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
9848 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
9856 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
9857 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
9858 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
9859 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
9860 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
9862 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
9863 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
9864 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
9865 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
9866 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
9870 @vindex nndraft-directory
9871 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
9872 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
9873 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
9874 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
9875 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
9876 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
9878 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
9879 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
9882 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
9883 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
9884 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
9885 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
9886 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
9887 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
9888 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
9889 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
9890 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
9891 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
9892 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
9893 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
9894 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
9895 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
9897 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
9898 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
9899 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
9901 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
9903 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
9904 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
9905 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
9907 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
9910 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
9911 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
9912 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
9913 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
9914 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
9915 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
9916 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
9919 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
9920 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
9921 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
9924 @node Rejected Articles
9925 @section Rejected Articles
9926 @cindex rejected articles
9928 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
9929 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
9930 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
9931 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
9933 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
9934 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
9935 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
9936 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
9937 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
9939 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
9940 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
9941 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
9944 @node Select Methods
9945 @chapter Select Methods
9946 @cindex foreign groups
9947 @cindex select methods
9949 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
9950 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
9951 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
9952 personal mail group.
9954 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
9955 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
9956 list where the first element says what backend to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
9957 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
9958 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
9959 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
9961 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
9962 we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
9964 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
9967 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
9968 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
9969 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
9970 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
9971 backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
9973 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
9976 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
9977 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
9978 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
9979 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
9980 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
9981 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
9982 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
9986 @node The Server Buffer
9987 @section The Server Buffer
9989 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
9990 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
9991 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
9992 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
9993 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
9994 backend represents a virtual server.
9996 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
9997 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
9998 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
9999 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
10001 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
10002 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
10003 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
10004 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
10005 Anyways, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
10006 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
10007 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
10009 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
10010 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
10013 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
10014 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
10015 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
10016 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
10017 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
10018 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
10019 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
10022 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
10023 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
10026 @node Server Buffer Format
10027 @subsection Server Buffer Format
10028 @cindex server buffer format
10030 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
10031 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
10032 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
10033 variable, with some simple extensions:
10038 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
10041 The name of this server.
10044 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
10047 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
10050 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
10051 The mode line can also be customized by using the
10052 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
10053 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
10063 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
10066 @node Server Commands
10067 @subsection Server Commands
10068 @cindex server commands
10074 @findex gnus-server-add-server
10075 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
10079 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
10080 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
10083 @kindex SPACE (Server)
10084 @findex gnus-server-read-server
10085 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
10089 @findex gnus-server-exit
10090 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
10094 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
10095 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
10099 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
10100 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
10104 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
10105 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
10109 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
10110 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
10114 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
10115 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
10116 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
10121 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
10122 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
10123 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
10124 a mail backend that has gotten out of synch.
10129 @node Example Methods
10130 @subsection Example Methods
10132 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
10135 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
10138 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
10144 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
10145 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
10148 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
10149 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
10151 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
10152 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
10156 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
10159 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
10160 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
10162 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
10163 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
10164 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
10168 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
10171 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
10174 Here's the method for a public spool:
10178 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
10179 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
10185 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
10186 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
10187 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
10188 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
10189 should probably look something like this:
10193 (nntp-address "the.firewall.machine")
10194 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
10195 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
10196 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
10197 ("telnet" "the.real.nntp.host" "nntp")))
10200 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
10201 compressed connection over the modem line, you could create a virtual
10202 server that would look something like this:
10206 (nntp-address "copper.uio.no")
10207 (nntp-rlogin-program "ssh")
10208 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
10209 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
10210 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
10211 ("telnet" "news.uio.no" "nntp")))
10214 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
10215 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
10216 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
10217 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
10220 @node Creating a Virtual Server
10221 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
10223 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
10224 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
10226 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
10227 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
10228 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
10230 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
10232 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
10233 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
10234 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
10235 will contain the following:
10245 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
10246 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
10247 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
10250 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
10251 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
10252 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
10255 @node Server Variables
10256 @subsection Server Variables
10258 One sticky point when defining variables (both on backends and in Emacs
10259 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
10260 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
10261 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
10262 won't change the "derived" variables.
10264 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
10265 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
10266 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
10267 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
10268 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
10269 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
10270 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
10271 variables for each backend, see each backend's section later in this
10272 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
10276 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
10277 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
10278 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
10282 @node Servers and Methods
10283 @subsection Servers and Methods
10285 Wherever you would normally use a select method
10286 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
10287 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
10288 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
10292 @node Unavailable Servers
10293 @subsection Unavailable Servers
10295 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
10296 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
10297 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
10298 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
10299 actually the case or not.
10301 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
10302 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
10303 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
10304 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
10305 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
10306 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
10307 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
10308 it will regard that server as ``down''.
10310 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
10311 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
10313 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke it
10314 with the following commands:
10320 @findex gnus-server-open-server
10321 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
10322 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
10326 @findex gnus-server-close-server
10327 Close the connection (if any) to the server
10328 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
10332 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
10333 Mark the current server as unreachable
10334 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
10337 @kindex M-o (Server)
10338 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
10339 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
10340 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
10343 @kindex M-c (Server)
10344 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
10345 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
10346 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
10350 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
10351 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
10352 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
10358 @section Getting News
10359 @cindex reading news
10360 @cindex news backends
10362 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
10363 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
10364 or it can read from a local spool.
10367 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
10368 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
10373 @subsection @sc{nntp}
10376 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
10377 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
10378 server as the, uhm, address.
10380 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
10381 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
10382 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
10383 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
10385 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
10386 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
10387 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
10389 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
10394 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
10395 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
10396 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
10398 @cindex authentification
10399 @cindex nntp authentification
10400 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
10401 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
10402 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
10403 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
10404 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
10405 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
10406 present in this hook.
10408 @item nntp-authinfo-function
10409 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
10410 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
10411 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
10412 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
10413 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
10414 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
10415 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
10416 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
10417 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
10418 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
10419 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
10423 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
10426 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs. The
10427 valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
10428 @samp{default}, @samp{port} and @samp{force}. (The latter is not a
10429 valid @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} token, which is almost the only way the
10430 @file{.authinfo} file format deviates from the @file{.netrc} file
10435 Here's an example file:
10438 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
10439 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
10442 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
10443 have to be first, for instance.
10445 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
10446 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
10447 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
10448 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
10449 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
10450 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
10451 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
10453 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
10454 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
10460 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
10461 previously mentioned.
10463 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
10465 @item nntp-server-action-alist
10466 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
10467 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
10468 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
10469 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
10472 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
10473 '(("innd" (ding))))
10476 You probably don't want to do that, though.
10478 The default value is
10481 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
10482 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
10485 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
10486 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
10488 @item nntp-maximum-request
10489 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
10490 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
10491 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
10492 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
10493 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
10494 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
10495 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
10497 @item nntp-connection-timeout
10498 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
10499 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
10500 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
10501 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
10502 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
10503 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
10504 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
10505 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
10506 no timeouts are done.
10508 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
10509 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
10510 @c @cindex PPP connections
10511 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
10512 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
10513 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
10514 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
10515 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
10516 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
10517 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
10518 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
10519 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
10520 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
10522 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
10523 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
10524 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
10525 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
10526 @c described above.
10528 @item nntp-server-hook
10529 @vindex nntp-server-hook
10530 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
10533 @findex nntp-open-rlogin
10534 @findex nntp-open-telnet
10535 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
10536 @item nntp-open-connection-function
10537 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
10538 This function is used to connect to the remote system. Four pre-made
10539 functions are supplied:
10542 @item nntp-open-network-stream
10543 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
10546 @item nntp-open-rlogin
10547 Does an @samp{rlogin} on the
10548 remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet} to the @sc{nntp} server
10551 @code{nntp-open-rlogin}-related variables:
10555 @item nntp-rlogin-program
10556 @vindex nntp-rlogin-program
10557 Program used to log in on remote machines. The default is @samp{rsh},
10558 but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
10560 @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
10561 @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
10562 This list will be used as the parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
10564 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
10565 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
10566 User name on the remote system.
10570 @item nntp-open-telnet
10571 Does a @samp{telnet} to the remote system and then another @samp{telnet}
10572 to get to the @sc{nntp} server.
10574 @code{nntp-open-telnet}-related variables:
10577 @item nntp-telnet-command
10578 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
10579 Command used to start @code{telnet}.
10581 @item nntp-telnet-switches
10582 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
10583 List of strings to be used as the switches to the @code{telnet} command.
10585 @item nntp-telnet-user-name
10586 @vindex nntp-telnet-user-name
10587 User name for log in on the remote system.
10589 @item nntp-telnet-passwd
10590 @vindex nntp-telnet-passwd
10591 Password to use when logging in.
10593 @item nntp-telnet-parameters
10594 @vindex nntp-telnet-parameters
10595 A list of strings executed as a command after logging in
10598 @item nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
10599 @vindex nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
10600 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the remote machine. The default is
10601 @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
10603 @item nntp-open-telnet-envuser
10604 @vindex nntp-open-telnet-envuser
10605 If non-@code{nil}, the @code{telnet} session (client and server both)
10606 will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for login name.
10607 This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
10611 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
10612 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
10613 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use this
10614 you must have SSLay installed
10615 (@file{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also need
10616 @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distributeion, for instance). You then
10617 define a server as follows:
10620 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
10622 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
10624 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
10625 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
10626 (nntp-port-number "snews")
10627 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
10632 @item nntp-end-of-line
10633 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
10634 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
10635 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
10636 using @code{rlogin} to talk to the server.
10638 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
10639 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
10640 User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
10644 @vindex nntp-address
10645 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
10647 @item nntp-port-number
10648 @vindex nntp-port-number
10649 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
10652 @item nntp-buggy-select
10653 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
10654 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
10656 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
10657 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
10658 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
10659 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
10662 @item nntp-xover-commands
10663 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
10666 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
10667 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
10671 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
10672 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
10673 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
10674 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
10675 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
10676 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
10677 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
10678 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
10679 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
10680 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
10681 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
10683 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
10684 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
10685 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
10687 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
10688 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
10689 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
10690 server closes connection.
10692 @item nntp-record-commands
10693 @vindex nntp-record-commands
10694 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
10695 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestep) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
10696 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
10697 that doesn't seem to work.
10703 @subsection News Spool
10707 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
10708 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
10709 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
10712 Anyways, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
10713 anything else) as the address.
10715 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
10716 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
10717 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
10718 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
10722 @item nnspool-inews-program
10723 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
10724 Program used to post an article.
10726 @item nnspool-inews-switches
10727 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
10728 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
10730 @item nnspool-spool-directory
10731 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
10732 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
10733 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
10735 @item nnspool-nov-directory
10736 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
10737 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
10738 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
10740 @item nnspool-lib-dir
10741 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
10742 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
10744 @item nnspool-active-file
10745 @vindex nnspool-active-file
10746 The path to the active file.
10748 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
10749 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
10750 The path to the group descriptions file.
10752 @item nnspool-history-file
10753 @vindex nnspool-history-file
10754 The path to the news history file.
10756 @item nnspool-active-times-file
10757 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
10758 The path to the active date file.
10760 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
10761 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
10762 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
10765 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
10766 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
10768 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
10769 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
10770 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
10776 @section Getting Mail
10777 @cindex reading mail
10780 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
10784 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
10785 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
10786 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
10787 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
10788 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
10789 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
10790 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
10791 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
10792 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
10793 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
10794 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
10795 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
10796 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
10800 @node Mail in a Newsreader
10801 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
10803 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
10804 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
10805 of a culture shock.
10807 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
10808 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
10810 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
10811 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
10812 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
10813 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
10815 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
10817 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
10818 deleted? How awful!
10820 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
10821 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
10822 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
10823 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
10826 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
10827 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
10828 they want to treat a message.
10830 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
10831 via SMTP, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
10832 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
10833 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
10834 archived somewhere else.
10836 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
10837 These are transported via @sc{nntp}, and are therefore news. But we may need
10838 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
10839 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
10840 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
10842 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
10843 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
10844 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
10846 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
10847 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
10850 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
10851 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
10852 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
10853 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
10854 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
10856 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
10857 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
10858 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
10859 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
10860 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
10861 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
10865 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
10866 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
10868 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
10869 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
10870 and things will happen automatically.
10872 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
10873 mail" backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
10876 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
10877 '((nnml "private")))
10880 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
10881 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
10882 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
10883 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
10884 like any other group.
10886 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
10889 (setq nnmail-split-methods
10890 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
10891 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
10895 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
10896 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
10897 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
10900 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
10901 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
10902 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
10905 @node Splitting Mail
10906 @subsection Splitting Mail
10907 @cindex splitting mail
10908 @cindex mail splitting
10910 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
10911 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
10912 to be split into groups.
10915 (setq nnmail-split-methods
10916 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
10917 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
10918 ("mail.other" "")))
10921 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
10922 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
10923 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
10924 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
10925 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
10926 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
10927 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
10930 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
10933 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
10934 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
10935 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
10936 mail belongs in that group.
10938 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
10939 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
10940 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
10941 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
10942 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
10943 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
10945 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
10946 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
10947 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
10948 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
10949 thinks should carry this mail message.
10951 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
10952 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
10953 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
10954 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
10956 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
10957 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
10958 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
10959 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
10960 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
10962 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
10965 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
10966 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
10967 links. If that's the case for you, set
10968 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
10969 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
10971 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
10972 @kindex nnmail-split-history
10973 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
10974 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
10975 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
10976 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
10979 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
10980 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
10981 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
10982 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
10983 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
10984 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
10985 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
10986 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
10987 month's rent money.
10991 @subsection Mail Sources
10993 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
10994 POP mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a maildir, for
10998 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
10999 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
11000 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
11004 @node Mail Source Specifiers
11005 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
11007 @cindex mail server
11010 @cindex mail source
11012 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
11013 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
11018 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
11021 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
11022 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
11023 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
11026 The following mail source types are available:
11030 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
11036 The path of the file. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
11037 environment variable or @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}.
11040 An example file mail source:
11043 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
11046 Or using the default path:
11052 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best to
11053 use POP or @sc{imap} or the like to fetch the mail. You can not use ange-ftp
11054 file names here---it has no way to lock the mail spool while moving the
11057 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
11061 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
11064 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
11068 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
11071 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
11073 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
11076 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
11080 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used when
11081 you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files. Setting
11082 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-nil force Gnus to
11083 scan the mail source only once.
11089 The path of the directory where the files are. There is no default
11093 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
11097 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
11098 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
11099 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
11100 predicate are considered.
11104 Script run before/after fetching mail.
11108 An example directory mail source:
11111 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
11116 Get mail from a POP server.
11122 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
11123 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
11126 The port number of the POP server. This can be a number (eg,
11127 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
11128 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
11129 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}.
11132 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
11136 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
11140 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This is should be
11141 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
11144 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
11147 The valid format specifier characters are:
11151 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
11152 included in this string.
11155 The name of the server.
11158 The port number of the server.
11161 The user name to use.
11164 The password to use.
11167 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
11168 corresponding keywords.
11171 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
11172 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
11175 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
11176 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
11179 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
11180 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
11183 @item :authentication
11184 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
11185 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
11190 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
11191 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
11193 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
11194 default user name, and default fetcher:
11200 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
11203 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
11204 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
11207 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
11210 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
11214 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
11215 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
11216 contains exactly one mail.
11222 The path of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
11223 taken from the @code{MAILDIR} environment variable or
11226 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
11227 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
11229 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
11230 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
11231 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
11234 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
11235 from locking problems).
11239 Two example maildir mail sources:
11242 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/" :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
11246 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/" :subdirs ("new"))
11250 Get mail from a @sc{imap} server. If you don't want to use @sc{imap} as
11251 intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie with nnimap), for some
11252 reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar to a POP server and
11253 fetches articles from a given @sc{imap} mailbox.
11259 The name of the @sc{imap} server. The default is taken from the
11260 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
11263 The port number of the @sc{imap} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
11264 @samp{993} for SSL connections.
11267 The user name to give to the @sc{imap} server. The default is the login
11271 The password to give to the @sc{imap} server. If not specified, the user is
11275 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
11276 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
11277 @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{ssl} or the default @samp{network}.
11279 @item :authentication
11280 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is one
11281 of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now, this
11282 means @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default
11286 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
11287 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
11290 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
11291 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
11292 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @sc{imap} client and mark some
11293 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{nil}.
11294 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
11295 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 §6.4.4.
11298 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{Deleted}
11299 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{Seen} which
11300 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
11301 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 §2.3.2.
11304 If non-nil, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the mailbox
11305 after finishing the fetch.
11309 An example @sc{imap} mail source:
11312 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com" :stream kerberos4 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
11316 Get mail from a webmail server, such as www.hotmail.com,
11317 webmail.netscape.com, www.netaddress.com, www.my-deja.com.
11319 NOTE: Now mail.yahoo.com provides POP3 service, so @sc{pop} mail source
11322 NOTE: Webmail largely depends cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
11323 required for url "4.0pre.46".
11325 WARNING: Mails may lost. NO WARRANTY.
11331 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
11332 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
11335 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
11339 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
11343 If non-nil, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to trash
11344 folder after finishing the fetch.
11348 An example webmail source:
11351 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail :user "user-name" :password "secret")
11356 @item Common Keywords
11357 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
11363 If non-nil, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you use
11364 directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this example:
11368 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
11373 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
11374 useful when you use local mail and news.
11379 @paragraph Function Interface
11381 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
11382 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
11383 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
11384 consider the following mail-source setting:
11387 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
11388 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
11391 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
11392 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
11393 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
11394 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
11395 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
11397 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
11400 @node Mail Source Customization
11401 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
11403 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
11404 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
11408 @item mail-source-crash-box
11409 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
11410 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
11411 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
11413 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
11414 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
11415 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them.
11417 @item mail-source-directory
11418 @vindex mail-source-directory
11419 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
11420 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
11421 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
11424 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
11425 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
11426 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
11431 @node Fetching Mail
11432 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
11434 @vindex mail-sources
11435 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
11436 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
11437 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
11438 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
11440 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
11441 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
11444 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
11445 mail server, you'd say something like:
11450 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
11451 :password "secret")))
11454 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
11458 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
11459 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
11462 :password "secret")))
11466 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
11467 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
11468 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
11469 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
11470 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
11471 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
11475 @node Mail Backend Variables
11476 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
11478 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
11482 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
11483 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
11484 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
11485 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
11487 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
11488 @item nnmail-split-hook
11489 @findex article-decode-encoded-words
11490 @findex RFC 1522 decoding
11491 @findex RFC 2047 decoding
11492 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
11493 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
11494 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
11495 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
11496 in the buffer will show up in any files.
11497 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
11500 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
11501 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
11502 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
11503 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
11504 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
11505 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
11506 starting to handle the new mail) and
11507 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
11508 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
11509 default file modes the new mail files get:
11512 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
11513 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
11515 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
11516 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
11519 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
11520 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
11521 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
11522 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
11523 (assuming use of @code{nnml} backend) or files (assuming use of
11524 @code{nnfolder} backend) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
11525 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
11527 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
11528 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
11529 @findex delete-file
11530 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
11532 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
11533 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
11534 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
11535 the backend (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
11536 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
11541 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
11542 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
11543 @cindex mail splitting
11544 @cindex fancy mail splitting
11546 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
11547 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
11548 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
11549 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
11550 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
11551 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
11553 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
11556 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
11557 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
11558 ;; from real errors.
11559 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
11561 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
11562 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
11563 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
11564 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
11565 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
11566 ;; Other mailing lists...
11567 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
11568 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
11569 ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
11570 ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
11571 ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
11572 ;; message was really cross-posted.
11573 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
11574 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
11576 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
11577 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
11581 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
11582 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
11583 the five possible split syntaxes:
11588 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
11589 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
11593 @code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict}
11594 @code{[@dots{}]}@code{]} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the
11595 first element of which is a string, then store the message as
11596 specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field} (a regexp) contains
11597 @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp)
11598 matches some string after @var{field} and before the end of the
11599 matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If none of the
11600 @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
11603 @code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
11604 element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
11605 one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
11606 the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
11609 @code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
11610 element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
11613 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
11614 this message. Use with extreme caution.
11617 @code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
11618 a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
11619 be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
11620 function should return a @var{split}.
11623 @code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the first
11624 element is @code{!}, then SPLIT will be processed, and FUNC will be
11625 called as a function with the result of SPLIT as argument. FUNC should
11629 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
11633 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
11634 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
11635 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
11636 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
11637 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
11639 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
11640 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
11641 are expanded as specified by the variable
11642 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
11643 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
11646 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
11647 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
11648 when all this splitting is performed.
11650 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
11651 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
11652 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
11655 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
11658 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
11659 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
11661 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
11662 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
11663 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
11664 groupings 1 through 9.
11667 @node Group Mail Splitting
11668 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
11669 @cindex mail splitting
11670 @cindex group mail splitting
11672 @findex gnus-group-split
11673 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
11674 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
11675 You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
11676 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
11677 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
11678 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
11679 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
11680 @var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
11682 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
11683 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
11684 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
11685 rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
11687 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
11688 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
11689 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
11690 @var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
11691 matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
11692 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
11693 @var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
11695 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
11696 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
11697 parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
11698 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
11699 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
11700 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
11701 @code{gnus-group-split}.
11703 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
11704 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
11705 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
11706 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
11707 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
11708 some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
11709 that group is used as the catch-all group. Note that, in this case,
11710 there's no cross-posting, as a @code{|} fancy split encloses the
11711 @code{&} split and the catch-all group.
11713 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
11718 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
11719 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
11721 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
11722 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
11723 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
11724 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
11726 ((split-spec . catch-all))
11729 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
11730 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
11731 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
11734 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
11735 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
11736 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
11740 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
11741 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
11742 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
11746 (: gnus-mlsplt-fancy GROUPS NO-CROSSPOST CATCH-ALL)
11749 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
11750 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
11751 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
11752 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} may be the name
11753 of a group to be used as the default catch-all group. If
11754 @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @var{split-regexp} matches the
11755 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
11756 Otherwise, if some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
11757 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
11759 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
11760 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
11761 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
11762 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
11763 used to select @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
11764 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
11765 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
11766 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
11767 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
11769 @findex gnus-group-split-update
11770 However, if you change group parameters, you have to update
11771 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
11772 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
11773 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
11774 you. For example, add to your @file{.gnus}:
11777 (gnus-group-split-setup AUTO-UPDATE CATCH-ALL)
11780 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
11781 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
11782 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
11783 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional),
11784 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
11787 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
11788 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
11789 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
11790 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
11792 @node Incorporating Old Mail
11793 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
11795 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
11796 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
11797 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
11800 Doing so can be quite easy.
11802 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
11803 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
11804 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
11805 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
11806 your @code{nnml} groups.
11812 Go to the group buffer.
11815 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
11816 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
11819 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
11822 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
11823 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
11826 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
11827 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
11830 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
11831 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
11832 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
11833 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
11834 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
11836 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
11837 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
11838 using the new mail backend.
11841 @node Expiring Mail
11842 @subsection Expiring Mail
11843 @cindex article expiry
11845 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
11846 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
11847 different approach to mail reading.
11849 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
11850 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
11851 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
11852 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
11853 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
11854 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
11857 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
11858 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
11859 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
11860 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
11861 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
11862 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
11863 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
11864 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
11866 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
11867 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
11868 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
11869 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
11870 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
11871 column in the summary buffer.
11873 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
11874 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
11875 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
11876 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
11879 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
11881 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
11882 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
11883 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
11886 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
11887 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
11888 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
11889 groups expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
11890 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
11892 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
11893 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
11896 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
11897 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
11900 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
11901 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
11903 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
11904 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
11905 don't really mix very well.
11907 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
11908 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
11909 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
11910 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
11913 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
11914 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
11915 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
11916 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
11919 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
11921 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
11923 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
11925 ((string= group "mail.junk")
11927 ((string= group "important")
11933 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
11934 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
11936 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
11937 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
11938 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
11941 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
11942 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
11944 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
11945 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
11946 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them to
11947 other groups instead of deleting them. The variable @code{nnmail-expiry-target}
11948 (and the @code{expiry-target} group parameter) controls this. The
11949 variable supplies a default value for all groups, which can be
11950 overridden for specific groups by the group parameter.
11951 default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a string (which
11952 should be the name of the group the message should be moved to), or a
11953 function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to the message in
11954 question, and with the name of the group being moved from as its
11955 parameter) which should return a target -- either a group name or
11958 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
11960 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
11964 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
11965 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
11966 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
11967 easier for procmail users.
11969 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
11970 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
11971 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
11972 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
11973 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
11974 caution. Even more dangerous is the
11975 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
11976 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
11977 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
11978 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
11979 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
11980 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
11981 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
11984 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
11986 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
11987 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
11988 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
11989 auto-expire turned on.
11993 @subsection Washing Mail
11994 @cindex mail washing
11995 @cindex list server brain damage
11996 @cindex incoming mail treatment
11998 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
11999 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
12000 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
12001 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
12002 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
12003 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
12005 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
12006 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
12007 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
12010 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
12011 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
12012 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
12013 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
12016 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
12017 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
12018 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
12019 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
12020 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
12023 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
12024 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
12025 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
12026 Emacs running on MS machines.
12030 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
12031 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
12032 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
12033 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
12036 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
12037 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
12038 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
12039 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
12041 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
12042 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
12043 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
12044 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
12045 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
12046 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
12047 also be a list of regexp.
12049 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
12050 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
12053 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
12054 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
12057 This can also be done non-destructively with
12058 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
12060 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
12061 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
12062 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
12064 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
12065 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
12067 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
12068 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
12069 @code{References} headers.
12073 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
12074 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
12075 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
12079 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
12080 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
12081 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
12088 @subsection Duplicates
12090 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
12091 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
12092 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
12093 @cindex duplicate mails
12094 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
12095 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
12096 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
12097 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
12098 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
12099 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
12100 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
12101 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
12102 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
12103 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
12104 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
12105 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
12106 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
12108 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
12109 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
12110 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
12111 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
12113 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
12116 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
12117 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
12121 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
12122 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
12123 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
12124 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
12125 (any mail "mail.misc")
12132 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12133 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
12138 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
12139 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
12140 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
12141 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
12142 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
12145 @node Not Reading Mail
12146 @subsection Not Reading Mail
12148 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
12149 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
12150 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
12152 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
12153 @code{nil}, none of the backends will ever attempt to read incoming
12154 mail, which should help.
12156 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
12157 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
12158 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
12159 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
12160 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
12161 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
12162 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
12163 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
12164 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
12165 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
12166 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
12168 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
12169 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
12173 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
12174 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
12176 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
12177 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
12178 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
12180 There are five different mail backends in the standard Gnus, and more
12181 backends are available separately. The mail backend most people use
12182 (because it is the fastest and most flexible) is @code{nnml}
12183 (@pxref{Mail Spool}).
12186 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
12187 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
12188 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
12189 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
12190 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
12191 * Comparing Mail Backends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
12195 @node Unix Mail Box
12196 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
12198 @cindex unix mail box
12200 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
12201 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
12202 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
12203 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
12204 which group it belongs in.
12206 Virtual server settings:
12209 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
12210 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
12211 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory.
12213 @item nnmbox-active-file
12214 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
12215 The name of the active file for the mail box.
12217 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
12218 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
12219 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
12225 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
12229 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
12230 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
12231 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
12232 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
12233 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
12235 Virtual server settings:
12238 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
12239 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
12240 The name of the rmail mbox file.
12242 @item nnbabyl-active-file
12243 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
12244 The name of the active file for the rmail box.
12246 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
12247 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
12248 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail.
12253 @subsubsection Mail Spool
12255 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
12257 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
12258 format. It should be used with some caution.
12260 @vindex nnml-directory
12261 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
12262 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
12263 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
12264 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
12266 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
12269 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
12270 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
12271 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
12272 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
12273 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
12274 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
12275 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
12276 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
12278 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
12279 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
12280 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it the fastest
12281 backend when it comes to reading mail.
12283 Virtual server settings:
12286 @item nnml-directory
12287 @vindex nnml-directory
12288 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
12290 @item nnml-active-file
12291 @vindex nnml-active-file
12292 The active file for the @code{nnml} server.
12294 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
12295 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
12296 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
12299 @item nnml-get-new-mail
12300 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
12301 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail.
12303 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
12304 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
12305 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
12307 @item nnml-nov-file-name
12308 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
12309 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
12311 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
12312 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
12313 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
12317 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
12318 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
12319 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
12320 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
12321 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
12322 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
12323 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
12328 @subsubsection MH Spool
12330 @cindex mh-e mail spool
12332 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
12333 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
12334 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
12335 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
12337 Virtual server settings:
12340 @item nnmh-directory
12341 @vindex nnmh-directory
12342 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory.
12344 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
12345 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
12346 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail.
12349 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
12350 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
12351 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
12352 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
12353 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
12354 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
12355 to set this variable to @code{t}.
12360 @subsubsection Mail Folders
12362 @cindex mbox folders
12363 @cindex mail folders
12365 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
12366 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
12367 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
12370 Virtual server settings:
12373 @item nnfolder-directory
12374 @vindex nnfolder-directory
12375 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
12377 @item nnfolder-active-file
12378 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
12379 The name of the active file.
12381 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
12382 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
12383 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File Format}.
12385 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
12386 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
12387 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail.
12389 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
12390 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
12391 @cindex backup files
12392 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
12393 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
12394 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
12395 your @file{.emacs} file:
12398 (defun turn-off-backup ()
12399 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
12401 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
12404 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
12405 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
12406 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
12407 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
12408 extract some information from it before removing it.
12413 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
12414 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
12415 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
12416 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
12417 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
12418 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
12421 @node Comparing Mail Backends
12422 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Backends
12424 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{backend} is the common word for a
12425 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
12426 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
12427 and so selection of a suitable backend is required in order to get that
12428 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
12430 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
12431 typically done by @sc{nntp} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
12432 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
12433 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @sc{nntp} server), and
12434 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
12435 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
12436 @code{nnspool} backends, to select between these methods, if one happens
12437 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
12440 The goal in selecting a mail backend is to pick one which
12441 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
12442 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
12443 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
12448 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
12449 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
12450 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
12451 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
12452 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
12453 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
12454 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
12455 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
12456 this backend, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
12457 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
12458 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
12459 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
12460 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
12465 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
12466 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
12467 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
12468 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
12469 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
12470 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
12471 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
12472 RMAIL was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
12473 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote RMAIL
12474 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
12475 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
12476 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
12477 headers/status bits stuff. RMAIL itself still exists as well, of
12478 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
12480 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
12481 filesystem, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
12486 @code{nnml} is the backend which smells the most as though you were
12487 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
12488 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
12489 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
12490 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
12491 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
12492 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
12493 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
12494 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
12495 @sc{nntp} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
12496 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
12497 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
12498 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
12499 provided by the active file and overviews.
12501 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
12502 resource which defines available places in the filesystem to put new
12503 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
12504 tight, shared filesystems. But if you live on a personal machine where
12505 the filesystem is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
12508 It is also problematic using this backend if you are living in a
12509 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
12514 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
12515 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
12516 individual files, but with little or no indexing support -- @code{nnmh}
12517 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
12518 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
12519 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
12520 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
12524 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
12525 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
12526 itself puts *all* one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
12527 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
12528 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
12529 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
12530 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
12531 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
12532 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
12534 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
12535 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
12536 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
12537 friendly mail backend all over.
12542 @node Browsing the Web
12543 @section Browsing the Web
12545 @cindex browsing the web
12549 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
12550 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
12551 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
12552 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
12553 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
12554 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
12555 even know what a news group is.
12557 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
12558 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
12559 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
12560 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
12561 you mad in the end.
12563 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
12566 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of backends for providing
12567 interfaces to these sources.
12570 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
12571 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
12572 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
12573 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
12574 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
12577 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
12579 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
12580 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @sc{html} data
12581 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus backend
12582 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these backends,
12583 though, you should be ok.
12585 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
12586 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
12587 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
12588 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
12589 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
12593 @subsection Web Searches
12597 @cindex InReference
12598 @cindex Usenet searches
12599 @cindex searching the Usenet
12601 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
12602 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
12603 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
12604 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
12605 searches without having to use a browser.
12607 The @code{nnweb} backend allows an easy interface to the mighty search
12608 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
12609 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
12610 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
12611 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
12613 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
12614 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
12615 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
12616 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
12617 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
12618 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
12619 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
12620 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
12621 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
12622 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
12625 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
12626 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
12627 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
12628 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
12629 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
12630 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
12632 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
12633 to use @code{nnweb}.
12635 Virtual server variables:
12640 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
12641 are @code{dejanews}, @code{dejanewsold}, @code{altavista} and
12645 @vindex nnweb-search
12646 The search string to feed to the search engine.
12648 @item nnweb-max-hits
12649 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
12650 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
12653 @item nnweb-type-definition
12654 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
12655 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
12656 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
12661 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
12665 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
12668 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
12671 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
12675 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
12682 @subsection Slashdot
12686 Slashdot (@file{http://slashdot.org/}) is a popular news site, with
12687 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
12688 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
12690 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
12691 following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
12694 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
12695 '((nnslashdot "")))
12698 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} backend for new comments
12699 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
12700 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
12701 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
12702 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
12705 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
12706 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
12708 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
12709 comments), some light @sc{html}izations will be performed. In
12710 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
12711 @code{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @code{br} added to
12712 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @sc{html}
12713 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
12716 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
12719 @item nnslashdot-threaded
12720 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
12721 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
12722 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
12723 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
12724 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
12725 but much, much slower than untreaded.
12727 @item nnslashdot-login-name
12728 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
12729 The login name to use when posting.
12731 @item nnslashdot-password
12732 @vindex nnslashdot-password
12733 The password to use when posting.
12735 @item nnslashdot-directory
12736 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
12737 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default value is
12738 @samp{~/News/slashdot/}.
12740 @item nnslashdot-active-url
12741 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
12742 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the information on
12743 news articles and comments. The default is
12744 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
12746 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
12747 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
12748 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch comments. The
12750 @samp{http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=%s&threshold=%d&commentsort=%d&mode=flat&startat=%d}.
12752 @item nnslashdot-article-url
12753 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
12754 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the news article. The
12756 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
12758 @item nnslashdot-threshold
12759 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
12760 The score threshold. The default is -1.
12762 @item nnslashdot-group-number
12763 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
12764 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
12765 updated. The default is 0.
12772 @subsection Ultimate
12774 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
12776 The Ultimate Bulletin Board (@file{http://www.ultimatebb.com/}) is
12777 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
12778 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
12779 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
12781 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
12782 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
12783 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @sc{url}
12784 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
12785 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
12786 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
12787 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
12789 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
12792 @item nnultimate-directory
12793 @vindex nnultimate-directory
12794 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is
12795 @samp{~/News/ultimate/}.
12800 @subsection Web Archive
12802 @cindex Web Archive
12804 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
12805 @file{http://www.egroups.com/} and
12806 @file{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
12807 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
12810 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
12811 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
12812 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET an_egroup RET egroups RET
12813 www.egroups.com RET your@@email.address RET}. (Substitute the
12814 @sc{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
12815 @sc{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
12816 backend by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
12818 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
12821 @item nnwarchive-directory
12822 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
12823 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is
12824 @samp{~/News/warchive/}.
12826 @item nnwarchive-login
12827 @vindex nnwarchive-login
12828 The account name on the web server.
12830 @item nnwarchive-passwd
12831 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
12832 The password for your account on the web server.
12836 @node Customizing w3
12837 @subsection Customizing w3
12843 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
12844 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
12845 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
12847 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
12848 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
12849 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
12852 (eval-after-load "w3"
12854 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
12855 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
12856 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
12857 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
12859 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
12862 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
12863 @sc{html} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
12867 @node Other Sources
12868 @section Other Sources
12870 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
12871 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
12875 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
12876 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
12877 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
12878 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
12879 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
12880 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
12884 @node Directory Groups
12885 @subsection Directory Groups
12887 @cindex directory groups
12889 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
12890 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
12893 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
12894 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
12895 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
12896 backend to read directories. Big deal.
12898 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
12899 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
12900 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
12901 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
12902 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
12904 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
12906 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
12907 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
12908 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
12909 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
12912 @node Anything Groups
12913 @subsection Anything Groups
12916 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
12917 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
12918 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
12921 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
12922 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
12923 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
12924 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
12925 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
12926 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
12927 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
12928 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
12929 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
12930 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
12933 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
12934 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
12935 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
12936 in the article buffer, just as usual.
12938 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
12939 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
12940 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
12941 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
12943 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
12944 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
12945 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
12946 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
12947 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
12948 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
12949 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
12950 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
12955 @item nneething-map-file-directory
12956 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
12957 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
12958 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
12960 @item nneething-exclude-files
12961 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
12962 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
12963 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
12965 @item nneething-include-files
12966 @vindex nneething-include-files
12967 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
12968 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
12970 @item nneething-map-file
12971 @vindex nneething-map-file
12972 Name of the map files.
12976 @node Document Groups
12977 @subsection Document Groups
12979 @cindex documentation group
12982 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
12983 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
12990 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
12995 The standard Unix mbox file.
12997 @cindex MMDF mail box
12999 The MMDF mail box format.
13002 Several news articles appended into a file.
13005 @cindex rnews batch files
13006 The rnews batch transport format.
13007 @cindex forwarded messages
13010 Forwarded articles.
13013 Netscape mail boxes.
13016 MIME multipart messages.
13018 @item standard-digest
13019 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
13022 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
13025 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
13026 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
13027 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
13030 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
13031 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
13032 group. And that's it.
13034 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
13035 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
13036 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
13037 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
13038 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
13039 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
13040 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
13041 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
13042 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
13043 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
13045 Virtual server variables:
13048 @item nndoc-article-type
13049 @vindex nndoc-article-type
13050 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
13051 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
13052 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
13053 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail} or @code{guess}.
13055 @item nndoc-post-type
13056 @vindex nndoc-post-type
13057 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
13058 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
13063 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
13067 @node Document Server Internals
13068 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
13070 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
13071 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
13072 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
13073 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
13075 First, here's an example document type definition:
13079 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
13080 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
13083 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
13084 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
13085 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
13086 types can be defined with very few settings:
13089 @item first-article
13090 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
13091 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
13094 @item article-begin
13095 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
13096 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
13098 @item head-begin-function
13099 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
13102 @item nndoc-head-begin
13103 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
13106 @item nndoc-head-end
13107 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
13108 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
13110 @item body-begin-function
13111 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
13115 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
13118 @item body-end-function
13119 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
13123 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
13126 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
13127 regexp will be totally ignored.
13131 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
13132 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
13133 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
13134 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
13135 something that's palatable for Gnus:
13138 @item prepare-body-function
13139 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
13140 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
13141 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
13143 @item article-transform-function
13144 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
13145 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
13146 body of the article.
13148 @item generate-head-function
13149 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
13150 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
13151 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
13152 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
13156 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
13161 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
13162 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
13163 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
13164 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
13165 (head-end . "^ ?$")
13166 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
13167 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
13168 (subtype digest guess))
13171 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
13172 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
13173 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
13174 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
13175 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
13177 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
13178 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
13179 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
13180 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
13181 traversed sequentially, and @code{nndoc-TYPE-type-p} is called for a given type @code{TYPE}. So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document
13182 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
13183 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
13184 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
13185 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
13186 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
13194 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
13195 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
13196 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
13198 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
13199 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
13200 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
13203 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
13204 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
13205 that interested in doing things properly.
13207 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
13208 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
13211 First some terminology:
13216 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
13217 get news and/or mail from.
13220 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
13221 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
13224 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
13228 @item message packets
13229 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
13230 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
13231 default, where @var{x} is a number.
13233 @item response packets
13234 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
13235 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
13236 default, where @var{x} is a number.
13246 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
13247 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
13248 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
13249 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
13252 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
13255 You put the packet in your home directory.
13258 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} backend as
13259 the native or secondary server.
13262 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
13263 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
13266 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
13270 You transfer this packet to the server.
13273 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
13276 You then repeat until you die.
13280 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
13281 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
13284 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
13285 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
13286 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
13290 @node SOUP Commands
13291 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
13293 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
13297 @kindex G s b (Group)
13298 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
13299 Pack all unread articles in the current group
13300 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
13301 process/prefix convention.
13304 @kindex G s w (Group)
13305 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
13306 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
13309 @kindex G s s (Group)
13310 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
13311 Send all replies from the replies packet
13312 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
13315 @kindex G s p (Group)
13316 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
13317 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
13320 @kindex G s r (Group)
13321 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
13322 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
13325 @kindex O s (Summary)
13326 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
13327 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
13328 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
13329 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
13334 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
13339 @item gnus-soup-directory
13340 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
13341 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
13342 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
13344 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
13345 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
13346 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
13347 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
13349 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
13350 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
13351 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
13352 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
13354 @item gnus-soup-packer
13355 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
13356 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
13357 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
13359 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
13360 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
13361 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
13362 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
13364 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
13365 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
13366 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
13368 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
13369 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
13370 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
13371 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
13377 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
13380 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
13381 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
13382 you can read them at leisure.
13384 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
13388 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
13389 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
13390 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
13391 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
13393 @item nnsoup-directory
13394 @vindex nnsoup-directory
13395 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
13396 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
13398 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
13399 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
13400 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
13401 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
13403 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
13404 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
13405 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
13406 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
13407 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
13409 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
13410 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
13411 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
13412 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
13414 @item nnsoup-active-file
13415 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
13416 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
13417 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
13418 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
13419 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
13421 @item nnsoup-packer
13422 @vindex nnsoup-packer
13423 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
13424 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
13426 @item nnsoup-unpacker
13427 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
13428 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
13429 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
13431 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
13432 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
13433 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
13436 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
13437 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
13438 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
13441 @item nnsoup-always-save
13442 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
13443 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
13449 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
13451 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
13452 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
13453 more for that to happen.
13455 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
13456 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
13457 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
13460 In specific, this is what it does:
13463 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
13464 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
13467 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
13468 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
13469 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
13472 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
13473 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
13474 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
13477 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
13478 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
13479 The @code{nngateway} backend provides the interface.
13481 Note that you can't read anything from this backend---it can only be
13487 @item nngateway-address
13488 @vindex nngateway-address
13489 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
13491 @item nngateway-header-transformation
13492 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
13493 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
13494 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
13495 transformation should be called, and defaults to
13496 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
13497 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
13500 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
13501 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
13502 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
13505 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
13508 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
13511 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
13514 The following pre-defined functions exist:
13516 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
13519 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
13520 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
13521 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
13523 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
13525 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
13526 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
13527 @code{nngateway-address}.
13532 (setq gnus-post-method
13533 '(nngateway "mail2news@@replay.com"
13534 (nngateway-header-transformation
13535 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
13543 So, to use this, simply say something like:
13546 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
13552 @subsection @sc{imap}
13556 @sc{imap} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or ...),
13557 think of it as a modernized @sc{nntp}. Connecting to a @sc{imap} server
13558 is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just specify the
13559 network address of the server.
13561 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
13566 @item nnimap-address
13567 @vindex nnimap-address
13569 The address of the remote @sc{imap} server. Defaults to the virtual
13570 server name if not specified.
13572 @item nnimap-server-port
13573 @vindex nnimap-server-port
13574 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for SSL.
13576 @item nnimap-list-pattern
13577 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
13578 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
13579 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
13580 interested in a few -- some servers export your home directory via
13581 @sc{imap}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
13582 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
13584 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
13585 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
13586 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
13592 ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*" ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))
13595 @item nnimap-stream
13596 @vindex nnimap-stream
13597 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
13598 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
13599 of SSL. (SSL is being replaced by STARTTLS, which can be automatically
13600 detected, but it's not widely deployed yet).
13604 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5). Require the
13605 @samp{imtest} program.
13607 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with kerberos 4. Require the @samp{imtest} program.
13609 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
13610 SSL). Require the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
13613 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL. Require OpenSSL (the
13614 program @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}).
13616 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start IMAP connection.
13618 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
13621 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
13622 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD, nnimap support
13623 both @samp{imtest} version 1.5.x and version 1.6.x. The variable
13624 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
13627 @vindex imap-ssl-program
13628 For SSL connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
13629 @file{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
13630 and nnimap support it too - altough the most recent versions of
13631 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
13632 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
13633 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
13636 @vindex imap-shell-program
13637 @vindex imap-shell-host
13638 For IMAP connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
13639 @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
13641 @item nnimap-authenticator
13642 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
13644 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
13645 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
13649 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Require
13650 external program @code{imtest}.
13652 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos authentication. Require external program
13655 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Require
13656 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
13658 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
13660 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
13662 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as `anonymous', supplying your emailadress as password.
13665 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
13667 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
13668 Unlike Parmenides the @sc{imap} designers has decided that things that
13669 doesn't exist actually does exist. More specifically, @sc{imap} has
13670 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
13671 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
13672 nnimap does when you delete a article in Gnus (with @kbd{G DEL} or
13675 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
13676 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
13677 running in circles yet?
13679 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
13680 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
13683 The possible options are:
13688 The default behaviour, delete all articles marked as "Deleted" when
13691 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
13692 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @sc{imap} clients
13693 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
13694 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
13696 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
13699 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
13700 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
13702 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format
13703 is (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See
13704 `nntp-authinfo-file' for exact syntax.
13711 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
13712 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
13713 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
13718 @node Splitting in IMAP
13719 @subsubsection Splitting in @sc{imap}
13720 @cindex splitting imap mail
13722 Splitting is something Gnus users has loved and used for years, and now
13723 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
13724 @sc{imap} server has server side splitting and those that have splitting
13725 seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that @sc{imap}
13726 support for Gnus has to do it's own splitting.
13730 Here are the variables of interest:
13734 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
13735 @cindex splitting, crosspost
13737 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
13739 If non-nil, do crossposting if several split methods match the mail. If
13740 nil, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule} found will be used.
13742 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
13744 @item nnimap-split-inbox
13745 @cindex splitting, inbox
13747 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
13749 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @sc{imap}
13750 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to nil, which means that splitting is
13754 (setq nnimap-split-inbox '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
13757 No nnmail equivalent.
13759 @item nnimap-split-rule
13760 @cindex Splitting, rules
13761 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
13763 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
13766 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
13767 sublist gives the name of the @sc{imap} mailbox to move articles
13768 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
13769 Neither did I, we need examples.
13772 (setq nnimap-split-rule
13773 '(("INBOX.nnimap" "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
13774 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
13775 ("INBOX.private" "")))
13778 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
13779 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
13780 into INBOX.spam and everything else in INBOX.private.
13782 The first string may contain `\\1' forms, like the ones used by
13783 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
13787 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
13790 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
13791 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
13792 containing the headers of the article. It should return a non-nil value
13793 if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
13795 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
13796 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
13797 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
13798 of your inbox. (This might might affect performance if you keep lots of
13799 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
13800 them every time you fetch new mail.)
13802 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
13803 end. The first rule to make a match will "win", unless you have
13804 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will "win".
13806 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
13807 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
13808 thinks the article should be splitted to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
13810 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it need too.
13812 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
13813 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
13814 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
13817 (setq nnimap-split-rule
13818 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
13819 ("junk" "From:.*Simon")))
13820 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
13821 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
13822 ("junk" my-junk-func)))))
13825 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
13826 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
13827 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
13828 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
13829 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
13830 group/function elements.
13832 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
13834 @item nnimap-split-predicate
13836 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
13838 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
13839 splitted, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
13841 This might be useful if you use another @sc{imap} client to read mail in
13842 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
13843 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
13846 @item nnimap-split-fancy
13847 @cindex splitting, fancy
13848 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
13849 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
13851 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
13852 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
13853 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
13855 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
13856 nnimap backends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
13857 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
13858 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
13863 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
13864 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
13867 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
13871 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
13872 @subsubsection Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
13873 @cindex editing imap acls
13874 @cindex Access Control Lists
13875 @cindex Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
13877 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
13879 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @sc{imap} for
13880 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
13881 @sc{imap} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
13884 To edit a ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
13885 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with a ACL
13886 editing window with detailed instructions.
13888 Some possible uses:
13892 Giving "anyone" the "lrs" rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
13893 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
13894 follow the list without subscribing to it.
13896 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
13897 "anyone" posting ("p") capabilities to have "plussing" work (that is,
13898 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @sc{imap} mailbox
13902 @node Expunging mailboxes
13903 @subsubsection Expunging mailboxes
13907 @cindex Manual expunging
13909 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
13911 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-close},
13912 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
13913 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
13915 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
13920 @node Combined Groups
13921 @section Combined Groups
13923 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
13927 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
13928 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
13932 @node Virtual Groups
13933 @subsection Virtual Groups
13935 @cindex virtual groups
13936 @cindex merging groups
13938 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
13941 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
13942 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
13943 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
13945 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
13946 regexp to match component groups.
13948 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
13949 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
13950 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
13951 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
13952 the virtual group.)
13954 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
13955 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
13958 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
13961 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
13962 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
13964 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
13965 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
13966 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
13967 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
13970 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
13973 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
13974 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
13975 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
13977 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
13978 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
13979 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
13980 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
13981 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
13983 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
13984 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
13985 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
13987 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
13988 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
13989 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
13990 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
13991 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
13992 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
13993 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
13994 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
13995 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
13996 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
13997 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
13999 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
14000 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
14001 has to ask the backend of the component group the article comes from
14002 whether it is a news or mail backend. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
14003 there is typically no sure way for the component backend to know this,
14004 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
14005 not-news backend. (Just to be on the safe side.)
14007 @kbd{C-c C-t} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
14008 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
14012 @node Kibozed Groups
14013 @subsection Kibozed Groups
14017 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
14018 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
14019 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
14020 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
14022 @kindex G k (Group)
14023 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
14026 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
14027 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
14028 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
14029 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
14031 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
14032 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
14033 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
14035 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
14036 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
14037 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
14038 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
14039 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
14040 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
14041 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
14042 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
14044 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
14045 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
14046 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
14047 Stranger things have happened.
14049 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
14050 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
14052 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
14053 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
14054 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
14055 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
14056 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
14057 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
14059 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
14060 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
14063 @node Gnus Unplugged
14064 @section Gnus Unplugged
14069 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
14071 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
14072 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
14073 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
14074 read news. Believe it or not.
14076 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
14077 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
14078 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
14079 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
14080 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
14082 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
14083 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
14084 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
14085 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
14086 reading news on a machine.
14088 Using Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple.
14092 First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a machine
14093 that has full connection to the net. Go ahead. I'll still be waiting
14097 Then, put the following magical incantation at the end of your
14098 @file{.gnus.el} file:
14105 That's it. Gnus is now an ``offline'' newsreader.
14107 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
14110 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
14111 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
14112 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
14113 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
14114 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
14115 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
14116 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
14117 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
14118 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
14123 @subsection Agent Basics
14125 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
14127 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
14128 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
14129 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
14130 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
14132 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
14133 connected to the net continuously.
14135 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
14136 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
14138 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
14143 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
14144 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
14145 already fetched while in this mode.
14148 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
14149 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
14150 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
14154 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
14155 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{J
14156 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
14157 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
14160 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
14161 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
14162 then you read the news offline.
14165 And then you go to step 2.
14168 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
14174 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
14175 backend, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
14176 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
14177 @kbd{J a} the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
14178 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}). This will typically be only the
14179 primary select method, which is listed on the bottom in the buffer.
14182 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
14189 @node Agent Categories
14190 @subsection Agent Categories
14192 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
14193 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
14194 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
14195 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
14196 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
14197 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
14198 you're interested in the articles anyway.
14200 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
14201 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
14202 Groups that do not belong in any other category belong to the
14203 @code{default} category. Gnus has its own buffer for creating and
14204 managing categories.
14207 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
14208 * The Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
14209 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
14213 @node Category Syntax
14214 @subsubsection Category Syntax
14216 A category consists of two things.
14220 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
14221 are eligible for downloading; and
14224 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
14225 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
14226 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
14229 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
14230 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
14231 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
14232 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
14234 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
14235 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
14236 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as descibed below.
14238 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
14239 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
14240 operators sprinkled in between.
14242 Perhaps some examples are in order.
14244 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
14245 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
14251 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
14252 short (for some value of ``short'').
14254 Here's a more complex predicate:
14263 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
14264 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
14267 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
14268 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
14269 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
14271 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
14272 you want to do, you can write your own.
14276 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
14277 lines; default 100.
14280 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
14281 lines; default 200.
14284 True iff the article has a download score less than
14285 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
14288 True iff the article has a download score greater than
14289 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
14292 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
14293 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
14294 checksum and sees whether articles match.
14303 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
14304 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
14305 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
14308 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
14309 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
14310 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
14311 something along the lines of the following:
14314 (defun my-article-old-p ()
14315 "Say whether an article is old."
14316 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
14317 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
14320 with the predicate then defined as:
14323 (not my-article-old-p)
14326 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
14327 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
14328 wherever. (Note: this would have to be at a point *after*
14329 @code{gnus-agent} has been loaded via @code{(gnus-agentize)})
14332 (defvar gnus-category-predicate-alist
14333 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
14334 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
14337 and simply specify your predicate as:
14343 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
14344 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
14345 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
14346 just don't give a damm.
14348 The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
14349 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
14350 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
14351 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
14352 parameters like so:
14355 (agent-predicate . short)
14358 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
14359 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
14360 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
14362 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
14365 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
14368 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
14369 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
14370 predicate is assumed to be a list.
14373 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
14374 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
14375 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
14376 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
14377 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
14378 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
14380 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
14381 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
14382 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
14383 if it's to be specific to that group.
14385 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
14392 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
14393 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
14399 Category specification
14403 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
14409 Group Parameter specification
14412 (agent-score ("from"
14413 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
14418 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
14424 These score files must *only* contain the permitted scoring keywords
14431 Category specification
14434 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
14440 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
14444 Group Parameter specification
14447 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
14450 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
14455 Use @code{normal} score files
14457 If you dont want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
14458 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
14459 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
14460 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
14462 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
14463 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
14464 files for a group, *filtering out* those those sections that do not
14465 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
14469 Category Specification
14476 Group Parameter specification
14479 (agent-score . file)
14484 @node The Category Buffer
14485 @subsubsection The Category Buffer
14487 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
14488 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
14489 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
14491 The following commands are available in this buffer:
14495 @kindex q (Category)
14496 @findex gnus-category-exit
14497 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
14500 @kindex k (Category)
14501 @findex gnus-category-kill
14502 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
14505 @kindex c (Category)
14506 @findex gnus-category-copy
14507 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
14510 @kindex a (Category)
14511 @findex gnus-category-add
14512 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
14515 @kindex p (Category)
14516 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
14517 Edit the predicate of the current category
14518 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
14521 @kindex g (Category)
14522 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
14523 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
14524 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
14527 @kindex s (Category)
14528 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
14529 Edit the download score rule of the current category
14530 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
14533 @kindex l (Category)
14534 @findex gnus-category-list
14535 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
14539 @node Category Variables
14540 @subsubsection Category Variables
14543 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
14544 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
14545 Hook run in category buffers.
14547 @item gnus-category-line-format
14548 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
14549 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
14550 Variables}). Valid elements are:
14554 The name of the category.
14557 The number of groups in the category.
14560 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
14561 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
14562 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
14564 @item gnus-agent-short-article
14565 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
14566 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
14568 @item gnus-agent-long-article
14569 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
14570 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
14572 @item gnus-agent-low-score
14573 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
14574 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
14577 @item gnus-agent-high-score
14578 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
14579 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
14585 @node Agent Commands
14586 @subsection Agent Commands
14588 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
14589 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged} command works in all modes, and
14590 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
14594 * Group Agent Commands::
14595 * Summary Agent Commands::
14596 * Server Agent Commands::
14599 You can run a complete batch fetch from the command line with the
14600 following incantation:
14602 @cindex gnus-agent-batch-fetch
14604 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch-fetch
14609 @node Group Agent Commands
14610 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
14614 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
14615 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
14616 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
14617 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
14620 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
14621 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
14622 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
14625 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
14626 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
14627 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
14628 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
14631 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
14632 @findex gnus-group-send-drafts
14633 Send all sendable messages in the draft group
14634 (@code{gnus-group-send-drafts}). @xref{Drafts}.
14637 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
14638 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
14639 Add the current group to an Agent category
14640 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
14641 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
14644 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
14645 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
14646 Remove the current group from its category, if any
14647 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
14648 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
14653 @node Summary Agent Commands
14654 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
14658 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
14659 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
14660 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
14663 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
14664 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
14665 Remove the downloading mark from the article
14666 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
14669 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
14670 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
14671 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
14674 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
14675 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
14676 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
14681 @node Server Agent Commands
14682 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
14686 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
14687 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
14688 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
14689 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
14692 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
14693 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
14694 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
14695 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
14701 @subsection Agent Expiry
14703 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
14704 @findex gnus-agent-expire
14705 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
14706 @cindex Agent expiry
14707 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
14710 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
14711 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
14712 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
14713 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
14714 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
14715 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
14717 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
14718 if @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
14719 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
14720 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
14721 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
14724 @node Outgoing Messages
14725 @subsection Outgoing Messages
14727 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
14728 stored in the draft groups (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view them there
14729 after posting, and edit them at will.
14731 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
14732 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
14733 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
14734 messages in the draft group.
14738 @node Agent Variables
14739 @subsection Agent Variables
14742 @item gnus-agent-directory
14743 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
14744 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
14745 @file{~/News/agent/}.
14747 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
14748 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
14749 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
14750 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
14751 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
14754 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
14755 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
14756 Hook run when connecting to the network.
14758 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
14759 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
14760 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
14765 @node Example Setup
14766 @subsection Example Setup
14768 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
14769 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
14770 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
14773 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @sc{nntp}
14774 ;;; from your ISP's server.
14775 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
14777 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
14778 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
14779 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
14781 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
14782 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
14784 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
14788 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
14789 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
14792 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
14793 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
14794 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
14795 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
14796 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
14799 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
14800 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
14801 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
14802 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
14803 back all the killed groups.)
14805 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
14806 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
14807 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
14810 @node Batching Agents
14811 @subsection Batching Agents
14813 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
14814 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
14815 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
14819 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
14823 @node Agent Caveats
14824 @subsection Agent Caveats
14826 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
14827 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
14831 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the
14836 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists
14837 in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
14843 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
14844 articles; when it's plugged, it only talks to your ISP.
14851 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
14852 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
14853 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
14856 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
14857 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
14858 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
14859 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
14860 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
14862 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
14863 before generating the summary buffer.
14865 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
14866 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
14867 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
14869 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
14870 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
14871 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
14872 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
14875 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
14876 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
14877 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
14878 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
14879 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
14880 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
14881 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
14882 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
14883 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
14884 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
14885 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
14886 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
14887 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
14888 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
14889 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
14890 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
14894 @node Summary Score Commands
14895 @section Summary Score Commands
14896 @cindex score commands
14898 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
14899 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
14900 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
14901 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
14902 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
14904 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
14905 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
14906 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
14907 score file the current one.
14909 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
14914 @kindex V s (Summary)
14915 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
14916 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
14919 @kindex V S (Summary)
14920 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
14921 Display the score of the current article
14922 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
14925 @kindex V t (Summary)
14926 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
14927 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
14928 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
14931 @kindex V R (Summary)
14932 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
14933 Run the current summary through the scoring process
14934 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
14935 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
14936 effect you're having.
14939 @kindex V c (Summary)
14940 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
14941 Make a different score file the current
14942 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
14945 @kindex V e (Summary)
14946 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
14947 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
14948 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
14952 @kindex V f (Summary)
14953 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
14954 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
14955 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
14958 @kindex V F (Summary)
14959 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
14960 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
14961 after editing score files.
14964 @kindex V C (Summary)
14965 @findex gnus-score-customize
14966 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
14967 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
14971 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
14976 @kindex V m (Summary)
14977 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
14978 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
14979 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
14982 @kindex V x (Summary)
14983 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
14984 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
14985 expunge all articles below this score
14986 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
14989 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
14990 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
14993 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
14994 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
14998 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
14999 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
15001 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
15002 keys are available:
15006 Score on the author name.
15009 Score on the subject line.
15012 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
15015 Score on the @code{References} line.
15021 Score on the number of lines.
15024 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
15027 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
15028 the followups to this author.
15042 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
15043 what headers you are scoring on.
15055 Substring matching.
15058 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
15087 Greater than number.
15092 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
15093 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
15094 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
15098 Temporary score entry.
15101 Permanent score entry.
15104 Immediately scoring.
15109 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
15110 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
15111 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
15112 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
15114 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
15115 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
15116 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
15117 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
15118 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
15120 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
15121 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
15122 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
15123 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
15124 current score file.
15126 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
15127 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
15128 pretend they are keymaps or not.
15131 @node Group Score Commands
15132 @section Group Score Commands
15133 @cindex group score commands
15135 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
15140 @kindex W f (Group)
15141 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
15142 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
15143 all the time. This command will flush the cache
15144 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
15148 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
15150 @findex gnus-batch-score
15151 @cindex batch scoring
15153 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
15157 @node Score Variables
15158 @section Score Variables
15159 @cindex score variables
15163 @item gnus-use-scoring
15164 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
15165 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
15166 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
15168 @item gnus-kill-killed
15169 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
15170 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
15171 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
15172 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
15173 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
15174 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
15175 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
15177 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
15178 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
15179 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
15180 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
15181 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
15183 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
15184 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
15185 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
15186 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
15188 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
15189 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
15190 @cindex score cache
15191 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
15192 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
15193 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
15194 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
15195 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
15196 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
15199 @item gnus-save-score
15200 @vindex gnus-save-score
15201 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
15202 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
15203 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
15205 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
15206 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
15207 across group visits.
15209 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
15210 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
15211 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
15212 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
15213 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
15214 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
15215 manually entered data.
15217 @item gnus-summary-default-score
15218 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
15219 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
15221 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
15222 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
15223 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
15224 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
15225 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
15226 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
15228 @item gnus-score-over-mark
15229 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
15230 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
15231 default. Default is @samp{+}.
15233 @item gnus-score-below-mark
15234 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
15235 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
15236 default. Default is @samp{-}.
15238 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
15239 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
15240 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
15241 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
15243 Predefined functions available are:
15246 @item gnus-score-find-single
15247 @findex gnus-score-find-single
15248 Only apply the group's own score file.
15250 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
15251 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
15252 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
15253 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
15254 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
15255 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
15256 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
15257 then a regexp match is done.
15259 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
15260 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
15262 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
15263 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
15264 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
15265 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
15267 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
15268 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
15269 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
15270 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
15271 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE}.
15274 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
15275 functions will be called, and all the returned lists of score files will
15276 be applied. These functions can also return lists of score alists
15277 directly. In that case, the functions that return these non-file score
15278 alists should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file
15279 functions, to ensure that the last score file returned is the local
15282 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
15283 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
15284 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
15285 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
15286 are expired. It's 7 by default.
15288 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
15289 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
15290 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
15291 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
15292 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
15293 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
15294 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
15297 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
15298 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
15299 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
15301 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
15302 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
15303 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
15304 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
15305 threading---according to the current value of
15306 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
15307 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
15308 simplified in this manner.
15313 @node Score File Format
15314 @section Score File Format
15315 @cindex score file format
15317 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
15318 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
15319 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
15321 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
15325 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
15327 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
15329 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
15331 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
15336 (mark-and-expunge -10)
15340 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
15341 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
15342 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
15343 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
15347 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
15348 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
15350 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
15351 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
15352 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
15354 Six keys are supported by this alist:
15359 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
15360 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
15361 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
15362 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
15363 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
15364 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
15365 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
15366 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
15367 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
15368 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
15369 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
15370 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
15371 to articles that matches these score entries.
15373 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
15374 score entry has one to four elements.
15378 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
15379 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
15383 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
15384 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
15385 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
15386 is successful. If this element is not present, the
15387 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
15388 instead. This is 1000 by default.
15391 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
15392 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
15393 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
15394 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
15395 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
15398 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
15399 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
15400 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
15401 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
15404 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
15405 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
15406 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
15407 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
15408 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
15409 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
15410 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
15411 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
15412 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
15413 instead, if you feel like.
15416 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
15417 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
15419 These predicates are true if
15422 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
15425 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
15426 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
15433 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
15434 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
15435 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
15436 it's not. I think.)
15438 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some backends (like
15439 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
15440 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
15441 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
15444 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
15445 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
15446 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
15447 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
15448 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
15449 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
15450 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
15454 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
15455 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
15456 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
15457 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
15458 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
15459 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
15460 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
15461 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
15464 @item Head, Body, All
15465 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
15469 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
15470 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
15471 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
15472 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
15473 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
15474 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
15475 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
15479 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
15480 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
15481 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
15482 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
15483 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
15484 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
15485 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
15486 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
15487 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
15488 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
15489 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
15493 @cindex Score File Atoms
15495 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
15496 lower than this number will be marked as read.
15499 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
15500 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
15502 @item mark-and-expunge
15503 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
15504 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
15507 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
15508 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
15509 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
15510 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
15511 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
15514 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
15515 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
15518 @item exclude-files
15519 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
15520 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
15524 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
15525 ignored when handling global score files.
15528 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
15529 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
15530 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
15531 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
15534 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
15535 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
15536 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
15537 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
15539 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
15543 (mark-and-expunge -100)
15546 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
15547 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
15548 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
15549 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
15550 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
15552 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where there
15553 exist a few interesting threads which can't be found automatically by
15554 ordinary scoring rules.
15557 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
15558 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
15559 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
15560 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
15561 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
15562 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
15563 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
15564 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
15565 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
15566 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
15567 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
15571 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
15572 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
15573 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
15574 file for a number of groups.
15577 @cindex local variables
15578 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
15579 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
15580 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
15581 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
15582 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
15586 @node Score File Editing
15587 @section Score File Editing
15589 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
15590 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
15591 with a mode for that.
15593 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
15594 additional commands:
15599 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
15600 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
15601 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
15602 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
15605 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
15606 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
15607 Insert the current date in numerical format
15608 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
15609 you were wondering.
15612 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
15613 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
15614 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
15615 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
15616 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
15621 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
15623 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
15624 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
15626 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
15627 e} to begin editing score files.
15630 @node Adaptive Scoring
15631 @section Adaptive Scoring
15632 @cindex adaptive scoring
15634 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
15635 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
15636 stupidity, to be precise.
15638 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
15639 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
15640 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
15641 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
15642 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
15643 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
15644 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
15645 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
15646 variable to @code{(word line)}.
15648 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
15649 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
15650 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
15651 might look something like this:
15654 (defvar gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
15655 '((gnus-unread-mark)
15656 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
15657 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
15658 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
15659 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
15660 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
15661 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
15662 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
15663 (gnus-ancient-mark)
15664 (gnus-low-score-mark)
15665 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
15668 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
15669 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
15670 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
15671 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
15672 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
15673 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
15676 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
15677 will be applied to each article.
15679 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
15680 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
15681 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
15682 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
15684 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
15685 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
15686 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
15687 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
15689 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
15690 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
15691 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
15692 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
15694 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
15695 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
15696 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
15697 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
15698 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
15699 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
15701 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
15702 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
15703 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
15704 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
15705 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
15706 aspirins afterwards.)
15708 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
15709 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
15710 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
15712 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
15713 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
15714 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
15716 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
15717 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
15718 let you use different rules in different groups.
15720 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
15721 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
15722 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
15725 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
15726 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
15727 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
15728 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
15729 the length of the match is less than
15730 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
15731 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
15734 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
15735 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
15736 headers. If you adapt on words, the
15737 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
15738 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
15741 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
15742 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
15743 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
15744 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
15745 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
15748 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
15749 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
15750 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
15751 score with 30 points.
15753 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
15754 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
15755 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
15756 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
15757 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
15759 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
15760 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
15761 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
15762 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
15764 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
15765 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
15766 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
15767 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
15769 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
15770 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
15771 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
15772 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
15773 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
15775 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
15776 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
15777 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
15779 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
15780 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
15781 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
15782 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
15785 @node Home Score File
15786 @section Home Score File
15788 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
15789 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
15790 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
15791 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
15793 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
15794 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
15795 could perhaps use the same home score file.
15797 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
15798 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
15803 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
15807 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
15808 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
15812 A list. The elements in this list can be:
15816 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
15817 group name, the @var{file-name} will will be used as the home score file.
15820 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
15821 the home score file.
15824 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
15827 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
15832 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
15835 (setq gnus-home-score-file
15836 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
15839 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
15840 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
15842 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
15844 (setq gnus-home-score-file
15845 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
15848 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
15849 Other functions include
15852 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
15853 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
15854 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
15855 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
15859 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
15860 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
15861 their own home score files:
15864 (setq gnus-home-score-file
15865 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
15866 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
15867 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
15868 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
15871 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
15872 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
15873 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
15874 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
15875 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
15877 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
15878 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
15879 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
15880 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
15881 precedence over this variable.
15884 @node Followups To Yourself
15885 @section Followups To Yourself
15887 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
15888 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
15889 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
15890 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
15891 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
15892 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
15896 @item gnus-score-followup-article
15897 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
15898 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
15901 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
15902 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
15903 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
15907 @vindex message-sent-hook
15908 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
15909 @code{message-sent-hook}.
15911 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
15912 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
15916 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
15917 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
15920 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
15921 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
15926 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore.no>"
15930 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
15931 is system-dependent.
15935 @section Scoring Tips
15936 @cindex scoring tips
15942 @cindex scoring crossposts
15943 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
15944 the @code{Xref} header.
15946 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
15949 @item Multiple crossposts
15950 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
15951 more than, say, 3 groups:
15953 ("xref" ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
15956 @item Matching on the body
15957 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
15958 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
15959 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
15960 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
15961 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
15962 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
15963 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
15966 @item Marking as read
15967 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
15968 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
15969 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
15973 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
15975 @item Negated character classes
15976 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
15977 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
15978 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
15982 @node Reverse Scoring
15983 @section Reverse Scoring
15984 @cindex reverse scoring
15986 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
15987 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
15988 like this in your score file:
15992 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
15997 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
15998 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
16001 @node Global Score Files
16002 @section Global Score Files
16003 @cindex global score files
16005 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
16006 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
16007 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
16009 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
16010 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
16011 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
16013 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
16014 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
16015 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
16016 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
16017 files are applicable to which group.
16019 Say you want to use the score file
16020 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
16021 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory:
16024 (setq gnus-global-score-files
16025 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
16026 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
16029 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
16030 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
16031 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
16032 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
16033 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
16035 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
16036 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
16038 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
16039 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
16040 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
16041 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
16042 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
16043 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
16045 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
16051 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
16053 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
16055 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
16057 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
16058 lowered out of existence.
16060 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
16061 articles completely.
16064 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
16065 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
16066 old articles for a long time.
16069 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
16070 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
16071 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
16072 holding our breath yet?
16076 @section Kill Files
16079 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
16080 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
16081 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
16083 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
16084 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
16085 files into score files.
16087 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
16088 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
16089 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
16090 that isn't a very good idea.
16092 Normal kill files look like this:
16095 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
16096 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
16100 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
16101 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
16103 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
16104 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
16107 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
16112 @kindex M-k (Summary)
16113 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
16114 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
16117 @kindex M-K (Summary)
16118 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
16119 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
16122 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
16127 @kindex M-k (Group)
16128 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
16129 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
16132 @kindex M-K (Group)
16133 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
16134 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
16137 Kill file variables:
16140 @item gnus-kill-file-name
16141 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
16142 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
16143 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
16144 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
16145 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
16146 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
16148 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
16149 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
16150 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
16151 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
16154 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
16155 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
16156 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
16157 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
16158 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
16159 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
16160 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
16161 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
16162 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
16164 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
16165 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
16166 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
16171 @node Converting Kill Files
16172 @section Converting Kill Files
16174 @cindex converting kill files
16176 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
16177 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
16178 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
16181 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
16182 You can fetch it from
16183 @file{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-other/gnus-kill-to-score}.
16185 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
16186 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
16187 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
16195 GroupLens is a collaborative filtering system that helps you work
16196 together with other people to find the quality news articles out of the
16197 huge volume of news articles generated every day.
16199 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
16200 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
16201 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
16202 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
16203 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
16204 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
16205 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
16206 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
16210 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
16211 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
16212 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
16213 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
16217 @node Using GroupLens
16218 @subsection Using GroupLens
16220 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
16222 @samp{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
16223 better bit in town at the moment.
16225 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
16229 @item gnus-use-grouplens
16230 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
16231 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
16232 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
16234 @item grouplens-pseudonym
16235 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
16236 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
16237 with the Better Bit Bureau.
16239 @item grouplens-newsgroups
16240 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
16241 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
16245 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
16246 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
16247 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
16248 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
16249 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
16250 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
16253 @node Rating Articles
16254 @subsection Rating Articles
16256 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
16257 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
16258 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
16259 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
16262 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
16267 @kindex r (GroupLens)
16268 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
16269 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
16272 @kindex k (GroupLens)
16273 @findex grouplens-score-thread
16274 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
16275 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
16276 threads in rec.humor.
16280 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
16281 the score of the article you're reading.
16286 @kindex n (GroupLens)
16287 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
16288 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
16291 @kindex , (GroupLens)
16292 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
16293 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
16297 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
16298 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
16301 @node Displaying Predictions
16302 @subsection Displaying Predictions
16304 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
16305 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
16306 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
16307 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
16308 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
16310 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
16311 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
16312 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
16313 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
16314 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
16315 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
16316 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
16317 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
16318 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
16319 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
16320 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
16321 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
16322 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
16324 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
16325 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
16326 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
16327 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
16329 The following are valid values for that variable.
16332 @item prediction-spot
16333 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
16336 @item confidence-interval
16337 A numeric confidence interval.
16339 @item prediction-bar
16340 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
16342 @item confidence-bar
16343 Numerical confidence.
16345 @item confidence-spot
16346 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
16348 @item prediction-num
16349 Plain-old numeric value.
16351 @item confidence-plus-minus
16352 Prediction +/- confidence.
16357 @node GroupLens Variables
16358 @subsection GroupLens Variables
16362 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
16363 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
16364 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
16365 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%)
16368 @item grouplens-bbb-host
16369 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
16372 @item grouplens-bbb-port
16373 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
16375 @item grouplens-score-offset
16376 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
16377 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
16380 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
16381 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
16382 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
16387 @node Advanced Scoring
16388 @section Advanced Scoring
16390 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
16391 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
16392 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
16393 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
16394 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
16396 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
16400 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
16401 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
16402 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
16406 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
16407 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
16409 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
16410 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
16411 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
16412 non-@code{nil} value.
16414 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
16415 operator, and various match operators.
16422 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
16423 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
16424 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
16429 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
16430 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
16431 then this operator will return @code{false}.
16436 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
16437 logical negation of the value of its argument.
16441 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
16442 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
16443 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
16444 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
16445 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
16446 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
16447 the ancestry you want to go.
16449 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
16450 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
16451 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
16452 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
16453 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
16456 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
16457 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
16459 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
16460 when he's talking about Gnus:
16464 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
16465 ("subject" "Gnus"))
16471 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
16475 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
16482 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
16483 really don't want to read what he's written:
16487 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
16488 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
16492 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
16493 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
16494 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
16501 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
16502 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
16503 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
16504 ("body" "white.*socks"))
16508 The possibilities are endless.
16511 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
16512 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
16514 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
16515 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
16516 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
16517 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
16518 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
16519 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
16520 @samp{subject}) first.
16522 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
16523 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
16534 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
16535 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
16541 ("subject" "Gnus")))
16548 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
16549 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
16554 @section Score Decays
16555 @cindex score decays
16558 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
16559 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
16560 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
16561 use them in any sensible way.
16563 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
16564 @findex gnus-decay-score
16565 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
16566 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
16567 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
16568 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
16569 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
16570 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
16571 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
16572 definition of that function:
16575 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
16577 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
16578 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
16581 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
16583 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
16585 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
16588 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
16589 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
16590 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
16591 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
16595 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
16598 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
16601 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
16605 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
16606 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
16607 the new score, which should be an integer.
16609 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
16610 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
16617 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
16618 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
16619 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
16620 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
16621 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
16622 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
16623 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
16624 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
16625 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
16626 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
16627 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
16628 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
16629 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
16630 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
16631 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
16632 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
16633 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
16634 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
16638 @node Process/Prefix
16639 @section Process/Prefix
16640 @cindex process/prefix convention
16642 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
16643 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
16645 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
16646 command to be performed on.
16650 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
16651 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
16652 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
16653 with the current one.
16655 @vindex transient-mark-mode
16656 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
16657 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
16659 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
16660 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
16663 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
16664 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
16666 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
16669 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
16670 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
16671 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
16672 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
16674 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
16675 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
16676 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
16677 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
16678 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
16679 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
16680 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
16681 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
16683 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
16684 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
16685 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
16686 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
16687 expirable, you could say `M P b M-& E'.
16691 @section Interactive
16692 @cindex interaction
16696 @item gnus-novice-user
16697 @vindex gnus-novice-user
16698 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
16699 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
16700 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
16701 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
16704 @item gnus-expert-user
16705 @vindex gnus-expert-user
16706 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
16707 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
16708 matter how strange.
16710 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
16711 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
16712 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
16713 is @code{t} by default.
16715 @item gnus-interactive-exit
16716 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
16717 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
16722 @node Symbolic Prefixes
16723 @section Symbolic Prefixes
16724 @cindex symbolic prefixes
16726 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
16727 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
16728 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
16729 rule of 900 to the current article.
16731 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
16732 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
16733 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
16734 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
16735 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
16736 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
16737 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
16739 @kindex M-i (Summary)
16740 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
16741 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
16742 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
16743 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
16744 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a M-C-u} means ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u}
16745 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b M-C-u} means
16746 ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
16747 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
16749 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
16750 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
16751 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
16753 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
16757 @node Formatting Variables
16758 @section Formatting Variables
16759 @cindex formatting variables
16761 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
16762 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
16763 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
16764 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
16765 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
16768 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
16769 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
16770 lots of percentages everywhere.
16773 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
16774 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
16775 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
16776 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
16777 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
16780 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
16781 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
16782 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
16783 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
16784 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
16785 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
16786 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
16787 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
16789 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
16790 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
16792 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
16793 @findex gnus-update-format
16794 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
16795 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
16796 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
16797 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
16801 @node Formatting Basics
16802 @subsection Formatting Basics
16804 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
16805 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
16806 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
16808 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
16809 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
16810 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
16811 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
16812 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
16815 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
16816 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
16817 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
16818 less than 4 characters wide.
16821 @node Mode Line Formatting
16822 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
16824 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
16825 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
16826 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
16827 with the following two differences:
16832 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
16835 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
16836 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
16837 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
16838 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
16839 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
16840 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
16841 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
16846 @node Advanced Formatting
16847 @subsection Advanced Formatting
16849 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
16850 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
16851 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
16852 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
16854 These are the valid modifiers:
16859 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
16863 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
16868 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
16871 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
16876 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
16879 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
16882 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
16885 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
16889 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
16890 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
16891 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
16892 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
16893 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
16894 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
16895 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
16897 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
16898 last operation, padding.
16900 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
16901 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
16902 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
16903 @xref{Compilation}.
16906 @node User-Defined Specs
16907 @subsection User-Defined Specs
16909 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
16910 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
16911 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
16912 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
16913 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
16914 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
16915 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
16916 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
16917 should protect against that.
16919 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
16920 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
16921 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
16922 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
16926 @node Formatting Fonts
16927 @subsection Formatting Fonts
16929 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
16930 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
16931 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
16932 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
16935 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
16936 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
16937 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
16938 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
16939 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
16940 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
16942 Text inside the @samp{%<} and @samp{%>} specifiers will get the special
16943 @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you
16944 say @samp{%1<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The
16945 @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or symbols
16946 naming functions that return a string. Under @code{balloon-help-mode},
16947 when the mouse passes over text with this property set, a balloon window
16948 will appear and display the string. Please refer to the doc string of
16949 @code{balloon-help-mode} for more information on this.
16951 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
16954 ;; Create three face types.
16955 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
16956 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
16958 ;; We want the article count to be in
16959 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
16960 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
16961 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
16963 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
16964 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
16966 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
16967 (setq gnus-group-line-format
16968 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
16971 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
16972 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
16974 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
16975 mode-line variables.
16978 @node Windows Configuration
16979 @section Windows Configuration
16980 @cindex windows configuration
16982 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
16984 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
16985 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
16986 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
16987 @code{t} by default.
16989 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
16990 glitches. Use at your own peril.
16992 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
16993 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
16994 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
16997 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
16998 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
16999 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
17003 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
17004 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
17005 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
17006 possible names is listed below.
17008 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
17009 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
17012 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
17016 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
17017 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
17018 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
17019 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
17020 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
17021 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
17022 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
17023 size spec per split.
17025 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
17026 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
17027 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
17028 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
17029 present) gets focus.
17031 Here's a more complicated example:
17034 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
17035 (summary 0.25 point)
17036 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
17040 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
17041 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
17042 occupy, not a percentage.
17044 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
17045 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
17046 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
17047 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
17048 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
17051 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
17054 (article (horizontal 1.0
17059 (summary 0.25 point)
17064 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
17065 @code{horizontal} thingie?
17067 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
17068 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
17069 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
17070 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
17071 the screen is to be given to this strip.
17073 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
17074 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
17075 lines from the splits.
17077 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
17081 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
17082 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
17083 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
17084 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
17085 buffer = "(" buffer-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
17086 size = number | frame-params
17087 buffer-name = group | article | summary ...
17090 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
17091 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
17092 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
17093 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
17095 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
17096 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
17097 @cindex window height
17098 @cindex window width
17099 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
17100 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
17101 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
17102 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
17103 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
17104 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
17106 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
17107 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
17108 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
17109 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
17111 @findex gnus-configure-frame
17112 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
17113 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
17114 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
17115 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
17116 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
17117 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
17118 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
17119 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
17120 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
17121 configuration list.
17124 (gnus-configure-frame
17128 (article 0.3 point))
17136 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
17137 @code{frame} split:
17140 (gnus-configure-frame
17143 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
17145 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
17146 (user-position . t)
17147 (left . -1) (top . 1))
17152 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
17153 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
17154 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
17155 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
17156 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
17157 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
17158 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
17159 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
17161 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
17162 be found in its default value.
17164 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
17165 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
17166 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
17170 (message (horizontal 1.0
17171 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
17173 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
17178 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
17179 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
17180 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
17183 (message (frame 1.0
17184 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
17185 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
17186 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
17187 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
17188 (name . "Message"))
17189 (message 1.0 point))))
17192 @findex gnus-add-configuration
17193 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
17194 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
17195 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
17196 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
17199 (gnus-add-configuration
17200 '(article (vertical 1.0
17202 (summary .25 point)
17206 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
17207 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
17208 Gnus has been loaded.
17210 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
17211 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
17212 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
17213 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
17214 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
17216 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
17217 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
17218 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
17222 @node Faces and Fonts
17223 @section Faces and Fonts
17228 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
17229 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
17230 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
17235 @section Compilation
17236 @cindex compilation
17237 @cindex byte-compilation
17239 @findex gnus-compile
17241 Remember all those line format specification variables?
17242 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
17243 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
17244 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
17245 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
17246 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
17249 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
17250 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
17251 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
17252 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
17253 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
17254 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
17255 them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
17259 @section Mode Lines
17262 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
17263 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
17264 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
17265 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
17266 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
17267 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
17268 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
17271 @cindex display-time
17273 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
17274 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
17275 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
17276 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
17277 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
17278 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
17279 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
17280 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
17283 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
17285 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
17286 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
17288 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
17289 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
17290 (length display-time-string)))))
17293 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
17294 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
17295 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
17296 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
17297 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
17300 @node Highlighting and Menus
17301 @section Highlighting and Menus
17303 @cindex highlighting
17306 @vindex gnus-visual
17307 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
17308 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
17309 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
17312 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
17313 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
17316 @item group-highlight
17317 Do highlights in the group buffer.
17318 @item summary-highlight
17319 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
17320 @item article-highlight
17321 Do highlights in the article buffer.
17323 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
17325 Create menus in the group buffer.
17327 Create menus in the summary buffers.
17329 Create menus in the article buffer.
17331 Create menus in the browse buffer.
17333 Create menus in the server buffer.
17335 Create menus in the score buffers.
17337 Create menus in all buffers.
17340 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
17341 buffers, you could say something like:
17344 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
17347 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
17350 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
17353 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
17354 in all Gnus buffers.
17356 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
17359 @item gnus-mouse-face
17360 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
17361 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
17362 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
17366 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
17370 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
17371 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
17372 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
17374 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
17375 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
17376 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
17378 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
17379 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
17380 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
17382 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
17383 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
17384 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
17386 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
17387 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
17388 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
17390 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
17391 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
17392 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
17403 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
17404 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
17405 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
17406 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
17407 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
17411 @vindex gnus-carpal
17412 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
17413 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
17414 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
17419 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
17420 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
17421 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
17423 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
17424 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
17425 Face used on buttons.
17427 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
17428 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
17429 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
17431 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
17432 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
17433 Buttons in the group buffer.
17435 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
17436 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
17437 Buttons in the summary buffer.
17439 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
17440 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
17441 Buttons in the server buffer.
17443 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
17444 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
17445 Buttons in the browse buffer.
17448 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
17449 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
17450 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
17458 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
17459 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
17460 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
17461 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
17462 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
17464 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
17465 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
17466 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
17468 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
17469 been idle for thirty minutes:
17472 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
17475 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
17479 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
17482 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
17483 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
17484 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
17486 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
17487 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
17488 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
17489 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
17491 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
17492 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
17493 @var{idle} minutes.
17495 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
17496 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
17499 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
17500 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
17501 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
17503 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
17504 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
17505 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
17506 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
17508 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
17509 your @file{.gnus} file:
17511 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
17513 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
17516 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
17517 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
17518 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
17519 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
17520 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
17521 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
17522 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
17523 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
17524 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
17525 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
17526 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
17528 @findex gnus-demon-init
17529 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
17530 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
17531 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
17532 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
17533 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
17535 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
17536 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
17537 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
17546 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
17547 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
17549 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
17550 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
17551 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
17552 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
17555 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
17556 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
17557 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
17558 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
17560 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
17561 this will make spam disappear.
17563 There are some variables to customize, of course:
17566 @item gnus-use-nocem
17567 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
17568 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
17571 @item gnus-nocem-groups
17572 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
17573 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
17574 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
17575 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
17577 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
17578 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
17579 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
17580 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
17581 "rbraver@@ohww.norman.ok.us" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
17582 "jem@@xpat.com" "snowhare@@xmission.com" "red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us
17583 (Richard E. Depew)")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
17585 Known despammers that you can put in this list include:
17588 @item clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;
17589 @cindex Chris Lewis
17590 Chris Lewis---Major Canadian despammer who has probably canceled more
17591 usenet abuse than anybody else.
17594 @cindex CancelMoose[tm]
17595 The CancelMoose[tm] on autopilot. The CancelMoose[tm] is reputed to be
17596 Norwegian, and was the person(s) who invented NoCeM.
17598 @item jem@@xpat.com;
17600 John Milburn---despammer located in Korea who is getting very busy these
17603 @item red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us (Richard E. Depew)
17604 Richard E. Depew---lone American despammer. He mostly cancels binary
17605 postings to non-binary groups and removes spews (regurgitated articles).
17608 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
17609 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
17610 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
17611 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
17612 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
17613 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
17614 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
17615 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
17616 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
17617 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
17619 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
17620 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
17623 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
17626 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
17627 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
17630 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
17633 The specs are applied left-to-right.
17636 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
17637 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
17639 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
17640 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
17641 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
17642 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
17644 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
17645 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
17648 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
17650 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
17658 This might be dangerous, though.
17660 @item gnus-nocem-directory
17661 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
17662 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
17663 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
17665 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
17666 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
17667 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
17668 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
17669 might then see old spam.
17673 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
17674 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
17675 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
17676 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
17683 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
17684 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
17685 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
17687 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
17688 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
17689 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
17690 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
17691 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
17692 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
17693 @code{undo} function.
17695 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
17696 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
17697 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
17698 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
17699 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
17700 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
17701 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
17702 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
17703 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
17704 never be totally undoable.
17706 @findex gnus-undo-mode
17707 @vindex gnus-use-undo
17709 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
17710 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
17711 default. The @kbd{M-C-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo} command
17712 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
17717 @section Moderation
17720 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
17721 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
17722 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
17725 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
17729 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
17732 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
17734 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
17739 You split your incoming mail by matching on
17740 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
17741 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
17744 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
17745 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
17748 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
17749 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
17753 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
17756 (setq gnus-moderated-list
17757 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
17761 @node XEmacs Enhancements
17762 @section XEmacs Enhancements
17765 XEmacs is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has taken
17769 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
17770 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
17771 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
17772 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
17785 So... You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
17786 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
17787 over your shoulder as you read news.
17790 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
17791 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
17792 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
17793 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
17794 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
17799 @subsubsection Picon Basics
17801 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
17810 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
17811 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
17812 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
17813 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
17814 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
17815 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
17816 @code{GIF} formats.
17819 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
17820 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
17821 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
17822 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
17823 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
17825 @vindex gnus-picons-database
17826 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
17827 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
17828 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
17829 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
17830 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
17833 @node Picon Requirements
17834 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
17836 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must be running XEmacs
17837 19.13 or greater since all other versions of Emacs aren't yet able to
17840 Additionally, you must have @code{x} support compiled into XEmacs. To
17841 display color picons which are much nicer than the black & white one,
17842 you also need one of @code{xpm} or @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
17844 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
17845 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
17846 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
17847 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
17848 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
17852 @subsubsection Easy Picons
17854 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
17855 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
17858 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
17859 (setq gnus-treat-display-picons t)
17862 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
17863 containing the Picons databases.
17865 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
17868 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
17869 "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
17874 @subsubsection Hard Picons
17882 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
17883 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
17884 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
17885 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
17886 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
17891 @item gnus-picons-database
17892 @vindex gnus-picons-database
17893 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
17894 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
17895 subdirectories. This is only useful if
17896 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
17897 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
17899 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
17900 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
17901 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
17902 engine is @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
17903 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
17904 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
17905 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
17907 @item gnus-picons-display-where
17908 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
17909 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
17910 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
17911 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
17912 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
17913 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
17914 routines---@pxref{Windows Configuration}.
17916 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
17917 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
17918 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
17923 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
17924 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
17926 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
17927 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
17930 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
17932 @item gnus-article-display-picons
17933 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
17934 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
17935 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer.
17937 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
17938 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
17939 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present.
17945 @node Picon Useless Configuration
17946 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
17954 The following variables offer further control over how things are
17955 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
17956 don't need to worry about.
17960 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
17961 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
17962 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
17963 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
17965 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
17966 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
17967 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
17968 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
17970 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
17971 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
17972 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
17973 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
17974 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
17976 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
17977 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
17978 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
17979 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
17980 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
17981 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
17982 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
17984 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
17985 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
17986 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
17987 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
17989 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
17990 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
17991 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
17992 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
17993 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
17994 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
17995 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
17997 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
17998 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
17999 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
18000 Defaults to @code{nil}.
18002 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
18003 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
18004 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
18005 Defaults to @code{t}.
18007 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
18008 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
18009 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
18010 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
18012 @item gnus-picons-setup-hook
18013 @vindex gnus-picons-setup-hook
18014 Hook run in the picon buffer, if that is displayed.
18016 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
18017 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
18018 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
18019 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
18021 If @code{nil}, display the picons in the @code{From} and
18022 @code{Newsgroups} lines. This is the defailt.
18024 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
18025 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
18026 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
18027 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
18028 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
18029 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
18030 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
18031 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
18042 @subsection Smileys
18047 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/BigFace.ps,height=20cm}}
18052 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
18053 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
18055 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
18056 @file{.gnus.el} file:
18059 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
18062 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
18063 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
18064 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
18065 text and maps that to file names.
18067 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
18068 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
18069 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
18070 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
18071 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
18072 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
18074 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
18075 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
18077 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
18078 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
18079 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
18081 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
18082 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
18086 @item smiley-data-directory
18087 @vindex smiley-data-directory
18088 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
18090 @item smiley-flesh-color
18091 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
18092 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
18094 @item smiley-features-color
18095 @vindex smiley-features-color
18096 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
18098 @item smiley-tongue-color
18099 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
18100 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
18102 @item smiley-circle-color
18103 @vindex smiley-circle-color
18104 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
18106 @item smiley-mouse-face
18107 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
18108 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
18114 @subsection Toolbar
18124 @item gnus-use-toolbar
18125 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
18126 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
18127 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
18128 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
18130 @item gnus-group-toolbar
18131 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
18132 The toolbar in the group buffer.
18134 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
18135 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
18136 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
18138 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
18139 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
18140 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
18146 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
18149 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
18150 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
18151 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
18152 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
18153 unusual directory structure.
18155 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
18156 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
18157 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
18158 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
18160 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
18161 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
18162 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
18163 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
18164 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
18165 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
18167 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
18168 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
18169 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
18183 @node Fuzzy Matching
18184 @section Fuzzy Matching
18185 @cindex fuzzy matching
18187 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
18188 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
18190 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
18191 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
18192 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
18194 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
18195 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
18196 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
18197 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
18198 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
18201 @node Thwarting Email Spam
18202 @section Thwarting Email Spam
18206 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
18208 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
18209 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
18210 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
18211 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
18212 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
18213 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
18214 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
18215 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
18218 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
18219 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
18220 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
18221 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
18222 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
18223 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
18227 The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
18228 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
18230 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
18231 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
18232 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
18233 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
18234 sysadm whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
18235 part of the mail address.)
18238 (setq message-default-news-headers
18239 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
18242 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
18243 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
18248 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
18249 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
18250 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
18256 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
18257 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
18258 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
18259 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
18261 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @code{smtp} server
18262 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
18263 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
18264 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
18265 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
18266 your fancy split rule in this way:
18271 (to "larsi" "misc")
18275 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
18276 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
18277 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
18278 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
18279 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
18281 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
18282 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
18283 at @* @file{<URL:http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html>}.
18284 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
18285 cosmic balance somewhat.
18287 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
18288 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
18289 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
18290 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
18293 @node Various Various
18294 @section Various Various
18300 @item gnus-home-directory
18301 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
18302 defaults to @file{~/}.
18304 @item gnus-directory
18305 @vindex gnus-directory
18306 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
18307 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
18308 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
18310 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
18311 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
18312 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
18313 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
18315 @item gnus-default-directory
18316 @vindex gnus-default-directory
18317 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
18318 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
18319 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
18320 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
18321 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
18322 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
18325 @vindex gnus-verbose
18326 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
18327 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
18328 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
18329 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
18330 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
18332 @item gnus-verbose-backends
18333 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
18334 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
18335 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
18337 @item nnheader-max-head-length
18338 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
18339 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
18340 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
18341 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
18342 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
18343 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
18344 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
18345 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
18346 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
18348 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
18349 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
18350 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
18351 read when doing the operation described above.
18353 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
18354 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
18356 @cindex invalid characters in file names
18357 @cindex characters in file names
18358 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
18359 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
18360 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
18363 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
18367 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
18368 Windows (phooey) systems.
18370 @item gnus-hidden-properties
18371 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
18372 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
18373 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
18374 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
18376 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
18377 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
18378 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
18379 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
18380 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
18382 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
18383 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
18384 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
18386 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
18387 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
18389 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
18390 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
18391 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
18392 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
18395 IMAP users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
18404 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
18405 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
18407 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
18409 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
18415 Not because of victories @*
18418 but for the common sunshine,@*
18420 the largess of the spring.
18424 but for the day's work done@*
18425 as well as I was able;@*
18426 not for a seat upon the dais@*
18427 but at the common table.@*
18432 @chapter Appendices
18435 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
18436 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
18437 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
18438 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
18439 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
18440 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
18441 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
18442 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
18450 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
18451 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
18453 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
18454 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
18455 @file{http://quimby.gnus.org/~larsi/}. This is also the primary
18456 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
18457 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
18459 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
18460 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
18461 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
18462 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
18463 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
18464 appropriate name, don't you think?)
18466 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
18467 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
18468 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
18469 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
18472 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
18473 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
18474 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
18475 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
18476 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
18477 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
18478 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
18479 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
18480 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
18481 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
18485 @node Gnus Versions
18486 @subsection Gnus Versions
18487 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
18489 @cindex September Gnus
18490 @cindex Quassia Gnus
18492 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
18493 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
18494 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
18496 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
18497 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
18499 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
18500 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
18502 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
18503 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
18505 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
18506 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
18509 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
18510 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'' --
18511 don't panic. Don't let it know that you're frightened. Back away.
18512 Slowly. Whatever you do, don't run. Walk away, calmly, until you're
18513 out of its reach. Find a proper released version of Gnus and snuggle up
18517 @node Other Gnus Versions
18518 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
18521 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
18522 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
18523 Japan. It's based on a library called @sc{semi}, which provides
18524 @sc{mime} capabilities.
18526 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
18527 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
18528 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
18529 @sc{mime} and multilingualization things, especially important for
18536 What's the point of Gnus?
18538 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
18539 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
18540 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
18541 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
18542 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
18543 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
18544 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
18545 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
18546 keep track of millions of people who post?
18548 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
18549 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
18550 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
18551 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
18552 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
18553 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
18554 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
18555 every one of you to explore and invent.
18557 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
18558 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
18561 @node Compatibility
18562 @subsection Compatibility
18564 @cindex compatibility
18565 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
18566 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
18567 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
18572 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
18576 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
18579 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
18582 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
18583 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
18584 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
18585 important variables have their values copied into their global
18586 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
18587 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
18589 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
18590 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
18591 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
18592 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
18593 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
18597 @cindex highlighting
18598 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
18599 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
18600 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
18601 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
18602 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
18603 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
18606 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
18607 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
18608 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
18609 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
18611 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
18612 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
18613 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
18614 to stop doing it the old way.
18616 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
18618 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
18620 @cindex reporting bugs
18622 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
18623 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
18624 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
18626 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
18627 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
18628 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
18629 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
18634 @subsection Conformity
18636 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
18637 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
18644 There are no known breaches of this standard.
18648 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
18650 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
18651 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
18652 We do have some breaches to this one.
18658 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
18659 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
18660 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
18661 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
18662 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
18667 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
18668 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
18669 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
18670 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
18674 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
18675 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
18680 @subsection Emacsen
18686 Gnus should work on :
18694 XEmacs 20.4 and up.
18698 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
18699 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
18702 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
18703 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
18704 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
18708 @node Gnus Development
18709 @subsection Gnus Development
18711 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
18712 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
18713 propose changes and new features, post patches and new backends. This
18714 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
18715 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
18716 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
18717 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
18718 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
18720 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
18721 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
18722 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
18723 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
18724 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
18727 @vindex nnmail-delete-incoming
18728 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
18729 In particular, @code{nnmail-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
18730 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
18731 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
18733 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
18734 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
18735 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
18736 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
18737 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
18738 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
18739 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
18740 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
18741 usually keep up with these rapid changes, whille people on the newsgroup
18742 can't be assumed to do so.
18747 @subsection Contributors
18748 @cindex contributors
18750 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
18751 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
18752 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
18753 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
18754 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
18755 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
18756 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
18757 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
18758 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
18759 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
18761 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
18767 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
18770 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
18771 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @sc{mime} and
18772 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
18773 functionality and stuff.
18776 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
18777 well as numerous other things).
18780 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
18783 Justin Sheehy--the FAQ maintainer.
18786 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
18789 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
18790 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
18793 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
18796 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
18797 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
18800 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
18803 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
18806 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
18809 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
18812 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
18813 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
18816 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
18819 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
18822 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
18825 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
18829 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
18832 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
18835 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
18838 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
18839 well as autoconf support.
18843 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
18844 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
18846 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
18855 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
18859 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
18869 Alexei V. Barantsev,
18884 Massimo Campostrini,
18889 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
18890 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
18894 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
18897 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
18903 Michael Welsh Duggan,
18908 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
18912 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
18920 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
18922 Michelangelo Grigni,
18926 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
18928 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
18930 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
18937 François Felix Ingrand,
18938 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c ?
18939 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
18941 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
18952 Peter Skov Knudsen,
18953 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
18955 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
18956 Thor Kristoffersen,
18959 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
18977 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
18978 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
18985 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
18990 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
18994 John McClary Prevost,
19000 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
19005 Christian von Roques,
19008 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
19015 Philippe Schnoebelen,
19017 Randal L. Schwartz,
19031 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
19036 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
19052 Katsumi Yamaoka @c Yamaoka
19057 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
19058 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
19059 (550kB and counting).
19061 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
19064 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
19065 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
19069 @subsection New Features
19070 @cindex new features
19073 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
19074 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.3/5.3.
19075 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
19076 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
19079 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
19080 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
19081 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
19085 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
19087 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
19092 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
19093 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
19096 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
19097 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
19100 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
19103 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
19104 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
19105 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
19108 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
19109 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
19110 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
19111 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
19114 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
19115 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
19118 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
19119 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
19120 (@pxref{The Active File}).
19123 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
19124 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
19127 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
19128 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
19129 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
19132 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
19133 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
19134 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
19137 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
19138 the @file{.emacs} file.
19141 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
19142 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
19145 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
19146 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
19149 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
19150 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
19153 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
19154 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
19157 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
19158 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
19161 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
19164 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
19165 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
19168 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
19169 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
19172 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
19173 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
19176 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
19179 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
19180 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
19183 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
19187 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
19191 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
19192 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
19195 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
19201 @node September Gnus
19202 @subsubsection September Gnus
19206 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/september.ps,height=20cm}}
19210 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
19215 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
19216 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
19220 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
19221 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
19225 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
19229 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
19230 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
19233 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
19237 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
19240 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
19243 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
19246 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
19250 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
19251 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
19254 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
19258 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
19262 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
19266 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
19270 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
19273 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
19274 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
19277 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
19281 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
19282 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
19285 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
19288 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
19289 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
19290 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
19293 Gnus has a new backend (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
19297 The Gnus cache is much faster.
19300 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
19304 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
19305 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
19308 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
19309 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
19312 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
19313 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
19316 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
19317 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
19318 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
19321 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
19322 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
19325 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
19328 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
19331 All mail backends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
19334 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
19337 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
19338 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
19341 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Windows
19345 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
19348 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}}
19353 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
19356 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
19360 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
19363 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
19367 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
19370 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
19373 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
19374 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
19377 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
19378 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
19382 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
19383 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
19386 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
19390 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
19391 buffer to allow easier treatment.
19394 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
19397 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
19401 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
19405 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
19406 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
19409 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
19413 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
19414 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
19417 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
19418 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
19421 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
19425 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
19428 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
19431 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
19437 @subsubsection Red Gnus
19439 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
19443 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/red.ps,height=20cm}}
19450 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
19453 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
19454 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
19457 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
19458 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
19462 Article washing status can be displayed in the
19463 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
19466 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
19469 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
19470 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
19473 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
19477 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
19478 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
19482 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
19483 Server Internals}).
19486 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
19490 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
19493 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
19494 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
19497 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
19498 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
19499 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
19502 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
19503 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
19506 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
19507 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
19510 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{M-C-_}
19514 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
19515 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
19518 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
19519 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
19522 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
19526 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
19529 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
19533 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
19534 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
19537 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
19538 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
19541 A new command for reading collections of documents
19542 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{M-C-d}
19543 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
19546 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
19550 A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post even when the @sc{nntp}
19551 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
19554 A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
19555 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
19556 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
19559 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
19560 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
19564 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
19568 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
19572 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}}
19577 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
19581 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
19585 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
19586 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
19589 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
19595 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
19597 New features in Gnus 5.6:
19602 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
19603 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
19604 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
19607 The @code{nndraft} backend has returned, but works differently than
19608 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
19609 group, which is created automatically.
19612 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
19616 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
19619 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
19620 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
19623 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
19627 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
19630 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
19631 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
19634 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
19637 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
19638 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
19641 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
19642 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
19645 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
19646 control over simplification.
19649 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
19652 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
19656 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
19659 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
19662 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
19663 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
19664 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
19667 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
19668 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
19671 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
19675 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
19676 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
19679 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
19680 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
19683 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
19687 A history of where mails have been split is available.
19690 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
19693 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
19694 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
19697 A new function for citing in Message has been
19698 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
19701 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
19704 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
19708 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
19709 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
19712 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
19713 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
19716 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} backend.
19719 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
19724 @node Newest Features
19725 @subsection Newest Features
19728 Also known as the @dfn{todo list}. Sure to be implemented before the
19731 Be afraid. Be very afraid.
19733 (That a feature appears in this list doesn't necessarily mean that I've
19734 decided to actually implement it. It just means that I think it sounds
19737 (Yes, this is the actual, up-to-the-second todo list.)
19742 I would like the zombie-page to contain an URL to the source of the
19743 latest version of gnus or some explanation on where to find it.
19746 A way to continue editing the latest Message composition.
19749 http://www.sonicnet.com/feature/ari3/
19752 facep is not declared.
19755 Include a section in the manual on why the number of articles
19756 isn't the same in the group buffer and on the SPC prompt.
19759 Interacting with rmail fcc isn't easy.
19764 <URL:http://www.falch.no/people/pepper/DSSSL-Lite/archives/>
19765 <URL:http://www.eit.com/software/hypermail/hypermail.html>
19766 <URL:http://homer.ncm.com/>
19767 <URL:http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Internet/World_Wide_Web/HTML_Converters/>
19768 http://www.uwsg.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9610/index.html
19769 <URL:http://union.ncsa.uiuc.edu/HyperNews/get/www/html/converters.html>
19770 http://www.miranova.com/gnus-list/
19775 @samp{^-- } is made into - in LaTeX.
19778 gnus-kill is much slower than it was in GNUS 4.1.3.
19781 when expunging articles on low score, the sparse nodes keep hanging on?
19783 starting the first time seems to hang Gnus on some systems. Does
19784 NEWGROUPS answer too fast?
19786 nndir doesn't read gzipped files.
19788 FAQ doesn't have an up node?
19790 when moving mail from a procmail spool to the crash-box,
19791 the crash-box is only appropriate to one specific group.
19793 `t' `t' makes X-Faces disappear.
19795 nnmh-be-safe means that crossposted articles will
19796 be marked as unread.
19798 Orphan score entries don't show on "V t" score trace
19800 when clearing out data, the cache data should also be reset.
19802 rewrite gnus-summary-limit-children to be non-recursive
19803 to avoid exceeding lisp nesting on huge groups.
19805 expunged articles are counted when computing scores.
19807 implement gnus-batch-brew-soup
19809 ticked articles aren't easy to read in pick mode -- `n' and
19810 stuff just skips past them. Read articles are the same.
19812 topics that contain just groups with ticked
19813 articles aren't displayed.
19815 nndoc should always allocate unique Message-IDs.
19817 If there are mail groups the first time you use Gnus, Gnus'll
19818 make the mail groups killed.
19820 no "no news is good news" when using topics.
19822 when doing crosspost marking, the cache has to be consulted
19823 and articles have to be removed.
19825 nnweb should fetch complete articles when they are split into several
19828 scoring on head immediate doesn't work.
19830 finding short score file names takes forever.
19832 canceling articles in foreign groups.
19834 nntp-open-rlogin no longer works.
19836 C-u C-x C-s (Summary) switches to the group buffer.
19838 move nnmail-split-history out to the backends.
19840 nnweb doesn't work properly.
19842 using a virtual server name as `gnus-select-method' doesn't work?
19844 when killing/yanking a group from one topic to another in a slave, the
19845 master will yank it first to one topic and then add it to another.
19849 warn user about `=' redirection of a group in the active file?
19851 take over the XEmacs menubar and offer a toggle between the XEmacs
19852 bar and the Gnus bar.
19855 push active file and NOV file parsing down into C code.
19856 `(canonize-message-id id)'
19857 `(mail-parent-message-id references n)'
19858 `(parse-news-nov-line &optional dependency-hashtb)'
19859 `(parse-news-nov-region beg end &optional dependency-hashtb fullp)'
19860 `(parse-news-active-region beg end hashtb)'
19865 nnml .overview directory with splits.
19869 postponed commands.
19871 the selected article show have its Subject displayed in its summary line.
19873 when entering groups, get the real number of unread articles from
19876 sort after gathering threads -- make false roots have the
19877 headers of the oldest orphan with a 0 article number?
19879 nndoc groups should inherit the score files of their parents? Also
19880 inherit copy prompts and save files.
19882 command to start up Gnus (if not running) and enter a mail mode buffer.
19884 allow editing the group description from the group buffer
19885 for backends that support that.
19887 gnus-hide,show-all-topics
19889 groups and sub-topics should be allowed to mingle inside each topic,
19890 and not just list all subtopics at the end.
19892 a command to remove all read articles that are not needed to connect
19893 threads -- `gnus-summary-limit-to-sparse-unread'?
19895 a variable to turn off limiting/cutting of threads in the tree buffer.
19897 a variable to limit how many files are uudecoded.
19899 add zombie groups to a special "New Groups" topic.
19901 server mode command: close/open all connections
19903 put a file date in gnus-score-alist and check whether the file
19904 has been changed before using it.
19906 on exit from a digest group, go to the next article in the parent group.
19908 hide (sub)threads with low score.
19910 when expiring, remove all marks from expired articles.
19912 gnus-summary-limit-to-body
19914 a regexp alist that says what level groups are to be subscribed
19915 on. Eg. -- `(("nnml:" . 1))'.
19917 easier interface to nnkiboze to create ephemeral groups that
19918 contain groups that match a regexp.
19920 allow newlines in <URL:> urls, but remove them before using
19923 If there is no From line, the mail backends should fudge one from the
19926 fuzzy simplifying should strip all non-alpha-numerical info
19927 from subject lines.
19929 gnus-soup-brew-soup-with-high-scores.
19931 nntp-ping-before-connect
19933 command to check whether NOV is evil. "list overview.fmt".
19935 when entering a group, Gnus should look through the score
19936 files very early for `local' atoms and set those local variables.
19938 message annotations.
19940 topics are always yanked before groups, and that's not good.
19942 (set-extent-property extent 'help-echo "String to display in minibuf")
19943 to display help in the minibuffer on buttons under XEmacs.
19945 allow group line format spec to say how many articles there
19950 `run-with-idle-timer' in gnus-demon.
19952 stop using invisible text properties and start using overlays instead
19954 C-c C-f C-e to add an Expires header.
19956 go from one group to the next; everything is expunged; go to the
19957 next group instead of going to the group buffer.
19959 gnus-renumber-cache -- to renumber the cache using "low" numbers.
19961 record topic changes in the dribble buffer.
19963 `nnfolder-generate-active-file' should look at the folders it
19964 finds and generate proper active ranges.
19966 nneething-look-in-files-for-article-heads variable to control
19967 whether nneething should sniff all files in the directories.
19969 gnus-fetch-article -- start Gnus, enter group, display article
19971 gnus-dont-move-articles-to-same-group variable when respooling.
19973 when messages are crossposted between several auto-expirable groups,
19974 articles aren't properly marked as expirable.
19976 nneething should allow deletion/moving.
19978 TAB on the last button should go to the first button.
19980 if the car of an element in `mail-split-methods' is a function,
19981 and the function returns non-nil, use that as the name of the group(s) to
19984 command for listing all score files that have been applied.
19986 a command in the article buffer to return to `summary' config.
19988 `gnus-always-post-using-current-server' -- variable to override
19989 `C-c C-c' when posting.
19991 nnmail-group-spool-alist -- says where each group should use
19994 when an article is crossposted to an auto-expirable group, the article
19995 should be marker as expirable.
19997 article mode command/menu for "send region as URL to browser".
19999 on errors, jump to info nodes that explain the error. For instance,
20000 on invalid From headers, or on error messages from the nntp server.
20002 when gathering threads, make the article that has no "Re: " the parent.
20003 Also consult Date headers.
20005 a token in splits to call shrink-window-if-larger-than-buffer
20007 `1 0 A M' to do matches on the active hashtb.
20009 duplicates -- command to remove Gnus-Warning header, use the read
20010 Message-ID, delete the "original".
20012 when replying to several messages at once, put the "other" message-ids
20013 into a See-Also header.
20015 support setext: URL:http://www.bsdi.com/setext/
20017 support ProleText: <URL:http://proletext.clari.net/prole/proletext.html>
20019 when browsing a foreign server, the groups that are already subscribed
20020 should be listed as such and not as "K".
20022 generate font names dynamically.
20024 score file mode auto-alist.
20026 allow nndoc to change/add/delete things from documents. Implement
20027 methods for each format for adding an article to the document.
20029 `gnus-fetch-old-headers' `all' value to incorporate
20030 absolutely all headers there is.
20032 function like `|', but concatenate all marked articles
20033 and pipe them to the process.
20035 cache the list of killed (or active) groups in a separate file. Update
20036 the file whenever we read the active file or the list
20037 of killed groups in the .eld file reaches a certain length.
20039 function for starting to edit a file to put into
20040 the current mail group.
20042 score-find-trace should display the total score of the article.
20044 "ghettozie" -- score on Xref header and nix it out after using it
20045 to avoid marking as read in other groups it has been crossposted to.
20047 look at procmail splitting. The backends should create
20048 the groups automatically if a spool file exists for that group.
20050 function for backends to register themselves with Gnus.
20052 when replying to several process-marked articles,
20053 have all the From end up in Cc headers? Variable to toggle.
20055 command to delete a crossposted mail article from all
20056 groups it has been mailed to.
20058 `B c' and `B m' should be crosspost aware.
20060 hide-pgp should also hide PGP public key blocks.
20062 Command in the group buffer to respool process-marked groups.
20064 `gnus-summary-find-matching' should accept
20065 pseudo-"headers" like "body", "head" and "all"
20067 When buttifying <URL: > things, all white space (including
20068 newlines) should be ignored.
20070 Process-marking all groups in a topic should process-mark
20071 groups in subtopics as well.
20073 Add non-native groups to the list of killed groups when killing them.
20075 nntp-suggest-kewl-config to probe the nntp server and suggest
20078 add edit and forward secondary marks.
20080 nnml shouldn't visit its .overview files.
20082 allow customizing sorting within gathered threads.
20084 `B q' shouldn't select the current article.
20086 nnmbox should support a newsgroups file for descriptions.
20088 allow fetching mail from several pop servers.
20090 Be able to specify whether the saving commands save the original
20091 or the formatted article.
20093 a command to reparent with the child process-marked (cf. `T ^'.).
20095 I think the possibility to send a password with nntp-open-rlogin
20096 should be a feature in Red Gnus.
20098 The `Z n' command should be possible to execute from a mouse click.
20100 more limiting functions -- date, etc.
20102 be able to limit on a random header; on body; using reverse matches.
20104 a group parameter (`absofucking-total-expiry') that will make Gnus expire
20105 even unread articles.
20107 a command to print the article buffer as postscript.
20109 variable to disable password fetching when opening by nntp-open-telnet.
20111 manual: more example servers -- nntp with rlogin, telnet
20113 checking for bogus groups should clean topic alists as well.
20115 canceling articles in foreign groups.
20117 article number in folded topics isn't properly updated by
20120 Movement in the group buffer to the next unread group should go to the
20121 next closed topic with unread messages if no group can be found.
20123 Extensive info pages generated on the fly with help everywhere --
20124 in the "*Gnus edit*" buffers, for instance.
20126 Topic movement commands -- like thread movement. Up, down, forward, next.
20128 a way to tick/mark as read Gcc'd articles.
20130 a way to say that all groups within a specific topic comes
20131 from a particular server? Hm.
20133 `gnus-article-fill-if-long-lines' -- a function to fill
20134 the article buffer if there are any looong lines there.
20136 `T h' should jump to the parent topic and fold it.
20138 a command to create an ephemeral nndoc group out of a file,
20139 and then splitting it/moving it to some other group/backend.
20141 a group parameter for nnkiboze groups that says that
20142 all kibozed articles should be entered into the cache.
20144 It should also probably be possible to delimit what
20145 `gnus-jog-cache' does -- for instance, work on just some groups, or on
20146 some levels, and entering just articles that have a score higher than
20149 nnfolder should append to the folder instead of re-writing
20150 the entire folder to disk when accepting new messages.
20152 allow all backends to do the proper thing with .gz files.
20154 a backend for reading collections of babyl files nnbabylfolder?
20156 a command for making the native groups into foreign groups.
20158 server mode command for clearing read marks from all groups
20161 when following up multiple articles, include all To, Cc, etc headers
20164 a command for deciding what the total score of the current
20165 thread is. Also a way to highlight based on this.
20167 command to show and edit group scores
20169 a gnus-tree-minimize-horizontal to minimize tree buffers
20172 command to generate nnml overview file for one group.
20174 `C-u C-u a' -- prompt for many crossposted groups.
20176 keep track of which mail groups have received new articles (in this session).
20177 Be able to generate a report and perhaps do some marking in the group
20180 gnus-build-sparse-threads to a number -- build only sparse threads
20181 that are of that length.
20183 have nnmh respect mh's unseen sequence in .mh_profile.
20185 cache the newsgroups descriptions locally.
20187 asynchronous posting under nntp.
20189 be able to control word adaptive scoring from the score files.
20191 a variable to make `C-c C-c' post using the "current" select method.
20193 `limit-exclude-low-scored-articles'.
20195 if `gnus-summary-show-thread' is a number, hide threads that have
20196 a score lower than this number.
20198 split newsgroup subscription variable up into "order" and "method".
20200 buttonize ange-ftp file names.
20202 a command to make a duplicate copy of the current article
20203 so that each copy can be edited separately.
20205 nnweb should allow fetching from the local nntp server.
20207 record the sorting done in the summary buffer so that
20208 it can be repeated when limiting/regenerating the buffer.
20210 nnml-generate-nov-databses should generate for
20213 when the user does commands in the group buffer, check
20214 the modification time of the .newsrc.eld file and use
20215 ask-user-about-supersession-threat. Also warn when trying
20216 to save .newsrc.eld and it has changed.
20218 M-g on a topic will display all groups with 0 articles in
20221 command to remove all topic stuff.
20223 allow exploding incoming digests when reading incoming mail
20224 and splitting the resulting digests.
20226 nnsoup shouldn't set the `message-' variables.
20228 command to nix out all nnoo state information.
20230 nnmail-process-alist that calls functions if group names
20231 matches an alist -- before saving.
20233 use buffer-invisibility-spec everywhere for hiding text.
20235 variable to activate each group before entering them
20236 to get the (new) number of articles. `gnus-activate-before-entering'.
20238 command to fetch a Message-ID from any buffer, even
20239 starting Gnus first if necessary.
20241 when posting and checking whether a group exists or not, just
20242 ask the nntp server instead of relying on the active hashtb.
20244 buttonize the output of `C-c C-a' in an apropos-like way.
20246 `G p' should understand process/prefix, and allow editing
20247 of several groups at once.
20249 command to create an ephemeral nnvirtual group that
20250 matches some regexp(s).
20252 nndoc should understand "Content-Type: message/rfc822" forwarded messages.
20254 it should be possible to score "thread" on the From header.
20256 hitting RET on a "gnus-uu-archive" pseudo article should unpack it.
20258 `B i' should display the article at once in the summary buffer.
20260 remove the "*" mark at once when unticking an article.
20262 `M-s' should highlight the matching text.
20264 when checking for duplicated mails, use Resent-Message-ID if present.
20266 killing and yanking groups in topics should be better. If killing one copy
20267 of a group that exists in multiple topics, only that copy should
20268 be removed. Yanking should insert the copy, and yanking topics
20269 should be possible to be interspersed with the other yankings.
20271 command for enter a group just to read the cached articles. A way to say
20272 "ignore the nntp connection; just read from the cache."
20274 `X u' should decode base64 articles.
20276 a way to hide all "inner" cited text, leaving just the most
20277 recently cited text.
20279 nnvirtual should be asynchronous.
20281 after editing an article, gnus-original-article-buffer should
20284 there should probably be a way to make Gnus not connect to the
20285 server and just read the articles in the server
20287 allow a `set-default' (or something) to change the default
20288 value of nnoo variables.
20290 a command to import group infos from a .newsrc.eld file.
20292 groups from secondary servers have the entire select method
20293 listed in each group info.
20295 a command for just switching from the summary buffer to the group
20298 a way to specify that some incoming mail washing functions
20299 should only be applied to some groups.
20301 Message `C-f C-t' should ask the user whether to heed
20302 mail-copies-to: never.
20304 new group parameter -- `post-to-server' that says to post
20305 using the current server. Also a variable to do the same.
20307 the slave dribble files should auto-save to the slave file names.
20309 a group parameter that says what articles to display on group entry, based
20312 a way to visually distinguish slave Gnusae from masters. (Whip instead
20315 Use DJ Bernstein "From " quoting/dequoting, where applicable.
20317 Why is hide-citation-maybe and hide-citation different? Also
20320 group user-defined meta-parameters.
20324 From: John Griffith <griffith@@sfs.nphil.uni-tuebingen.de>
20326 I like the option for trying to retrieve the FAQ for a group and I was
20327 thinking it would be great if for those newsgroups that had archives
20328 you could also try to read the archive for that group. Part of the
20329 problem is that archives are spread all over the net, unlike FAQs.
20330 What would be best I suppose is to find the one closest to your site.
20332 In any case, there is a list of general news group archives at @*
20333 ftp://ftp.neosoft.com/pub/users/claird/news.lists/newsgroup_archives.html
20340 From: Jason L Tibbitts III <tibbs@@hpc.uh.edu>
20341 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
20343 (gnus-group-add-parameter group
20344 (cons 'gnus-group-date-last-entered (list (current-time-string))))))
20346 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
20347 "Return the date the group was last read."
20348 (cond ((car (gnus-group-get-parameter gnus-tmp-group 'gnus-group-date-last-entered)))
20353 tanken var at når du bruker `gnus-startup-file' som prefix (FOO) til å lete
20354 opp en fil FOO-SERVER, FOO-SERVER.el, FOO-SERVER.eld, kan du la den være en
20355 liste hvor du bruker hvert element i listen som FOO, istedet. da kunne man
20356 hatt forskjellige serveres startup-filer forskjellige steder.
20360 LMI> Well, nnbabyl could alter the group info to heed labels like
20361 LMI> answered and read, I guess.
20363 It could also keep them updated (the same for the Status: header of
20366 They could be used like this:
20370 `M l <name> RET' add label <name> to current message.
20371 `M u <name> RET' remove label <name> from current message.
20372 `/ l <expr> RET' limit summary buffer according to <expr>.
20374 <expr> would be a boolean expression on the labels, e.g.
20376 `/ l bug & !fixed RET'
20379 would show all the messages which are labeled `bug' but not labeled
20382 One could also imagine the labels being used for highlighting, or
20383 affect the summary line format.
20387 Sender: abraham@@dina.kvl.dk
20389 I'd like a gnus-find-file which work like find file, except that it
20390 would recognize things that looks like messages or folders:
20392 - If it is a directory containing numbered files, create an nndir
20395 - For other directories, create a nneething summary buffer.
20397 - For files matching "\\`From ", create a nndoc/mbox summary.
20399 - For files matching "\\`BABYL OPTIONS:", create a nndoc/baby summary.
20401 - For files matching "\\`[^ \t\n]+:", create an *Article* buffer.
20403 - For other files, just find them normally.
20405 I'd like `nneething' to use this function, so it would work on a
20406 directory potentially containing mboxes or babyl files.
20409 Please send a mail to bwarsaw@@cnri.reston.va.us (Barry A. Warsaw) and
20410 tell him what you are doing.
20413 Currently, I get prompted:
20417 decend into sci.something ?
20421 The problem above is that since there is really only one subsection of
20422 science, shouldn't it prompt you for only descending sci.something? If
20423 there was a sci.somethingelse group or section, then it should prompt
20424 for sci? first the sci.something? then sci.somethingelse?...
20427 Ja, det burde være en måte å si slikt. Kanskje en ny variabel?
20428 `gnus-use-few-score-files'? SÃ¥ kunne score-regler legges til den
20429 "mest" lokale score-fila. F. eks. ville no-gruppene betjenes av
20430 "no.all.SCORE", osv.
20433 What i want is for Gnus to treat any sequence or combination of the following
20434 as a single spoiler warning and hide it all, replacing it with a "Next Page"
20440 more than n blank lines
20442 more than m identical lines
20443 (which should be replaced with button to show them)
20445 any whitespace surrounding any of the above
20449 Well, we could allow a new value to `gnus-thread-ignore-subject' --
20450 `spaces', or something. (We could even default to that.) And then
20451 subjects that differ in white space only could be considered the
20452 "same" subject for threading purposes.
20455 Modes to preprocess the contents (e.g. jka-compr) use the second form
20456 "(REGEXP FUNCTION NON-NIL)" while ordinary modes (e.g. tex) use the first
20457 form "(REGEXP . FUNCTION)", so you could use it to distinguish between
20458 those two types of modes. (auto-modes-alist, insert-file-contents-literally.)
20461 Under XEmacs -- do funny article marks:
20464 soup - bowl of soup
20465 score below - dim light bulb
20466 score over - bright light bulb
20469 Yes. I think the algorithm is as follows:
20474 show-list-of-articles-in-group
20475 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
20476 if (no-more-articles-in-group-to-select)
20477 if (articles-selected)
20478 start-reading-selected-articles;
20479 junk-unread-articles;
20484 else if (key-pressed = '.')
20485 if (consolidated-menus) # same as hide-thread in Gnus
20486 select-thread-under-cursor;
20488 select-article-under-cursor;
20492 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
20493 if (more-pages-in-article)
20495 else if (more-selected-articles-to-read)
20502 My precise need here would have been to limit files to Incoming*.
20503 One could think of some `nneething-only-files' variable, but I guess
20504 it would have been unacceptable if one was using many unrelated such
20507 A more useful approach would be to, in response to the `G D' prompt, be
20508 allowed to say something like: `~/.mail/Incoming*', somewhat limiting
20509 the top-level directory only (in case directories would be matched by
20510 the wildcard expression).
20513 It would be nice if it also handled
20515 <URL:news://sunsite.auc.dk/>
20517 which should correspond to `B nntp RET sunsite.auc.dk' in *Group*.
20522 Take a look at w3-menu.el in the Emacs-W3 distribution - this works out
20523 really well. Each menu is 'named' by a symbol that would be on a
20524 gnus-*-menus (where * would be whatever, but at least group, summary, and
20525 article versions) variable.
20527 So for gnus-summary-menus, I would set to '(sort mark dispose ...)
20529 A value of '1' would just put _all_ the menus in a single 'GNUS' menu in
20530 the main menubar. This approach works really well for Emacs-W3 and VM.
20534 nndoc should take care to create unique Message-IDs for all its
20537 gnus-score-followup-article only works when you have a summary buffer
20538 active. Make it work when posting from the group buffer as well.
20539 (message-sent-hook).
20541 rewrite gnus-demon to use run-with-idle-timers.
20544 * Enhancements to Gnus:
20548 * gnus-servers (gnus-start-server-buffer?)--enters Gnus and goes
20549 straight to the server buffer, without opening any connections to
20552 * gnus-server-read-server-newsrc--produces a buffer very similar to
20553 the group buffer, but with only groups from that server listed;
20554 quitting this buffer returns to the server buffer.
20557 add a command to check the integrity of an nnfolder folder --
20558 go through the article numbers and see that there are no duplicates,
20562 `unsmileyfy-buffer' to undo smileification.
20565 a command to give all relevant info on an article, including all
20569 when doing `-request-accept-article', the backends should do
20570 the nnmail duplicate checking.
20573 allow `message-signature-file' to be a function to return the
20574 value of the signature file.
20577 In addition, I would love it if I could configure message-tab so that it
20578 could call `bbdb-complete-name' in other headers. So, some sort of
20581 (setq message-tab-alist
20582 '((message-header-regexp message-expand-group)
20583 ("^\\(To\\|[cC]c\\|[bB]cc\\)" bbdb-complete-name)))
20585 then you could run the relevant function to complete the information in
20589 cache the newsgroups file locally to avoid reloading it all the time.
20592 a command to import a buffer into a group.
20595 nnweb should allow fetching by Message-ID from servers.
20598 point in the article buffer doesn't always go to the
20599 beginning of the buffer when selecting new articles.
20602 a command to process mark all unread articles.
20605 `gnus-gather-threads-by-references-and-subject' -- first
20606 do gathering by references, and then go through the dummy roots and
20607 do more gathering by subject.
20610 gnus-uu-mark-in-numerical-order -- process mark articles in
20611 article numerical order.
20614 (gnus-thread-total-score
20615 (gnus-id-to-thread (mail-header-id (gnus-summary-article-header))))
20619 sorting by score is wrong when using sparse threads.
20622 a command to fetch an arbitrary article -- without having to be
20623 in the summary buffer.
20626 a new nncvs backend. Each group would show an article, using
20627 version branches as threading, checkin date as the date, etc.
20630 http://www.dejanews.com/forms/dnsetfilter_exp.html ?
20631 This filter allows one to construct advance queries on the Dejanews
20632 database such as specifying start and end dates, subject, author,
20633 and/or newsgroup name.
20636 new Date header scoring type -- older, newer
20639 use the summary toolbar in the article buffer.
20642 a command to fetch all articles that are less than X days old.
20645 in pick mode, `q' should save the list of selected articles in the
20646 group info. The next time the group is selected, these articles
20647 will automatically get the process mark.
20650 Isn't it possible to (also?) allow M-^ to automatically try the
20651 default server if it fails on the current server? (controlled by a
20652 user variable, (nil, t, 'ask)).
20655 make it possible to cancel articles using the select method for the
20659 `gnus-summary-select-article-on-entry' or something. It'll default
20660 to t and will select whatever article decided by `gnus-auto-select-first'.
20663 a new variable to control which selection commands should be unselecting.
20664 `first', `best', `next', `prev', `next-unread', `prev-unread' are
20668 be able to select groups that have no articles in them
20669 to be able to post in them (using the current select method).
20672 be able to post via DejaNews.
20675 `x' should retain any sortings that have been performed.
20678 allow the user to specify the precedence of the secondary marks. Also
20679 allow them to be displayed separately.
20682 gnus-summary-save-in-pipe should concatenate the results from
20683 the processes when doing a process marked pipe.
20686 a new match type, like Followup, but which adds Thread matches on all
20687 articles that match a certain From header.
20690 a function that can be read from kill-emacs-query-functions to offer
20691 saving living summary buffers.
20694 a function for selecting a particular group which will contain
20695 the articles listed in a list of article numbers/id's.
20698 a battery of character translation functions to translate common
20699 Mac, MS (etc) characters into ISO 8859-1.
20702 (defun article-fix-m$word ()
20703 "Fix M$Word smartquotes in an article."
20706 (let ((buffer-read-only nil))
20707 (goto-char (point-min))
20708 (while (search-forward "\221" nil t)
20709 (replace-match "`" t t))
20710 (goto-char (point-min))
20711 (while (search-forward "\222" nil t)
20712 (replace-match "'" t t))
20713 (goto-char (point-min))
20714 (while (search-forward "\223" nil t)
20715 (replace-match "\"" t t))
20716 (goto-char (point-min))
20717 (while (search-forward "\224" nil t)
20718 (replace-match "\"" t t)))))
20723 (add-hook 'gnus-exit-query-functions
20725 (if (and (file-exists-p nnmail-spool-file)
20726 (> (nnheader-file-size nnmail-spool-file) 0))
20727 (yes-or-no-p "New mail has arrived. Quit Gnus anyways? ")
20728 (y-or-n-p "Are you sure you want to quit Gnus? "))))
20732 allow message-default-headers to be a function.
20735 new Date score match types -- < > = (etc) that take floating point
20736 numbers and match on the age of the article.
20740 > > > If so, I've got one gripe: It seems that when I fire up gnus 5.2.25
20741 > > > under xemacs-19.14, it's creating a new frame, but is erasing the
20742 > > > buffer in the frame that it was called from =:-O
20744 > > Hm. How do you start up Gnus? From the toolbar or with
20745 > > `M-x gnus-other-frame'?
20747 > I normally start it up from the toolbar; at
20748 > least that's the way I've caught it doing the
20753 all commands that react to the process mark should push
20754 the current process mark set onto the stack.
20757 gnus-article-hide-pgp
20758 Selv ville jeg nok ha valgt å slette den dersom teksten matcher
20760 "\\(This\s+\\)?[^ ]+ has been automatically signed by"
20762 og det er maks hundre tegn mellom match-end og ----linja. Men -det-
20763 er min type heuristikk og langt fra alles.
20766 `gnus-subscribe-sorted' -- insert new groups where they would have been
20767 sorted to if `gnus-group-sort-function' were run.
20770 gnus-(group,summary)-highlight should respect any `face' text props set
20774 use run-with-idle-timer for gnus-demon instead of the
20775 home-brewed stuff for better reliability.
20778 add a way to select which NoCeM type to apply -- spam, troll, etc.
20781 nndraft-request-group should tally auto-save files.
20784 implement nntp-retry-on-break and nntp-command-timeout.
20787 gnus-article-highlight-limit that says when not to highlight (long)
20791 (nnoo-set SERVER VARIABLE VALUE)
20797 interrupitng agent fetching of articles should save articles.
20800 command to open a digest group, and copy all the articles there to the
20804 a variable to disable article body highlights if there's more than
20805 X characters in the body.
20808 handle 480/381 authinfo requests separately.
20811 include the texi/dir file in the distribution.
20814 format spec to "tab" to a position.
20817 Move all prompting to the new `M-n' default style.
20820 command to display all dormant articles.
20823 gnus-auto-select-next makeover -- list of things it should do.
20826 a score match type that adds scores matching on From if From has replied
20827 to something someone else has said.
20830 Read Netscape discussion groups:
20831 snews://secnews.netscape.com/netscape.communicator.unix
20834 One command to edit the original version if an article, and one to edit
20835 the displayed version.
20838 @kbd{T v} -- make all process-marked articles the children of the
20842 Switch from initial text to the new default text mechanism.
20845 How about making it possible to expire local articles? Will it be
20846 possible to make various constraints on when an article can be
20847 expired, e.g. (read), (age > 14 days), or the more interesting (read
20851 New limit command---limit to articles that have a certain string
20852 in the head or body.
20855 Allow breaking lengthy @sc{nntp} commands.
20858 gnus-article-highlight-limit, to disable highlighting in big articles.
20861 Editing an article should put the article to be edited
20862 in a special, unique buffer.
20865 A command to send a mail to the admin-address group param.
20868 A Date scoring type that will match if the article
20869 is less than a certain number of days old.
20872 New spec: %~(tab 56) to put point on column 56
20875 Allow Gnus Agent scoring to use normal score files.
20878 Rething the Agent active file thing. `M-g' doesn't update the active
20879 file, for instance.
20882 With dummy roots, `^' and then selecing the first article
20883 in any other dummy thread will make Gnus highlight the
20884 dummy root instead of the first article.
20887 Propagate all group properties (marks, article numbers, etc) up to the
20888 topics for displaying.
20891 `n' in the group buffer with topics should go to the next group
20892 with unread articles, even if that group is hidden in a topic.
20895 gnus-posting-styles doesn't work in drafts.
20898 gnus-summary-limit-include-cached is slow when there are
20899 many articles in the cache, since it regenerates big parts of the
20900 summary buffer for each article.
20903 Implement gnus-batch-brew-soup.
20906 Group parameters and summary commands for un/subscribing to mailing
20910 Introduce nnmail-home-directory.
20913 gnus-fetch-group and friends should exit Gnus when the user
20917 The jingle is only played on the second invocation of Gnus.
20920 Bouncing articles should do MIME.
20923 Crossposted articles should "inherit" the % or @ mark from the other
20924 groups it has been crossposted to, or something. (Agent.)
20927 If point is on a group that appears multiple times in topics, and
20928 you press `l', point will move to the first instance of the group.
20931 A spec for the group line format to display the number of
20932 agent-downloaded articles in the group.
20935 Some nntp servers never respond when posting, so there should be a
20936 timeout for all commands.
20939 When stading on a topic line and `t'-ing, point goes to the last line.
20940 It should go somewhere else.
20943 I'm having trouble accessing a newsgroup with a "+" in its name with
20944 Gnus. There is a new newsgroup on msnews.microsoft.com named
20945 "microsoft.public.multimedia.directx.html+time" that I'm trying to
20947 "nntp+msnews.microsoft.com:microsoft.public.multimedia.directx.html+time"
20948 but it gives an error that it cant access the group.
20950 Is the "+" character illegal in newsgroup names? Is there any way in
20951 Gnus to work around this? (gnus 5.6.45 - XEmacs 20.4)
20958 Subject: Answer to your mails 01.01.1999-01.05.1999
20959 --text follows this line--
20960 Sorry I killfiled you...
20962 Under the subject "foo", you wrote on 01.01.1999:
20964 Under the subject "foo1", you wrote on 01.01.1999:
20969 Allow "orphan" scores in the Agent scoring.
20973 - Edit article's summary line.
20975 - Sort lines in buffer by subject
20977 --> the old subject line appears in Summary buffer, not the one that was
20983 Remove list identifiers from the subject in the summary when doing `^'
20987 Have the Agent write out articles, one by one, as it retrieves them,
20988 to avoid having to re-fetch them all if Emacs should crash while
20992 Be able to forward groups of messages as MIME digests.
20995 nnweb should include the "get whole article" article when getting articles.
20998 When I type W W c (gnus-article-hide-citation) in the summary
20999 buffer, the citations are revealed, but the [+] buttons don't turn
21000 into [-] buttons. (If I click on one of the [+] buttons, it does
21001 turn into a [-] button.)
21004 Perhaps there should be a command to "attach" a buffer of comments to
21005 a message? That is, `B WHATEVER', you're popped into a buffer, write
21006 something, end with `C-c C-c', and then the thing you've written gets
21007 to be the child of the message you're commenting.
21010 Handle external-body parts.
21013 When renaming a group name, nnmail-split-history does not get the group
21017 Allow mail splitting on bodies when using advanced mail splitting.
21020 (body "whatever.text")
21024 Be able to run `J u' from summary buffers.
21027 Solve the halting problem.
21036 @section The Manual
21040 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
21041 either @code{texi2dvi}
21043 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
21044 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
21046 to get what you hold in your hands now.
21048 The following conventions have been used:
21053 This is a @samp{string}
21056 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
21059 This is a @file{file}
21062 This is a @code{symbol}
21066 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
21070 (setq flargnoze "yes")
21073 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
21076 (setq flumphel 'yes)
21079 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
21080 ever get them confused.
21084 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
21085 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
21086 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
21087 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
21088 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
21089 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
21090 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
21096 @node On Writing Manuals
21097 @section On Writing Manuals
21099 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
21100 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
21101 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
21102 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
21103 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
21104 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
21107 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
21108 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
21109 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
21112 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
21113 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
21118 @section Terminology
21120 @cindex terminology
21125 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
21126 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
21127 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
21128 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
21129 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
21133 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
21134 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
21135 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
21136 not posting, and replying is not following up.
21140 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
21144 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
21149 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
21150 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
21151 is all done by the backends.
21155 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
21156 default, way of getting news.
21160 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
21161 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary backends for getting
21166 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
21167 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
21171 A message that has been posted as news.
21174 @cindex mail message
21175 A message that has been mailed.
21179 A mail message or news article
21183 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
21188 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
21193 A line from the head of an article.
21197 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
21198 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
21202 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
21203 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
21204 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
21205 normal @sc{head} format.
21209 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
21210 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
21211 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
21212 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
21213 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
21214 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
21216 @item killed groups
21217 @cindex killed groups
21218 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
21219 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
21221 @item zombie groups
21222 @cindex zombie groups
21223 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
21226 @cindex active file
21227 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
21228 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
21229 is rather large, as you might surmise.
21232 @cindex bogus groups
21233 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
21234 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
21235 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
21238 @cindex activating groups
21239 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
21240 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
21241 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
21245 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
21247 @item select method
21248 @cindex select method
21249 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
21252 @item virtual server
21253 @cindex virtual server
21254 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
21255 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
21256 whole is a virtual server.
21260 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
21261 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
21264 @item ephemeral groups
21265 @cindex ephemeral groups
21266 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
21267 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
21268 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
21271 @cindex solid groups
21272 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
21273 group buffer are solid groups.
21275 @item sparse articles
21276 @cindex sparse articles
21277 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
21278 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
21282 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
21283 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
21287 @cindex thread root
21288 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
21289 articles in the thread.
21293 An article that has responses.
21297 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
21301 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
21302 specified by RFC 1153.
21308 @node Customization
21309 @section Customization
21310 @cindex general customization
21312 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
21313 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
21314 for some quite common situations.
21317 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
21318 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
21319 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
21320 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
21324 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
21325 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
21327 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
21328 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
21329 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
21333 @item gnus-read-active-file
21334 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
21335 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
21336 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
21337 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
21338 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
21340 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
21341 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
21342 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
21343 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
21347 @node Slow Terminal Connection
21348 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
21350 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
21351 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
21352 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
21356 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
21357 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
21358 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
21359 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
21360 horizontal and vertical recentering.
21362 @item gnus-visible-headers
21363 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
21364 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
21365 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
21366 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
21368 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
21370 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
21371 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
21372 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
21375 @item gnus-use-full-window
21376 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
21377 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
21378 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
21379 want to read them anyway.
21381 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
21382 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
21385 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
21386 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
21387 lines, which might save some time.
21391 @node Little Disk Space
21392 @subsection Little Disk Space
21395 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
21396 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
21400 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
21401 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
21402 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
21403 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
21406 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
21407 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
21408 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
21409 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
21412 @item gnus-save-killed-list
21413 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
21414 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
21415 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
21416 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
21422 @subsection Slow Machine
21423 @cindex slow machine
21425 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
21426 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
21428 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
21429 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
21431 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
21432 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
21433 summary buffer faster.
21437 @node Troubleshooting
21438 @section Troubleshooting
21439 @cindex troubleshooting
21441 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
21449 Make sure your computer is switched on.
21452 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
21453 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
21457 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
21458 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
21459 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
21460 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
21463 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
21467 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
21468 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
21469 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
21470 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
21471 something like that.
21474 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
21477 @cindex reporting bugs
21479 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
21481 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
21482 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
21483 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
21484 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
21486 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
21487 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
21488 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
21489 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
21492 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
21493 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
21494 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
21495 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
21496 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
21497 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
21499 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
21500 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
21501 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
21504 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
21505 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
21507 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
21508 @cindex ding mailing list
21509 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
21510 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
21514 @node Gnus Reference Guide
21515 @section Gnus Reference Guide
21517 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
21518 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
21519 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
21520 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
21523 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
21524 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
21525 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
21526 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
21527 and general methods of operation.
21530 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
21531 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
21532 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
21533 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
21534 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
21535 * Group Info:: The group info format.
21536 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
21537 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
21538 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
21542 @node Gnus Utility Functions
21543 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
21544 @cindex Gnus utility functions
21545 @cindex utility functions
21547 @cindex internal variables
21549 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
21550 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
21551 Below is a list of the most common ones.
21555 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
21556 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
21557 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
21559 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
21560 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
21561 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
21563 @item gnus-group-real-name
21564 @findex gnus-group-real-name
21565 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
21568 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
21569 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
21570 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
21571 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
21573 @item gnus-get-info
21574 @findex gnus-get-info
21575 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
21577 @item gnus-group-unread
21578 @findex gnus-group-unread
21579 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
21583 @findex gnus-active
21584 The active entry for @var{group}.
21586 @item gnus-set-active
21587 @findex gnus-set-active
21588 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
21590 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
21591 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
21592 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
21595 @item gnus-continuum-version
21596 @findex gnus-continuum-version
21597 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
21598 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
21601 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
21602 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
21603 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
21605 @item gnus-news-group-p
21606 @findex gnus-news-group-p
21607 Says whether @var{group} came from a news backend.
21609 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
21610 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
21611 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
21613 @item gnus-server-to-method
21614 @findex gnus-server-to-method
21615 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
21617 @item gnus-server-equal
21618 @findex gnus-server-equal
21619 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
21621 @item gnus-group-native-p
21622 @findex gnus-group-native-p
21623 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
21625 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
21626 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
21627 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
21629 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
21630 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
21631 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
21633 @item group-group-find-parameter
21634 @findex group-group-find-parameter
21635 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
21636 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
21638 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
21639 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
21640 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
21642 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
21643 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
21644 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
21646 @item gnus-check-backend-function
21647 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
21648 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the backend
21649 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
21652 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
21656 @item gnus-read-method
21657 @findex gnus-read-method
21658 Prompts the user for a select method.
21663 @node Backend Interface
21664 @subsection Backend Interface
21666 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
21667 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
21668 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
21669 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
21670 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
21671 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
21673 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
21674 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
21675 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
21676 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
21677 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
21678 been opened, the function should fail.
21680 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
21681 name. Take this example:
21685 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
21686 (nntp-port-number 4324))
21689 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
21690 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
21692 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
21693 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
21694 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
21696 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
21697 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
21698 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
21700 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
21701 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
21702 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
21703 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
21704 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
21705 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
21708 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
21709 some might be said not to be. The latter are backends that generally
21710 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
21711 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
21714 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
21717 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
21720 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
21721 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
21722 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
21723 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
21724 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
21725 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
21729 @node Required Backend Functions
21730 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
21734 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
21736 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
21737 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
21738 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
21739 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
21741 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
21742 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
21743 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
21744 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
21746 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
21747 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
21748 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
21749 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
21750 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
21751 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
21752 number, do maximum fetches.
21754 Here's an example HEAD:
21757 221 1056 Article retrieved.
21758 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
21759 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
21760 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
21761 Subject: Re: Something very droll
21762 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
21763 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
21765 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
21766 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
21767 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
21771 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
21772 these in the data buffer.
21774 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
21778 head = error / valid-head
21779 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
21780 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
21781 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
21782 header = <text> eol
21785 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
21786 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
21790 nov-buffer = *nov-line
21791 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
21792 field = <text except TAB>
21795 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
21799 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
21801 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
21802 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
21804 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
21805 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
21806 server. In fact, it should do so.
21808 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
21809 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
21812 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
21814 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
21815 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
21818 There should be no data returned.
21821 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
21823 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
21824 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
21825 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
21826 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
21828 There should be no data returned.
21831 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
21833 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
21834 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
21835 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
21836 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
21838 There should be no data returned.
21841 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
21843 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
21845 There should be no data returned.
21848 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
21850 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
21851 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
21852 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
21853 it would be nice if that were possible.
21855 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
21856 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
21857 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
21858 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
21859 into its article buffer.
21861 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
21862 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
21863 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
21864 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
21865 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
21866 on successful article retrieval.
21869 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
21871 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
21872 making @var{group} the current group.
21874 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
21877 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
21880 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
21883 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
21884 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
21885 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
21886 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
21887 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
21888 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
21889 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
21890 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
21893 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
21894 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
21895 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
21899 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
21901 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
21902 a no-op on most backends.
21904 There should be no data returned.
21907 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
21909 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
21912 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
21915 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
21916 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
21919 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
21920 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
21923 active-file = *active-line
21924 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
21926 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
21929 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
21930 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
21931 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
21934 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
21936 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
21937 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
21938 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
21939 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
21940 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
21941 clear if the posting could not be completed.
21943 There should be no result data from this function.
21948 @node Optional Backend Functions
21949 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
21953 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
21955 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
21956 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
21957 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
21959 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
21960 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
21961 former is in the same format as the data from
21962 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
21963 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
21966 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
21970 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
21972 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
21973 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
21974 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
21975 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
21976 should return the (altered) group info.
21978 There should be no result data from this function.
21981 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
21983 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
21984 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
21985 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
21986 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
21987 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
21988 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
21989 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
21990 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
21992 There should be no result data from this function.
21995 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
21997 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
21998 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
21999 @code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some backends (such as @sc{imap}) however carry
22000 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
22001 propagate the mark information to the server.
22003 ACTION is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
22006 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
22009 Range is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. Action is
22010 @code{set}, @code{add} or @code{del}, respectively used for removing all
22011 existing marks and setting them as specified, adding (preserving the
22012 marks not mentioned) mark and removing (preserving the marks not
22013 mentioned) marks. Mark is a list of marks; where each mark is a symbol.
22014 Currently used marks are @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply},
22015 @code{expire}, @code{killed}, @code{dormant}, @code{save},
22016 @code{download} and @code{unsend}, but your backend should, if possible,
22017 not limit itself to these.
22019 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
22020 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
22021 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
22022 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
22024 An example action list:
22027 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
22028 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
22029 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
22032 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
22033 mark on (currently not used for anything).
22035 There should be no result data from this function.
22037 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
22039 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
22040 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
22041 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
22042 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
22043 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
22045 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
22046 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
22047 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
22050 There should be no result data from this function.
22053 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
22055 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
22056 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
22057 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
22058 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
22059 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
22060 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
22061 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
22063 There should be no result data from this function.
22066 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
22068 The result data from this function should be a description of
22072 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
22074 description = <text>
22077 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
22079 The result data from this function should be the description of all
22080 groups available on the server.
22083 description-buffer = *description-line
22087 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
22089 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
22090 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
22091 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
22094 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
22096 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
22098 There should be no return data.
22101 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
22103 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
22104 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
22105 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
22106 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
22107 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
22110 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
22113 There should be no result data returned.
22116 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
22119 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
22120 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
22122 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
22123 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
22124 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
22125 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
22126 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
22127 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
22129 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
22130 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
22133 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
22134 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
22136 There should be no data returned.
22139 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
22141 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
22142 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
22143 this function in short order.
22145 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
22146 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
22148 There should be no data returned.
22151 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
22153 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
22154 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
22156 There should be no data returned.
22159 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
22161 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
22162 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
22163 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
22165 There should be no data returned.
22168 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
22170 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
22171 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
22173 There should be no data returned.
22178 @node Error Messaging
22179 @subsubsection Error Messaging
22181 @findex nnheader-report
22182 @findex nnheader-get-report
22183 The backends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
22184 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
22185 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the backend
22186 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
22187 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
22188 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
22191 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
22193 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
22196 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
22197 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
22198 recently reported message for the backend in question. This function
22199 takes one argument---the server symbol.
22201 Internally, these functions access @var{backend}@code{-status-string},
22202 so the @code{nnchoke} backend will have its error message stored in
22203 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
22206 @node Writing New Backends
22207 @subsubsection Writing New Backends
22209 Many backends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
22210 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
22211 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
22212 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
22213 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
22216 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
22217 backends when writing new backends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
22218 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
22220 All the backends declare their public variables and functions by using a
22221 package called @code{nnoo}.
22223 To inherit functions from other backends (and allow other backends to
22224 inherit functions from the current backend), you should use the
22230 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
22231 parameters. For instance:
22234 (nnoo-declare nndir
22238 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
22239 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
22242 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
22243 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
22244 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
22246 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
22247 variables in the parent backends to map the variable to when executing
22248 a function in those backends.
22251 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
22252 "Where nndir will look for groups."
22253 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
22256 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
22257 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
22258 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
22260 @item nnoo-define-basics
22261 This macro defines some common functions that almost all backends should
22265 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
22269 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
22270 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
22271 function as being public so that other backends can inherit it.
22273 @item nnoo-map-functions
22274 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current backend to
22275 functions from the parent backends.
22278 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
22279 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
22280 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
22283 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
22284 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
22285 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
22286 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
22289 This macro allows importing functions from backends. It should be the
22290 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
22291 haven't already been defined.
22297 nnmh-request-newgroups)
22301 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
22302 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
22303 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
22308 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} backend.
22311 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
22312 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
22316 (require 'nnheader)
22320 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
22322 (nnoo-declare nndir
22325 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
22326 "Where nndir will look for groups."
22327 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
22329 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
22330 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
22333 (defvoo nndir-current-group "" nil nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
22334 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
22335 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
22337 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
22338 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
22340 ;;; Interface functions.
22342 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
22344 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
22345 (setq nndir-directory
22346 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
22348 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
22349 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
22350 (push `(nndir-current-group
22351 ,(file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
22353 (push `(nndir-top-directory
22354 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
22356 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
22358 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
22359 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
22360 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
22361 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
22362 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
22366 nnmh-status-message
22368 nnmh-request-newgroups))
22374 @node Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
22375 @subsubsection Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
22377 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
22378 Having Gnus start using your new backend is rather easy---you just
22379 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
22380 enter the backend into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
22382 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the backend name and
22383 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
22388 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
22391 The abilities can be:
22395 This is a mailish backend---followups should (probably) go via mail.
22397 This is a newsish backend---followups should (probably) go via news.
22399 This backend supports both mail and news.
22401 This is neither a post nor mail backend---it's something completely
22404 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
22405 articles and groups.
22407 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
22408 true for almost all backends.
22409 @item prompt-address
22410 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
22411 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for backends like
22412 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
22416 @node Mail-like Backends
22417 @subsubsection Mail-like Backends
22419 One of the things that separate the mail backends from the rest of the
22420 backends is the heavy dependence by the mail backends on common
22421 functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
22422 @code{nnml-request-scan}:
22425 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
22426 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
22427 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
22430 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
22431 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
22434 This function takes four parameters.
22438 This should be a symbol to designate which backend is responsible for
22441 @item exit-function
22442 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
22444 @item temp-directory
22445 Where the temporary files should be stored.
22448 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
22449 performed for one group only.
22452 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{backend}@code{-save-mail} to
22453 save each article. @var{backend}@code{-active-number} will be called to
22454 find the article number assigned to this article.
22456 The function also uses the following variables:
22457 @var{backend}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
22458 this backend); and @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} and
22459 @var{backend}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
22460 @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
22464 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
22465 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
22469 @node Score File Syntax
22470 @subsection Score File Syntax
22472 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
22473 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
22474 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
22476 Here's a typical score file:
22480 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
22487 BNF definition of a score file:
22490 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
22491 element = rule / atom
22492 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
22493 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
22494 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
22495 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
22497 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
22498 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
22499 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
22500 date-header = "date"
22501 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
22502 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
22503 score = "nil" / <integer>
22504 date = "nil" / <natural number>
22505 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
22506 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
22507 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
22508 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
22509 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
22510 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
22511 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
22512 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
22513 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
22514 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
22515 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
22516 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
22517 exclude-files / read-only / touched
22518 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
22519 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
22520 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
22521 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
22522 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
22523 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
22524 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
22525 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
22526 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
22527 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
22528 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
22529 eval = "eval" space <form>
22530 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
22533 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
22536 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
22537 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
22538 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
22539 one looong line, then that's ok.
22541 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
22542 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
22546 @subsection Headers
22548 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
22549 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
22550 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
22551 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
22553 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
22554 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
22555 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
22556 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
22557 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
22558 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
22559 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
22561 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
22562 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
22563 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
22564 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
22565 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
22567 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
22568 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
22574 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
22575 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
22577 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
22578 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
22579 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
22580 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
22582 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
22586 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
22589 is transformed into
22592 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
22595 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
22596 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
22599 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
22602 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
22603 is slightly tricky:
22606 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
22612 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
22615 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
22621 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
22628 and is equal to the previous range.
22630 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
22631 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
22632 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
22636 range = simple-range / normal-range
22637 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
22638 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
22639 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
22640 number *[ " " contents ]
22643 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
22644 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
22645 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
22646 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
22647 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
22652 @subsection Group Info
22654 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
22655 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
22656 describes the group.
22658 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
22659 second is a more complex one:
22662 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
22664 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
22665 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
22667 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
22670 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
22671 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
22672 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
22673 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
22674 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
22675 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
22676 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
22677 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
22678 this section is about.
22680 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
22681 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
22682 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
22684 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
22687 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
22688 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
22689 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
22690 group = quote <string> quote
22691 ralevel = rank / level
22692 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
22693 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
22694 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
22696 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
22697 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
22698 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
22699 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
22702 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
22703 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
22706 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
22707 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
22710 @item gnus-info-group
22711 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
22712 @findex gnus-info-group
22713 @findex gnus-info-set-group
22714 Get/set the group name.
22716 @item gnus-info-rank
22717 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
22718 @findex gnus-info-rank
22719 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
22720 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
22722 @item gnus-info-level
22723 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
22724 @findex gnus-info-level
22725 @findex gnus-info-set-level
22726 Get/set the group level.
22728 @item gnus-info-score
22729 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
22730 @findex gnus-info-score
22731 @findex gnus-info-set-score
22732 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
22734 @item gnus-info-read
22735 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
22736 @findex gnus-info-read
22737 @findex gnus-info-set-read
22738 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
22740 @item gnus-info-marks
22741 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
22742 @findex gnus-info-marks
22743 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
22744 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
22746 @item gnus-info-method
22747 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
22748 @findex gnus-info-method
22749 @findex gnus-info-set-method
22750 Get/set the group select method.
22752 @item gnus-info-params
22753 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
22754 @findex gnus-info-params
22755 @findex gnus-info-set-params
22756 Get/set the group parameters.
22759 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
22760 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
22762 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
22763 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
22764 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
22765 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
22768 @node Extended Interactive
22769 @subsection Extended Interactive
22770 @cindex interactive
22771 @findex gnus-interactive
22773 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
22774 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
22775 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
22778 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
22779 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
22784 The best thing to do would have been to implement
22785 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
22786 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
22787 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
22788 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
22789 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
22790 @code{interactive}.
22792 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
22797 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
22798 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
22802 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
22803 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
22804 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
22807 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
22811 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
22815 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
22821 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
22822 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
22826 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
22827 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
22828 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
22830 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
22831 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
22832 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
22833 Gnus, that's very useful.
22835 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
22836 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
22837 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
22838 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
22839 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
22840 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
22841 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
22842 following function:
22845 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
22849 (,function ,@@args))
22853 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
22854 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
22855 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
22858 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
22859 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
22860 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
22862 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
22863 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
22864 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
22867 @node Various File Formats
22868 @subsection Various File Formats
22871 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
22872 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
22876 @node Active File Format
22877 @subsubsection Active File Format
22879 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
22880 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
22883 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
22886 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
22887 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
22888 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
22889 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
22890 no.general 1000 900 y
22893 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
22896 active = *group-line
22897 group-line = group space high-number space low-number space flag <NEWLINE>
22898 group = <non-white-space string>
22900 high-number = <non-negative integer>
22901 low-number = <positive integer>
22902 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
22905 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
22906 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
22909 @node Newsgroups File Format
22910 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
22912 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
22913 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
22914 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
22917 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
22918 Here's the definition:
22922 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
22923 group = <non-white-space string>
22925 description = <string>
22930 @node Emacs for Heathens
22931 @section Emacs for Heathens
22933 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
22934 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
22935 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
22936 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
22937 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
22938 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
22939 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
22943 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
22944 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
22949 @subsection Keystrokes
22953 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
22956 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
22959 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
22960 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
22961 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
22962 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
22963 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
22964 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
22966 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
22967 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
22968 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
22969 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
22970 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
22971 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
22972 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
22974 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
22975 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
22976 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
22977 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
22978 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
22979 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
22980 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
22982 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
22983 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
22984 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
22985 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
22986 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
22992 @subsection Emacs Lisp
22994 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
22995 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
22996 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
22997 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
22999 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
23000 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
23001 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
23002 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
23003 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
23004 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
23005 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
23008 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
23009 write the following:
23012 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
23015 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
23016 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
23017 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
23020 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
23021 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
23022 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
23023 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
23024 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
23026 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
23027 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
23028 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
23032 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
23036 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
23039 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
23040 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
23043 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
23046 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
23047 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
23050 @include gnus-faq.texi